politics Highlights From Olivia Chow’s Reddit AMA

In an Ask Me Anything session, the mayoral candidate talked about transit, the waterfront, vote-splitting, and more.

This afternoon, mayoral candidate Olivia Chow participated in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), during which she fielded questions from the Reddit community on topics ranging from the perceived “meekness” of her campaign to former rival David Soknacki. Here are some raw highlights from the Q&A…

Why has your campaign so far been so meek? — from PeteTheFreak

Chow: I don’t think I’ve been meek. Next to typical politicians, I know I come off a little different. I’m a little quieter. I speak with an accent. My face is partially paralyzed. But that doesn’t make me any weaker than the others. Because it takes a bit more for me to be heard, when I say something I really mean it.

Sometimes I think the typical politicians who just talk, talk, talk could learn a thing or two by being a little more conservative with their words. What I like to talk about is policy and how it’s implemented. That’s why I’ve been so successful at getting things done in my career.

I think your policies make the most sense and I want to vote for you. However, I’m terrified of another four years of having a Ford in office. I’d prefer to have you running Toronto, but I don’t really mind John Tory, and I’m tempted to vote for the “frontrunner” just to ensure that Doug doesn’t get in. What would you say to people like me who are worried about splitting the vote? — from Daravon

Chow: One should vote based on hope. Hope for a better future. Hope for a city that is more caring, rather than vote based on fear. Last time we voted based on fear, the fear based on the gravy train, we got Ford. Don’t do it again.

How does the recent huge investment into the Gardiner’s repair affect your plans for it’s future? — from boxjohn

Chow: I wish the Ford administration hadn’t buried the environmental assessment on the Gardiner so we could make proactive decisions instead of reactively throwing half a billion dollars at crumbling infrastructure.

Given all that’s been put in and the need for people to get around our city, I have said repeatedly that we need to keep the Gardiner. I’ve supported the idea of a “hybrid” Gardiner option that repositions the eastern leg of it to make it possible to develop the Unilever site into a new neighbourhood with a mix of commercial and residential uses.

As a resident of the harbourfront area, I’m definitely not alone in being pro-airport expansion. I think it would be a great forward leap for Toronto, and what we provide to our residents and visitors to our fine city. Yes, it would be busy and hectic, but it already is and that’s part of the atmosphere in my opinion.

I notice you along with other candidates are soundly against the airport expansion, which seems odd to me. Can I ask why? Generally, I just see the standard ‘I’m against it because I want to preserve what’s there’ angle. As someone who lives there, this seems odd to me; it isn’t even a NIMBY thing, as most people I’ve seen against it don’t even live in the area that would be affected in anyway; more of a BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything) mentality. Can you tell me why you are against it? Maybe you can make some points that would help me understand what I see as an anti-progress mentality, or even change my mind on the topic. — from cainnar

Chow: We need to have a balance. There are people who live, work, and play at the waterfront. Any expansion of the existing airport, with jets, will wreck this balance.

We’ve only got one waterfront and it’s a really important asset to this city. We’ve done so much work together to make it better through the great work of Waterfront Toronto. We have lots of new public spaces and businesses down there now. It’s no longer the industrial-focused place it used to be. We need to continue that progress.

The experts have also weighed in. For example, the city’s top doctor warned of the health impacts of an expanded island airport. Planners have said that what’s already a bad spot for traffic will become a total nightmare. I just don’t think it’s worth gambling on what ought to be one of our crown jewels.

1 – Can you explain where we’re going to get buses, and where we’re going to put a bus depot to house them for your short term transit plan?

2 – How would you get council on your side to expedite and revive plans for an LRT-based transit city? Council doesn’t seem like they “like” new transit very much.

3 – If we bring in all this new LRT stuff, doesn’t that increase the load on the YUS line? It’s going to be completely over capacity, and “increasing crowding limits” to combat overcrowding is like increasing the sewer pipe’s flow rating when there’s too much shit in it. It doesn’t actually improve the flow of shit. If those LRTs come online in 5-10 years, what are we going to do to improve the ability to move people downtown? — from annihilatron

Chow: 1) I’ve answered part of that earlier. Where the bus storage goes is up to the experts in consultation with communities. But it isn’t optional. We need more buses and places to store them.

2) As the new mayor, I will have a clear mandate because these LRT lines are front and centre in my campaign. Also I will persuade council that four years of work and millions of dollars have gone into finishing the engineering studies and environmental assessments for the LRT. There’s a contract signed to purchase these trains from Bombardier, now’s the time to start the construction without delay, so we can move people and create jobs.

3) You’re right that we need more capacity to get people into the centre of the city. It’s the TTC’s top priority. That’s why it’s also a priority for me. I’ll get the subway relief line going as soon as possible. I also support electrification of GO lines, which should help people who live in Scarborough and Etobicoke get around the city without hitting the worst bottlenecks in our subway system (Union and Bloor-Yonge). It won’t be enough to do away with the relief line but it will improve things a bit.

As a renter, I have struggled to find decent, primary (purpose built) rental in Toronto. New, purpose built rental buildings are not being built anymore; Condos rented out (secondary rental) do not offer the same protections in the LTA as primary rental units, conflict at times with the Condominium Act, and are also 30% – 40% more expensive on average..

We are losing more and more rental units every year as the low rise, walk up units in the main parts of the city are being demolished, and the rental replacement deals usually put the units back on the market at mid-range for 10 years. A healthy vacancy rate for a city is 3%; Toronto has been below 1% in the last 3 years and sits at 1.6% as of 2013.

What can the City of Toronto do to create a rental market that is both affordable and offers renters stability? How do we create not only more units, but diversity in housing options? 50% of Toronto rents… help us! I have a pretty good job and even I struggled, I cannot imagine/comprehend what students, seniors or lower-income people do to keep afloat.

Thanks for tackling housing issues by the way – not talked about enough on any level of government. — from wedontswiminsoda

Chow: Housing is a really big issue. I will help increase the supply of rental housing and also be an advocate for tenants.

I’m going to increase the supply by making it easier for developers to build rental housing. Right now it takes about 3 years to get a development approved at City Hall. If it’s affordable rentals a developer wants to build, I will get it through the approvals process in 1 year. I’ll also make it cheaper for them by deferring development charges and other city fees like section 37 money. And if the rents remain affordable, I’ll continue to defer it.

As an advocate, I’ll also work to bring back real rent controls so people can afford to live in this city.

Another question asked about including family-sized units in buildings. When Adam Vaughan was a city councillor, he did a great job on that. I’ll continue his work and encourage councillors across the city to negotiate more units for families like Mr. Vaughan did.

What is the future for cyclists in the city?

You were the NDP Representative MP in the House of Commons. When you quit the MP position to run for mayor, this cost taxpayers just under $1,000,000. Would you like to speak on that?

Why do you ignore Ari Goldkind’s request to debate, specifically at the dodge TTCRiders Ryerson debate? — portion of question from Toronto_Driver

Chow: 1) I will build the minimum grid Cycle Toronto has advocated so we—and I mean “we” because I’ve been a year round cyclist since I was 14—can get around our city safely and easily. It isn’t just about cyclists, though. A study out of New York recently showed that new bike lanes reduced travel times. So I’ll deliver 200KM of new bike lanes. I also want to add better bike infrastructure at places like transit stops so cyclists can use multiple modes of transportation depending on what’s best for getting around.

2) Many people asked me to run for mayor and I listened.

3) I’ve debated with Mr. Goldkind before and we may debate again

I think we can all agree that the city is more divided than ever. As a downtowner, it very much feels like us vs them. This is horribly unproductive and doesn’t help anyone. How do you plan to unite everyone, and why will you be better at it than Tory? — from pianonecktie

Chow: The first step is to stop using that us vs. them language and work to actively include people. I think I’m uniquely suited to this task.

Yes, I represented downtown for a long time and know that experience. But as an immigrant from a family that struggled, as a person who speaks with an accent, as a person who uses transit regularly for my every day travel, as a person who lives with and cares for my aging mom, I know what life is like for people who have felt alienated for a long time.

That lived experience gives me a different lens than people who have never had those experiences. So I’ll be making decisions that are much more representative than the others running for mayor and Toronto’s present and past mayors.

Would you be willing to have David Soknacki join your team? As an advisor perhaps (assuming he would accept such a position)? That will guarantee my vote to you, and perhaps the 5% that were planning to vote for him. — from goleafsgo13

Chow: Oh yes! We have chatted actually, and I urged him to join our team. The offer still stands.