Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)

The people demand Official Plan overhaul.

“A couple of years ago, this was an emergency… Now that the pressure on wealthier people has softened, it is no longer a wartime effort. Now it’s just inconvenience.” My piece on how we forgot about housing policy:

From Auckland to Vancouver, inner-ring neighborhoods are reserved for the rich to have low-density housing next to the downtown job center. This is regressive and inefficient, creating sprawl and forcing everyone else into long commutes.

I like to call it "tripwire zoning." The point isn't that anyone thinks (eg) infill townhouses pose real harms that need regulatory control, the point is to impose a process to extract rents. www.tvo.org/article/citi...

Our Conservative Ontario government DOES have an aging strategy though. It’s called extreme NIMBYISM causing a housing crisis that forces young people to flee the province. Bonus points for locking seniors into car dependent neighborhoods. www.thestar.com/politics/pro...

Did you know that over 60% of infill rowhomes are near transit? More walkable neighbourhoods where you don't have to drive to do everything. That's what Danielle Smith is trying to roll back. Tell her no 👇 www.growtogetheryeg.com/email-council

Albertans should be furious about this. Danielle Smith: 1) Lowered the threshold for signatures on a petition 2) Extended the duration in which they could be collected 3) Continues to pretend the people who signed the Forever Canada petition wanted a referendum Shameless.

I think we should still be angry when public officials lie to us. www.thestar.com/news/gta/dou...

Given there's one week left and housing has not been a prominent municipal election issue so far (to my chagrin), I think I'll highlight the @moreneighboursto.bsky.social municipal election platform. www.moreneighbours.ca/platforms-po...

Lorne Gunter, Oct 8th: Danielle Smith was right to stop Edmonton’s mad rush of poorly controlled infill Lorne Gunter, Oct 17th: Carney Liberals fall pathetically short of their own housing-start goals

Person who has never attended a municipal public meeting on housing to watch council vote to block:”Democracy promises that our living conditions are shaped by all of us, regardless of our station in life. Yet decisions about housing have been systematically removed from democratic control.”

The corporation that owns my apartment building payed off its mortgage 10 years ago so I guess I also shouldn’t have to pay property tax anymore. In Ontario if property tax decreases by more than 2.49% year over year then the landlord has to reduce the rent. Two can play at this game.

Provincial governments are completely incoherent on this issue. Alberta UCP ran an “Alberta is calling” campaign to attract migration then also killed the most successful housing reform ever in Edmonton, the province deliberately sabotaged housing starts, on purpose. This really happened.

Internal docs show MTO staff warned against Ford government’s bike lane removal: “No empirical evidence that ties bike lanes as the sole source of congestion, nor is there data that shows removing bike lanes help with better traffic flow” www.thestar.com/news/gta/dou... #onpoli #bikeTO #TOpoli

We had decades to densify areas like Bloor West in more gentle ways and the residents always said no. It drove a housing crisis so bad that the province stepped in and required towers be allowed near transit stations. I doubt the residents will understand it that way. www.thestar.com/real-estate/...

We still have a housing crisis in BC 🏠 Yet cities continue to block apartments across most residential areas, suppressing new housing and driving up costs for both market and non-market homes.

*weeps in Ontario*

If you haven’t watched this yet, please watch and share. If you care about better or worse cities, transportation, bike-lanes, saving lives, calling out liars, and how to completely dismantle dishonest rage-farming politicians, watch it. Watch it to understand what Doug Ford is doing to Toronto.

There has never been an "open borders" policy in this country, and she knows it. She was demanding more immigrants until it became convenient to scapegoat those immigrants for the very failures of her government in housing and healthcare. She's just bald-faced lying for her own political benefit.

Here's another post from this year to test my purple buttons, on the financial implications of reversing on infill. Hello higher property tax increases every year. The standard.site things are indeed really cool. jacobdawang.com/blog/2026/pr...

Please go fill out the parking survey. Parking is one off the biggest obstacles to implementing good urban policies. #yegbike

Testing out the new fancy bluesky previews (ht @grids.reillywood.com). In the midst of last week's news, take a look at how much the 2024 zoning bylaw has got us. And then take a look at how we were doing in 2019 because that's our future under Danielle Smith. jacobdawang.com/blog/2026/q3...

Next time bring some trucks and say you're protesting for freedom and then the cops won't do anything for two weeks.

I made this account (anonymous for now) to discuss an idea I've had about how to push back against Doug Ford's war on Toronto cyclists. Here's the gist: We organize groups to travel down the section of Bloor without bike lanes, taking the lane and ensuring safety in numbers.

Bike lanes help protect vulnerable road users and keep them safe. Yet, we now have cops, in the name of 'safety', clamping down on protestors who are trying to protect those lanes. #SafetyForWhom?

A helpful tip is to hang out near a vandalized speed camera. They don't seem to be able to arrest you there.

Bike lane opponents in Toronto appear to be putting tacks and nails in the bike lane to puncture tires.

Fuck...and I REALLY mean this...Doug Ford. What a disgrace. Protected bike lanes save lives, give a boost to local businesses, and allow children to get to school on their own. There is nothing fiscally conservative about this move. It's expensive populist nonsense intended to divide us.

WATCH: Seriously, if you’re following ANY bike-lane debate, you really should watch and share this excellent news story. Ford LIES that bike-lanes are bad for small business, and THE ACTUAL BUSINESS ASSOCIATION obliterates him with data. Remember and share this as Ford tears out Toronto bike-lanes.

Toronto bike lane removal. When your infrastructure project has huge police protection and the contractors hide the logos on their trucks and gear, you are in the wrong.

From @keithgerein.bsky.social: "It takes some gall for Smith and her heavily rural cabinet to disregard all that and declare they know the issue better than Edmontonians after a few weeks of listening to the NIMBY crowd that lost the last election." edmontonjournal.com/opinion/colu...

The disapointing thing is that a green housing platform is so easy. Building infill housing in cities where people can live low carbon lifestyles is one of the most impactful things we can do to drive down carbon emissions. We're going to stop blocking that type of housing and build more.

New piece at the Star from Cara and me. Two-thirds of Canadians would prefer governments prioritize making homes less expensive than protecting property values. So why are our mayoral candidates so timid on housing? Read here:

Hey #alberta, maybe don’t listen to the “character” complainers?? Maybe this is why #yeg re-elected progressive councillors and put the boot to the “lock in the 50s” groups? Just because they’re loud doesn’t mean they represent the majority!

www.theglobeandmail.... "Allegedly" (how long do we have to qualify allegedly?) 1 guy is connected to over a BILLION DOLLARS in sole source contracts handed out by the UCP govt. 1/5

We’re asking the Supreme Court of Canada to hear our case and defend our Charter right to life and security of the person (s. 7). Stand in solidarity with protesters and exercise your Charter right to peaceful assembly (s. 2(c)). Oct 13. 5pm to late Tom Riley Park (Bloor & Islington)

“New residents bring in new revenue that offsets the costs associated with upgrading municipal infrastructure and services to accommodate a growing population…. charging high fees… means (cities) that they are hurting their own budgets without recognizing it.”

Ford’s government knew about private college fraud and instead of addressing it, chose to screw over all Ontario students instead

New from me and @MikePMoffatt in Toronto Star today: Two-thirds of Canadians think governments should prioritize lowering home prices over protecting property values. Are Toronto’s mayoral candidates underestimating how much room they have to act?

Correct 🌶️🌶️🌶️ take on housing. Concrete example: if we think rooming houses and micro suites are not adequate housing, the humane response is not to outlaw them but to strive to create conditions where nobody chooses to live in them.

Really enjoyed reading and editing this PUBLIC COMMENT guest post on the true cost of California's high development impact fees: publiccomment.blog/p/do-impact-...

With all the news last week, take two minutes to tell Danielle Smith hands off Edmonton, and tell council to NOT comply and repeal the zoning bylaw Use our tool for a starter message 👇 www.growtogetheryeg.com/email-council

I'd encourage everyone to watch the full Real Talk episode... The Mayors of Alberta's two largest cities are (nicely) calling the Premier a LIAR! She does the same with HC, spouts a bunch of nonsense with confidence, even though what she says has no basis in fact or truth...

Vancouver's election isn't easy for pro-housing voters. Here are my endorsements: ✅ Vote for ALL OneCity Candidates + Armor Valor And I have one major anti-endorsement: ❌ NO on Stephanie Smith (Green) Read my full thoughts at my blog: pwaldkirch.ca/2026/10/11/v...

Her claims are also false. If she spent one minute googling, she would find that the Edmonton got $0 for the zoning bylaw renewal because it was complete prior to the Housing Accelerator Fund. Goes to show how much the UCP thought about this.

Danielle Smith bullshitting us, #abpoli. #yeg's Zoning Bylaw was approved in Oct/23 and had been worked on since '18-'19 as per city files (shorturl.at/U4lFn). HAF was created in Fed '22 budget, applications in '23: shorturl.at/mDbdJ. Bylaw was basically done by then. Who's misleading who?