I announced months ago that a Sarah Thomson administration will keep a hiring freeze at city hall, freeze taxes for 1 year and do a full line by line analysis of every city department. I have also committed to only raising taxes with inflation if absolutely necessary after a one year freeze.
A good leader knows their strengths and their weaknesses. Today one of my opponents is offering to take on the role of budget chief, but with a resume like his -- the misplacement and waste of close to 1 billion dollars in the e-health fiasco -- I do not think his announcement is responsible or reasonable.
My opponent also committed to increasing business taxes last week to fund youth jobs and then reversed his position because he was made aware that his suggestion was not legally possible. That one week he commits to increasing taxes and the next he commits to freezing them is something the public should be aware of.
I have 24 years of experience building businesses from the ground up I have learned that combining the role of CEO and CFO is a never a good idea because it eliminates the checks and balances that the two roles provide to each other. It isn't the right, reasonable or responsible approach to running our city.
As mayor Sarah Thomson will appoint a budget chief who is fiscally responsible and has a proven track record of accountability.
As the only entrepreneur running for Mayor of Toronto I have a clear understanding of the impact that business taxes and city fees impose on owners of small and mid-sized businesses. Businesses are moving out of Toronto and as Mayor I will work to reduce business taxes, and the extra fees the city imposes on our small and mid sized business owners.
We must support our local businesses, and through my program to support local, buy local, and use local talent, I will make sure the city of Toronto sets an example and whenever possible supports local business and entrepreneurs.
Small and mid-sized businesses create over 80% of all new jobs in Toronto -- it is time we recognize their impact on our economy and do whatever we can to keep and attract businesses to Toronto.
My competitors want to increase business taxes to cover various programs without realizing that Toronto is now competing with surrounding cities to attract and keep businesses in our city. Increasing business and commercial tax will only push more businesses out of Toronto. It is time to listen to our business owners and entrepreneurs, time to build the city for them.
I am the only candidate for Mayor who is determined to reduce fees and business taxes for business owners in Toronto.
Please spread the word to the business owners you know, encourage them to vote for Sarah Thomson in the election on Oct. 25th
The Toronto and York Region Labour Council has excluded Team Thomson from participating in the Labour Day parade because president John Cartwright has endorsed another candidate. Labour Day is designed to celebrate economic and social achievement of all Torontonians and Team Thomson will be out in force at the parade celebrating the event on the sidewalk with all the people of our great city.
Mr. Cartwright did not bother to learn about my labour policy and made a very ill-informed decision on behalf of his members. This is indicative of the closed door attitude plaguing our municipal government.
I will open the doors of City Hall and work with our labour force in a much more positive and progressive manner. I understand the fact that our city has lacked true leadership and proper management, that the top levels of our bureaucracy do not listen to the front-line workforce, that the true spending problems stem from mismanagement and poor communication at City Hall.
As an entrepreneur who has spent 24 years building consensus and working collaboratively with others towards a unified vision, I believe it is extremely important to work in partnership with our labour force. I want to ensure Mr. Cartwright that despite his ill-informed decision, I look forward to working with him when I become Mayor of Toronto. And I will encourage him to take a less aggressive stand in positioning the Toronto and York Labour Council against candidates like myself who he will more than likely have to work with in the future.
In response to the Toronto Star:
In 1999, Sarah was involved in a dispute with a female ex-employee. The employee was disgruntled and was believed to be stealing company property.
After confronting the employee, Sarah called the police and the employee was arrested.
Shortly thereafter, the police informed Sarah that the employee had filed assault charges against her.
The charges were not proceeded with by the Crown.
Toronto is a city of immigrants and we take pride in our ability to open our doors to refugees fleeing terror, violence and persecution. Mr. Ford has suggested that we close our doors to the refugees seeking shelter here. He is using this small marginalized group of refugees to grandstand and completely ignores the value and economic strength immigrants bring to Toronto. Many refugees end up creating businesses that employ hundreds of our Toronto residents.
Rob Ford continues to play to people's fears without providing viable solutions to our city's problems. If any mayor in Toronto's past had shown such disregard towards an immigrant group, the city would not have the strength in diversity we are so proud of today.
Unlocking Our Environment
My environmental platform is about our Toronto of the future, not the Toronto of the past. We need to address the issues that are important in preserving our environment for our children and their children.
We cannot accept policies that are clouded by past experiences. Credible strategies that deal with tomorrow’s problems must be implemented today.
My environmental policy starts by looking to the future, and imagining the Toronto we would like to see decades from now. But it doesn't stop there. It also lays out how to get from where we are today to where we want to be in the future.
Unlocking Toronto’s Transit System
The one single area of action that everyone agrees must be taken for the long-term future of Toronto is the expansion of our transit system.
The first step to increasing the use of public transit is to expand the Toronto subway system. Toronto should be a world-class city, and world-class cities have world-class subways.
Why build subways?
Long-term economic impact. Subway tunnels can last over 100 years. When compared to surface-transit streetcar systems, which must be entirely rebuilt every 30 years due to ground frost, expanding our subway system is the clear winner in long-term value-for-money. Should we choose to go ahead with LRT expansion, we lose both in terms of value-for-money and cost to our environment.
There are two key factors that influence a person's selection of transit: Travel time and cost. To get people who would otherwise drive over using public transit, our transit must be faster, more affordable, and more comfortable than cars. That is what my plan calls for; not more light rail transit.
Cost of travel. If we do not take on the responsibility of effectively investing in our transit system today, future generations will pay. Simply investing only means to spend money; we must invest wisely and that means doing so with our environment in mind. Under my transit plan, Toronto is given a chance to avoid the pollution that is guaranteed with the addition of surface transit.
Surface transit increases gridlock, gridlock releases unnecessary emissions, and thus the city’s environmental footprint and cost to future generations grows. We need to decide what kind of city Toronto should be. My administration will fight to cut back some of the lengthiest commute times in North America, the environmental impact, and the ever-expanding gridlock we have become accustomed to.
Hybrid Taxis
Hybrid vehicles reduce emissions by over 50%. My administration will reduce the overall size requirements for our taxicabs and create incentives, such as one time reduced licence fees, to have an all-hybrid taxi fleet within five years. With approximately 3000 taxis in Toronto and a one time reduction of $500 on the licence fee this equates to a lost income to the city of approximately of 1.5 million dollars over 5 years. But the overall long-term benefit (less pollution) is well worth this investment.
Hybrid vehicles make more efficient taxis than non-hybrid vehicles. The frequent starting, stopping, and standing of taxis means that the taxi operator will benefit alongside the environment as energy and wear costs go down with a hybrid taxi.
Unlocking Employer Flexibility
Time Shifting. My administration will enlist a key task force leader to oversee the development of a time-shifting option for the larger employers in Toronto. Time shifting processes can include the accelerated development of at-home knowledge workers, time differentials for arriving and departing employees, and the creation of work centres in high-priority neighbourhoods outside the city’s core.
The task force will include senior business leaders, government advisors, HR professionals, and logistics experts. Their mandate will be to reduce gridlock in Toronto by maximizing on organizations’ abilities to alter their time management strategies. In many cases, relatively small changes to organizational behaviour can lead to greatly increased productivity, heightened morale, and reduced environmental impact.
Mixed-Use Zoning. My plan presents an opportunity to increase the productivity of many organizations while reducing pollution and energy consumption that is caused by idling vehicles, unnecessarily heated buildings, and illuminated empty rooms. In order to achieve these efficiencies, we must adjust zoning in Toronto. As mayor, I will investigate areas that should be re-zoned for “mixed use.” Doing so will reduce dependence on the downtown core, which will produce cost effectiveness for many businesses by enabling them to operate smaller regional and home-based offices. Furthermore, mixed-use zones will promote the city’s liveability. Employers and employees can work closer to home, thus decreasing reliance on automotive transportation and increasing the ‘walkability’ of many areas.
Unlocking our Garbage
In the past, the city pledged to divert 70% of waste from landfill. Toronto has made significant progress towards this goal, reaching the 50% level. My plan will continue to raise the level of diversion.
Green Bins for high-rise buildings. The lack of green bin collection in high-rise buildings has stalled progress on this goal. The progress on getting green bin collection into high-rise buildings has stalled with no clear direction or creativity. My administration will work towards having 70% waste diversion and full green bin program in all high-rise buildings by 2014. The Green Lane landfill can be sufficient for Toronto, if, and only if, we are able to reach a 70% waste diversion.
Organic Waste Management. The separation of organic waste is a great initiative. However, we need to ensure that the time and money citizens spend to separate the trash is not a waste in and of itself. I support the organics processing centre at the Dufferin transfer location and will audit every step of the waste management process to ensure that all organic waste goes to our organics processing plant and is not grouped with the non-organic waste.
Waste Management Labour and Policy. There is much discussion over the future of garbage and recycling collection in the city of Toronto. I have long maintained that the current provider, the city of Toronto and its labour force, should have to compete for the privilege of collecting our waste.
As our waste collection process evolves and a competitive bidding environment is introduced, the city can require any future provider to enhance their collection strategies and logistics to emphasize environmental awareness, waste diversion, and emissions reduction while controlling costs.
Plastic Bag Fee. My administration will not rescind the plastic bag fee. I am committed to encouraging businesses to re-invest the revenues from plastic bag sales. In addition, businesses will be encouraged to showcase their environmental and charitable initiatives in an open online forum. This will both increase accountability and allow consumers to make a more informed choice based on their retailer’s environmental stance.
Unlocking Methods of Energy Conservation
My administration will open up energy conservation initiatives to reduce the construction barriers for commercial and residential property owners.
Green Roof/White Roof. The current law in Toronto requires the construction of a green roof on any new development. While not bad as a concept, the bylaw narrows the city’s focus to only one form of green technology. There are many buildings in our city that do not have room for specifically green roofs and they should not be left out.
My administration will encourage green roof and building technology and open up the options to white roofs, solar roofs, indoor and outdoor breathing walls, and other forms of impact-reducing design.
As well we must find ways to enable and reward people in older building, willing to make their buildings more environmentally-friendly, with reduced barriers and costs.
Solar Power and Energy Conservation
My administration will work with Toronto Hydro to create a financing program that enables more rooftop solar systems. Toronto energy consultants have already investigated this approach, and it would require cooperation from the province to put in place. I will pursue this and similar programs with the province, with the goal of applying this approach not only to solar energy but also major energy retrofits.
Unlocking Local Talent
Buy local, produce local, hire local. One way to stimulate our economy and create more jobs is for the city to use its considerable purchasing power to buy locally produced green products when possible. Local purchasing supports environmental goals, reduces energy use, and supports local business.
However, buying local products has to make environmental sense – calculations should be done that evaluate local production versus non-local production. Carrying out these types of calculations is another area where I will involve local citizen groups. The expertise of members of these groups is significant and they can act as partners with City Hall to ensure that this program has a roadmap and framework for success from its inception.
The use of local service suppliers can have an important environmental impact. In addition to saving energy because they don't travel as far, the development of Toronto's service sector provides the opportunity for a more diversified local economy. The solar energy installation and energy retrofit program described above is a good example of supporting new, local green jobs. As a result Toronto businesses can do more business with less travel and less shipping of materials and products.
Unlocking our Green Space
Urban Gardens. According to new Metcalf Foundation reports, “we need to think and act very differently about how we grow, process, distribute and consume our food.”
My administration will improve access to healthy and abundant locally-produced food and work towards a more sustainable food system for Toronto. I will encourage initiatives that get people thinking about local food systems within the municipal bureaucracy, and partner with those in the urban food supply chain.
My administration will collaborate with partners like the Toronto Community Garden Network and other organizations dedicated to urban gardens and local food production.
As mayor, I will also ensure that Toronto primarily and properly plants trees that are native to its ecosystem, such as native oak trees and fruit trees. We must stop planting trees that die every two years and apply long-term thinking to all the work we do. Native trees and shrubs create a more symbiotic ecology, naturalizing our gardens and allowing all corollary aspects of the environment to flourish.
Protecting our Heritage Buildings
My Architectural and Planning policy will limit the destruction of buildings built prior to 1920. My administration will call for renovation and restoration of all city-owned buildings built prior to 1920 wherever possible.
In addition to preserving our heritage buildings – some of them older than the city itself – this protection provides an environmental advantage. If the energy used to construct a new office building is analysed – even an energy-efficient office building – the new building doesn’t start saving energy for about 40 years. And if the new building replaces an older structure that is knocked down and hauled away, the break-even period stretches to over 65 years since demolition and disposal consume significant amounts of energy. In preserving its historical buildings, Toronto can protect its environment and our history at the same time.
The Green Collaborative Network
When it comes to implementing many of the ideas to make Toronto a leading environmental city, the resources and talent available through Toronto environmental groups are considerable. Many of these groups are achieving collectively much more than our municipal government could ever do on its own.
The city already supports these types of non-profit groups by providing meeting rooms free of charge. I would like to see the city support these groups with more resources such as: Programs to help with information gathering and dissemination; greater access to city council; and an open-forum for credible information and research to be presented and discussed.
I will work to encourage and connect the many non-profit environmental organizations with owners of small business in Toronto who would like to improve their environmental performance but do not have the expertise or the time to research how to do so.
As part of unlocking the potential of small business to improve our environment, I will champion the creation of a program to provide small businesses with the resources they need to improve their environmental performance, increasing their savings. I believe this can be done at minimal cost to the city through facilitating the exchange of information between environmental organizations – that specialize in environmental issues – and small business owners.
While it would have been exciting to have John Tory in the race, I understand and respect his decision not to run. Mr. Tory gives so much to Toronto through his community work and the leadership role he plays in many community organizations and I hope he will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping Toronto's future.
Toronto needs a mayor who is open, and who embraces the diversity expressed by all of its citizens. I support gay marriage, I support diversity, and I support freedom of choice. Toronto's strength is in its diversity and in enabling and supporting this diversity. Toronto has one of the largest gay populations in North America and today Rob Ford has, once again, shown his prejudice towards a large part of our community.
Mr. Ford is entitled to his opinions but, frankly, I find it worrisome that he wants to bring his misinformed views of our society to the mayor`s office. Now is not a time to rehash old quotes, but his views on the gay community go beyond a gay person`s right to marriage. We must remember that the mayor is the only elected official in the city who represents all Toronto constituents and Mr. Ford`s attitude towards a major group reinforces that he is not the right choice for the job.
Prejudice and bigotry are antiquated limitations to good judgment and not the sign of someone with progressive vision.
Making Toronto Beautiful: The symbol of my campaign for Mayor of Toronto is a key. A key to open up the doors of city hall and re-engage the people of Toronto. My administration will collaborate with community organizations, business associations and citizens to create a campaign to beautify Toronto.
The first step will be to properly plant trees so that they can grow. We must change from a city of spindly young saplings that have to be replaced every two years, to a city with large old trees their canopy's reaching over our boulevards
We will challenge every neighbourhood to come up with ways to beautify their community making it unique and representative of the diversity that is the story of Toronto. We will create a competition that awards the most improved neighbourhood with a "beautification" grant.
City Hall will set an example by adding gardens, and planting more flowers to change the sterile atmosphere that our concrete and glass buildings generate. We will clean up our subway system and create partnerships with businesses to enable sponsorships designed to beautify our entire subway system. We will urge businesses and organizations to participate and match private donations with public money to improve every neighbourhood in Toronto.
It is time that each and every one of us take back ownership of our city and build a Toronto that we can all take pride in.
Closing the Gap: A disconnect between the downtown core and our suburbs has increased over the past 7 years. The division between rich and poor is increasing and my administration will work to create more opportunities in our high priority neighbourhoods.
I will address this issue head on by creating a working group of citizens and councillors whose focus will be to reform the electoral process to allow for a more open, diverse and representative city council. This may include time limits to serving on council and changes to the number of councillors and ward size.
This working group will also have the task of changing the procedures and processes at city hall in order to allow for communities to have more direction over how their neighbourhoods develop.
Over the past some councillors have treated their position as a part-time job. My administration will make sure that council members understand that their position requires their full attention and their role is not only to represent their constituents, but also to build relationships and find ways to mentor under-represented groups at city hall and enable citizens to make Toronto a stronger more vibrant city.
My administration will focus on creating long-term funding to non-profit organizations that are caring for our homeless and people living in social housing. We will restructure Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) and use new technology to bring in a more co-operative process for TCHC to communicate and provide support to the non-profit organizations that do a better job at providing the care and support that our homeless need.
We will ensure that our high priority neighbourhoods get the funding needed to provide recreational, art, and employment programs to engage our youth.
