“Toronto – Canada’s version of a Democrat run city”

Faltering pre-construction condo sales and a record high inventory of unsold suites across the Greater Toronto Area could spell doom for Ontario’s planned housing boom, a new data study shows.

“We’re moving in the opposite direction from where we should be going,” said Shaun Hildebrand, president of Urbanation, a real estate consulting firm that released the results of its 2023 fourth-quarter condo market survey on Thursday.

“The majority of new housing in GTA is in the form of condo sales. If condo sales slow, it will slow down new development for the region.”

That’s a lot of unsold condos.

In my immediate area running between Kipling & Islington along or just off  Dundas/Bloor there are about 9 or 10 builds one of which is a city “geared to income” rental project and another a privately operated seniors building. Only about 5 are being actively worked. 

Further west on Dundas there are projects slated for future development including a 6 tower condo build at Cloverdale Mall and one site laughably described as an “Exciting rental opportunity.” If abandoned malls and car dealerships are your thing then that’s the rental location for you!

Is this dearth of condo sales solely due to interest rates or is this slump due to the Chowtown effect?

Perhaps people have decided they don’t want to live in an overpriced under serviced falling down dying city.

Toronto police caught the alleged syringe attacker and have brought him to jail.

Maybe this time a court will see the wisdom to not granting alleged syringe-stabber Aaron Chomenchuck bail.

Lord knows, such wisdom has not been shown in the past.

Four men caught on camera attempting to break and enter a Toronto home pic.twitter.com/a31mnkRV5x

— 6ixBuzzTV (@6ixbuzztv) February 1, 2024

A preview of tax collection?

Or Bust?

Toronto’s budget deficit, now at $1.5-billion, is not solely the responsibility of homeowners, so the city should not be expecting them to fund all its needs. Yet that is exactly what it is doing with its plan to raise property taxes by an astronomical 10.5 per cent.

It is neither equitable nor financially possible for many residents to pay such taxes. Indeed, imposing the responsibility of generating additional city revenue disproportionately on homeowners will only exacerbate the affordability crisis.

Toronto has many stupid peoples.

Toronto’s federal Liberal MPs can get mad and stomp their feet at Mayor Olivia Chow. They can shake their fists at her. They can reprimand her on talk radio as Etobicoke Centre MP Yvan Baker did earlier this week.

Heck, they can erect a billboard in the heart of soon to be “Sankofa Square” accusing the mayor of unfairly maligning the federal government as stingy. But none of it matters one bit. Because voters don’t care that politicians treat each other with professionalism and kindness in the service of getting things done. They only care that things get done.

Red on Red.

The city of Toronto’s proposed 2024 budget is both outrageous and a master class in political manoeuvring. At a time when people are struggling financially, who would suggest a 10.5-per-cent tax increase, then threaten to boost it by an additional six per cent if the federal government doesn’t pony up more money?

BUT …

Gripped by Toronto’s annual budget panic? Just wait for the surplus

… As regularly as it panics over its budgets, Toronto runs big surpluses. Spending rises, no surprise there. But so does revenue. Year after year, more than one in every 10 dollars of Toronto’s revenue has flowed through to a surplus on the bottom line. The city’s accumulated surplus – the measure of net worth that represents its ability to deliver services – stood at $32.3-billion at the end of 2022.

Anyone who knows this history would bet that Toronto ran another healthy surplus in 2023. Notwithstanding the peaking budget panic, I’ll stake my soon-to-jump property tax bill that Toronto will run yet another one this year.

Proposed Toronto police budget cut would pose ‘unacceptable risk’ to public safety: Chief Demkiw

Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw denounced Mayor Olivia Chow’s plans to cut more than $12 million out of the proposed police budget, saying it would create an “unacceptable risk” to public safety amid increased emergency calls that officers are already struggling to keep pace with.

The Toronto Police Service has put forward what Demkiw called a “modest” 1.7 per cent ($20 million) increase to the police budget, amounting to a total of $1.186 billion.

The number of people seeking shelter in transit stations in Toronto increases when the weather turns cold, the Toronto Transit Commission said as the city continues to face capacity challenges at its shelters and warming centres.

Spokesman Stuart Green said TTC staff observe between 30 and 60 unhoused people per day in transit stations during cold weather months, compared to eight to 10 the rest of the year.

A Toronto MP is lashing out against the City of Toronto’s proposal to tack on an extra six per cent property tax increase to a base proposal of 10.5 per cent more if the federal government doesn’t provide the city with additional funding to support refugees and asylum-seekers.

The proposed 2024 city budget released last week — the first of Mayor Olivia Chow’s tenure — includes a nine per cent property tax increase, as well as a 1.5 per cent hike to the city building fund.

On Tuesday, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow will hold the first of three telephone town halls to hear from residents about the city budget. Anyone concerned about a 16.5% tax hike should be on those calls this week making their voice heard.

OTTAWA — A fault line between the Toronto mayor’s office and local Liberal MPs is opening up over a proposed increase to property taxes linked to a perceived shortfall in federal funding support.

Her office, in turn, is accusing Ottawa of dragging its feet when it comes to getting funds out the door and argue local MPs need to fight harder for their city.

At issue is the city’s forecast that the cost to house asylum-seekers will rise to at least $250 million in 2024 — and its request for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to pick up the tab.

… Ms. Chow could have levelled with voters. She could have said: Look, sorry, but we are in big trouble here and I am going to have to ask you to pay more to keep the city in the kind of shape I know you expect. Her rivals would have cried aha!, but voters would probably have elected her anyway. With a well-known name, a long record and no major opponent, she was the prohibitive front-runner right through the campaign. Voters might even have given her credit for her candour if she had simply told them to brace themselves.

She did nothing of the sort. Instead, she told them not to worry their little heads about their taxes going way up. She knew they were hurting already. She felt their pain. She couldn’t say just what the tax increase would be if she were elected, but, ya, modest, just modest.