In Toronto Centre’s North St. James Town, housing issues run high — but faith in federal fixes runs low
At a North St. James Town community hub one recent afternoon, locals were swapping tales of broken elevators - recalling lines for the remaining lifts that snaked down hallways and trickled into parking lots, or that added 30 minutes to a work commute just to get downstairs.
Many nearby buildings' elevators were aging, residents said, so getting the parts needed to fix what was broken took a while. They saw it as a symptom of a larger issue - of an area where housing problems abound, where above-average rates of homes need major repairs, more households cram into too-small spaces and spend more than they can afford on rent.
But in a federal election campaign in which housing has taken centre stage, with politicians laying out pitches to increase housing supply and ensure affordability for Canadian households, the residents gathered at the St. James Town Community Corner - at the base of a public housing tower - weren't optimistic about their concerns being remedied. Asked by the Star if their needs felt reflected in federal parties' election platforms, several burst out laughing.
It's always about buying and selling housing," said resident Alan Frank, pointing to the numerous proposals on offer to assist first-time home buyers, lower mortgage costs or restrict foreign ownership in the Canadian housing market. Those kinds of policies don't help tenants like him, Frank said, or most people who live in the clustered highrises of North St. James Town - where 90 per cent of households rent their homes, compared to 47 per cent citywide.
Though parties have also aimed some policies at tenants, Frank and the others at the Corner said much more was needed, from substantial funding for purpose-built rentals to new rules that would ensure private landlords keep their buildings from falling into disrepair.
North St. James Town's population density is more than 400 per cent higher than adjacent Cabbagetown-South St. James Town, and nearly 900 per cent higher than neighbouring Rosedale-Moore Park. Given that density, resident Sebastian Mendoza-Price argued that upkeep was even more pressing, with limited outdoor spaces to use as an escape. If the housing was adequate, then there wouldn't need to be so much of a focus on everything else," Mendoza-Price said. But the spaces on the outside are wrong for us, and the (homes) are falling apart."
Faith in federal fixes ran low among the group, with many residents telling the Star they felt politicians overlooked their local concerns. Mendoza-Price noted that getting together strong local advocacy was complicated by regular resident turnover. Residents are always being evicted or kicked out, or just throw their hands up and say it's not worth it to live here," Mendoza-Price said, noting that left them with less political power or organizing capacity."
Several parties have promised to improve either upkeep or supply of lower-income housing. The Liberals have promised new dollars for their National Housing Co-Investment Fund, which can be used for housing repairs; the Conservatives have pitched new incentives aimed at having land donated to local community trusts; and both have vowed to boost the supply of purpose-built rentals. The NDP and the Greens have additionally proposed federal money to develop new subsidized housing, along with other forms like supportive homes and co-ops.
North St. James Town is part of the federal riding of Toronto Centre, where seven candidates are running: Liberal incumbent Marci Ien, who won the seat with 42 per cent of the vote in a byelection last year, Green Leader Annamie Paul, NDP candidate Brian Chang, Conservative candidate Ryan Lester, People's Party candidate Syed Jaffery, Communist party candidate Ivan Byard, and Animal Protection party candidate Peter Stubbins.
In the last byelection, the Greens captured 32.7 per cent of votes, and the NDP 17 per cent.
Paula Price, a local senior, lives in a North St. James Town subsidized housing property run by a social service agency - an arrangement she said allowed her to live decently." She wants to see federal parties not only fund repairs and revitalizations of subsidized housing, but find ways to create brand new subsidized units. Ottawa withdrew previous subsidized housing funding in the 1990s; in Toronto, the wait-list has since grown to more than 78,000 households.
My heart breaks for the people I know that are 20, 40, 50 (years old) and they're scrambling for rentals," Price said.
Price had also hoped basic income policies would be a bigger part of the federal conversation this fall; while the NDP and Green party platforms promise to pursue such programs, basic income policies were not proposed in either the Liberal or Conservative documents.
She believes such policies could make a marked difference for their neighbourhood, where economic precarity is acute. As of 2015, while 21.9 per cent of Torontonians were considered to be living in poverty, that rate was nearly double in North St. James Town, at 40.1 per cent.
Poverty could take its toll on residents' mental health, Price noted - saying in some cases, it worsened issues like substance abuse. Depression and frustration and loneliness and not having enough, of course you're going to get high because it's the only salvation you've got."
Some local issues have appeared at the forefront of election campaigns. Two mothers from the neighbourhood, Deepika Anandkumar and Anu Yadav, talked about child-care costs so steep that in some cases, it made more financial sense for one parent to simply stop working and assume the care role themselves. The Liberals and NDP have vowed to bring in $10-per-day child-care programs across the country, while the Conservatives are pitching a child-care tax credit of up to $6,000 for families that earn less than $150,000.
Still, Mendoza-Price believes federal politicians have a ways to go to reflect North St. James Town's needs.
Listening is one component, but a lot of folks do feel like they've heard that for a lot of years," Mendoza-Price said. The big thing, for me, would be not (just) listening, but rather doing."
Victoria Gibson is a Toronto-based reporter for the Star covering affordable housing. Reach her via email: victoriagibson@thestar.ca