What to know
- Scarborough residents told Now Toronto that affordability is a major concern as the cost of necessities continues to rise.
- Housing affordability and homelessness were also raised by residents ahead of the election.
- TTC reliability, delays and construction-related congestion were among the key transit concerns.
- Advance voting runs from Oct. 6 to Oct. 11, with Election Day set for Oct. 26.
From affordable housing to transit, voters in Scarborough are highlighting the issues that matter most to them ahead of the municipal election.
Toronto is just over three weeks away from the municipal election, and voters in the east end are not holding back on issues they want to see addressed in the campaign trail from their soon-to-be elected council.
Now Toronto spoke with Scarborough residents around Kennedy Station about their biggest concerns. For one resident, Tom, the answer was simple.
“I think affordability,” he said.
Tom said many are struggling to keep up with basic necessities as prices continue to rise.
“Just going to the grocery store or buying necessities is so expensive that it’s almost harder than sometimes paying your rent, and it just keeps going up,” he said.
As a result, he says many families are being forced to make tough financial decisions.
“A lot of us have to decide between having dinner and lunch because we don’t have enough money for both,” he said.
Another resident, Alex, shared similar concerns, saying he’s worried about housing affordability.
“It’s not very good,” he said. “There’s a lot of homelessness, so I’m just looking for the candidate that would help the best to solve that issue around Toronto.”
Alex says housing prices are higher than they were in the past, but says he is hopeful they won’t remain that way.
“I’ve heard that they have been going down, so I’m hoping that whoever does get elected will help decrease the prices even further,” she said.
For some residents transit was top of mind.
Transit rider Abir said getting around the city isn’t always a smooth experience, calling the subway system “unreliable.”
“If I’m going for work, and for some reason there is an issue on Line Two, it takes forever to reach work,” he said.
Abir said that as a rider who pays his fare, he expects a decent level of reliability.
“We are paying for our fare at the same time we are suffering,” he said “Make the lines better for people like us who take the bus or subway.”
Another resident, Priya, also shared frustration with TTC commutes, saying she often faces delays and long waits.
“Especially the buses, the bus route towards Midland Avenue, it faces like 20 to 30 minutes of delay every time,” she said.
However, she does not only point to the transit system as the cause of the delays, Priya highlights the many ongoing construction projects around the city that she said also affect transit and congestion.
“There are a lot of delays because of the construction, so that is the main issue,” she said.
Scarborough voters can begin casting their ballots from Oct. 6 to Oct. 11 during advance voting days, with the municipal election scheduled for Oct. 26.
