Susan Chapelle
I would spend more on reliable transit, preventive infrastructure maintenance and housing linked to health and support services. Residents should see functioning washrooms, cleared sidewalks and maintained parks. Delaying maintenance can turn manageable work into expensive failures, and leaving people in crisis creates costs across emergency services. I would seek reductions in duplicated administration, repeated consultant work where staff capacity would be better value, and discretionary corporate incentives that cannot demonstrate public benefit. Procurement and project management should be reviewed for avoidable overruns. I support proportionate housing application fees. One laneway home should not face the same charges as a sixplex. I would maintain targeted small business relief, examine who receives it and avoid shifting unreasonable costs onto residents through user fees for essential services. I would not promise a tax freeze regardless of service needs. Any proposed property tax change should explain the services it funds, the effect on households and available relief for people struggling to pay. Developers should contribute to growth infrastructure within the law, and other governments must help fund responsibilities that exceed the property tax base. Every major decision needs both an upfront price and its ongoing cost.