MSA Candidate Wali Answers the Know Your Vote Survey
#1: If elected as a City Councillor, what would be your top priority, and how will you address it?
In a nutshell, it would be to organise the working class. The issues we face today - homelessness, poverty, insecure employment, debt, climate change, poor physical and mental health, drug use, healthcare collapse, crime, et cetera - are all symptoms of the system that produced them: capitalism. I will centre on guaranteeing housing and basic needs for all so that we can stop focusing on basic survival, and can instead begin to dismantle oppressive structures like our fraudulent electoral system - so as to realise a revolution we urgently need.
#2: What should the next City Council do about housing in Toronto? Why?
Housing is a basic human right, and all levels of government - including the City - have failed to uphold it. The City spends more money criminalising homelessness and poverty than it would cost to house and provide for every person. Rents are unaffordable for nearly half of Toronto renters. This means people are driven from their communities into unsafe living conditions, the shelter system, and extreme debt. This perpetuates the exploitation of the desperate, debt-enslaved working class by corporations. Visit my website for more on solutions.
The housing crisis is severe. Skyrocketing rents are driving working class families, low-income communities, seniors, and students out of the GTA, into debt, into unsafe or deplorable living situations, into the shelter system or onto the streets. Those who can’t pay inflated rents are exploited. The housing market is dominated by real estate and development speculators. The establishment is completely unwilling to fight for the solutions we need. It’s time to build rent-geared-to-income, publicly-owned and cooperatively-run accessible housing. In the meantime, expropriate vacant units in large multi-unit buildings and assign them to people in dire need of housing. Landlord licensing is needed so that landlords who fail to keep units in good repair and meet basic standards would have their rental properties turned into cooperatives. Orders and judgments against landlords must be enforced.
#3: What should the next City Council do to mitigate the effects of climate change and reduce its progression? How?
Climate change is upon us. We must continue to reduce our carbon emissions, and even become carbon-negative, but must also begin to adapt to a new climate reality. For example, we can retrofit existing infrastructure such as covering exteriors of buildings with green life, paint roads and sidewalks so as to reflect heat, and rapidly transition to green energy on an urgent basis. We must install shades over sidewalks, cooling/misting fountains at regular intervals, and resilient anti-flooding structures. Also see my plan for mass transit in Q#6.
Indigenous peoples have been telling us to live in harmony with nature from the start. With reconciliation, there must be restitution.
A municipal Green New Deal, based on a rapid transition to sustainable energy systems, is urgently needed. Regulations should require new construction projects to incorporate some type of life sustaining green roof. We must consult communities and severely restrict any environmental damage before the development begins. Parts of the GTA are fortunate to have beautiful parks and green spaces that are home to many animals and plants. Empowered, democratically elected community boards should review proposed developments. Cancel Highway 413, stop urban sprawl, and build high-density housing. Our notion of a Municipal Green New Deal puts the interests of the working class first. Enact public control over resources, fully respecting Indigenous peoples. Before Reconciliation there must be Restitution, in harmony with nature.
#4: Should the next City Council change anything about municipal taxes or City services? Why?
Definitely! Municipal taxes have been rising unnaturally due to speculation and gentrification. This has made living in the city, even as a homeowner, unaffordable for families that have called Toronto home for generations. These taxes should be cut, deferred, or frozen for small businesses and primary residence homeowners. Big businesses and banks should be taxed more for the privilege of doing business in our city. Vacancy taxes should kick in upon three months of vacancy, and increase monthly upto and including expropriation after two years.
Increase property taxes on big banks and corporations. Freeze or reduce property tax for small businesses.
Increase city services including garbage collection and snow removal.
#5: What should the next City Council do about the City of Toronto’s approach to policing its residents and making our communities safe? Why?
The hallmark of a free society is governing and complying by consent - not the threat or use of force. The police do not make our communities safer nor address the root causes of crime - of which poverty is a prime driver. By eliminating poverty as outlined above, we can eliminate most crime. We must demilitarise the police and cut its budget by at least 50% and, instead, fund our communities to reduce poverty and mental distress. What remains of the police should focus on violent crimes and corporate fraud, as opposed to criminalising poverty.
#6: What should the next City Council do to improve the ability of the people of Toronto to get around safely and efficiently? How?
Toronto must transition into a car-free city in order to address chronic traffic congestion, air quality, and road safety. We cannot simply ‘ban’ cars, nor make them costly and inconvenient. We need to make alternative modes of transport easier, quicker, cheaper or free, and all around better. That requires greatly expanding public transit service, developing bike and e-vehicle infrastructure, and making high-traffic areas easily walkable. Until then, we can redirect police to traffic management, and erect temporary pedestrian bridges.
