Friday, September 21, 2007

Time to take down Toronto's Real Estate Mafia

At a rally Nathan Phillips Square on Wednesday there was a rally in favour of higher taxes. It's hard to imagine, but yes things have gotten to a point in Toronto that people will hold a rally in favor of raising their own taxes.

One of the speakers at that rally was City Councellor Adam Vaughn. Vaughn claims that the "board warned him that if he didn’t vote against the new taxes, they would make sure he lost the next election.".

Considering the problems the city is having with public spaces, and considering that many of those problems were initially caused by bad decisions made to appease the Real Estate Board, I think it's time they lost some clout. Personally I will be watching the Real Estate Board and who and what they support. Any support from, donation from, or encouragement from the board for a candidate or a particular side in an issue will count as a negative with me.

They have, over the years, had too much influence in my opinion and they and the developers they work with have abused that influence and let the city slowly deteriorate in favour of higher profits and faster turnarounds. The Real Estate Board does not rule the city of Toronto, it does not get to decide elections, and it must live within whatever guidelines the city and the voters lay down. If Miller doesn't run again in the next election - let's elect Adam Vaughn.

1 comment:

Dwight Williams said...

Amazing, and not a little appalling. Makes me wonder what else is going on in other Canadian cities...