Mitzie Hunter’s plan to ‘Fix the Six’ involves taking on a familiar opponent

Mitzie Hunter brings a fully costed platform to the table as a candidate in Toronto’s race for mayor but the former Ontario Liberal MPP for Scarborough-Guildwood knows, if elected, it also means trying to work with Premier Doug Ford to help with the city’s budget.

“I don’t need to be buddies with Doug Ford, but we need to respect each other and our roles and our responsibilities,” Hunter said. “I believe that is something that will happen.”

While she wants to be the city’s “top chief negotiator” with the provincial and federal governments, Hunter said she also understands the need for the city to raise more revenue. Her plan for property taxes is significantly different from her opponents.

Hunter is proposing a general six per cent tax increase for most property owners but reduced to three per cent for households with income lower than $80,000 per year. Earlier this year, the city implemented a 5.5 percent increase for 2023.

“In order to get the things that we want to fix…,” Hunter said. “[To] fix housing, fix transit, fix services like potholes and snow clearing, we do need revenues in our city. I also recognize that affordability is a challenge for people.”

In an effort to tackle what has become the biggest issue in this campaign, Hunter is vowing to create a new city agency devoted to building affordable housing on public land. Her goal is to build 22,700 new units over six years, with nearly 70 per cent considered below-market rentals.

“I have a housing background,” the former CAO of Toronto Community Housing said. “I have expertise in affordable housing … rent-geared-to-income housing, supportive housing. So, I understand the full spectrum of the need that we have.”

Hunter has also made providing more mental health support a large part of her platform with a plan to hire a Chief Mental Health Officer and re-launch Toronto’s Mental Health Support Strategy.

Reversing recent TTC fare hikes and service cuts are a key part of Hunter’s transit platform, as with a number of other high-profile candidates but she has also promised seniors and Wheel-Trans users would ride for free. That in addition to opening subways at 5:30am on weekdays for early shift workers.

“Let’s wake up the city earlier,” Hunter said. “That actually contributes to our productivity in the city if we’re able to do that.”

As for traffic congestion throughout the city, she plans to reduce the problem by taking aim at bottlenecks, filling potholes faster by doubling the budget and clear the streets of snow by increasing the budget by more than 10 per cent and investing in more modern snow-clearing equipment.

Polling numbers in this election have seen Hunter averaging between 7 and 10 per cent among decided and leaning voters. The numbers up until this election, however, don’t faze her.

“I’m an overcomer. I have run in four straight provincial elections,” Hunter said. “The last two were very, very tough. I won Scarborough in 2018 with 74 votes and of course, in 2022 with over 50% of the vote. I brought all of that back by working hard every day, going out there, meeting people, talking to them, and really motivating people to go and vote.”

This interview is part of a series of one-on-ones from CityNews with the top candidates for mayor ahead of the byelection. You can find the other candidate’s interviews here.

With files from Meredith Bond