Newmarket Mayor John Taylor is hoping that a new minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing could lead to change and is seeking a meeting as soon as possible.
The mayor said on Facebook that he will contact Newmarket-Aurora MPP Dawn Gallagher Murphy to arrange the meeting with the new minister, Markham-Stouffville MPP Paul Calandra. His shift from minister of Long-term Care and government house leader was part of a cabinet shuffle announced after housing minister Steve Clark resigned in amidst the Greenbelt scandal.
Taylor said with his experience, he could make several suggestions, including not tying funding to housing targets, agreeing with all levels of government to triple funding for social housing, returning land to the Greenbelt and eliminating the newly granted strong mayor powers.
“This is an opportunity for the government to improve its relationship with municipalities and refocus its housing policy to address affordability,” Taylor said.
Taylor and the ministry have butt heads over the past several months, after disagreement on imposed housing targets and the impact of Bill 23 removing development charges. Newmarket was also one of six municipalities selected by the ministry for a special audit to determine how municipalities are managing finances regarding development charges.
Premier Doug Ford said Calandra has been hard at work in his previous role, noting his efforts to build new long-term care homes for seniors.
“It’s clear minister Calandra has a proven record of delivering on tough assignments,” Ford said at a news conference. “We need a wartime effort to build more homes.”
Other local mayors also offered reactions to Calandra’s appointment.
“Looking forward to working with the Minister for the betterment of our community and all municipalities,” Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas said on social media.
Taylor's suggestion list for the minister also includes developing a new housing policy and funding mechanism for affordable rental housing and replacing development charges cut from building subsidized housing.
He also emphasized that municipalities do not necessarily control when developers proceed to build permits and so tying infrastructure funding to housing targets is not correct.
The province should “work in direct dialogue with municipalities on an all new housing policy so that the experiences we have are reflected in better, data-driven policies,” Taylor said.
