In my last post we looked at the context of the housing crisis. For the next few posts we’ll look at elements of the problem — because there are many angles to it. Today we’ll look at housing supply. Economics 101 One of the most fundamental notions of economics is the relationship between supply andContinue reading “Housing Supply and Markets”
Tag Archives: Ontario politics
The Housing Crisis, an Introduction
Once again this morning, the news was dominated by discussions of the housing crisis. If you haven’t been following it closely, it can seem like an enormous mess that’s difficult to untangle; my goal in this post is to give you some context for untangling it. Over the next few weeks we will pull onContinue reading “The Housing Crisis, an Introduction”
How Subsidized Housing Works in Ontario
I think we’re all quite aware at this point that there’s a massive dearth of affordable housing in Canada. Politicians are (finally) competing with one another to propose solutions, and I’ve had a lot of residents lately reaching out to me to do likewise. It’s wonderful to see, especially because so many of these residentsContinue reading “How Subsidized Housing Works in Ontario”
Process and Delay
Government processes are the perfect example of how to make something simple and straightforward into something convoluted, costly, and time consuming. At least, that’s how it seems much of the time, and I hear the same from residents pretty regularly. I also hear the same from (typically conservative) politicians, often as a good reason toContinue reading “Process and Delay”
Crossing Lines
Long before I was elected, people knew me as “the politics guy” and would ask “who do I talk to about ______?” Very often, the person was barking up the wrong tree: what they thought was a provincial issue was actually municipal, or federal. Sometimes it wasn’t a government issue at all, actually a unionContinue reading “Crossing Lines”
Who Pays for That?
The history of government in Ontario has been an ongoing back and forth between municipalities and the province about who takes responsibility for which services. You’ve probably heard municipalities groan about “downloading”, when the provincial government passes responsibility down to municipalities – sometimes with the funding to match, sometimes not. You’ve probably also heard aboutContinue reading “Who Pays for That?”
Accessibility
Accessibility is an incredibly important issue, and one that’s often poorly understood. What is accessibility, and how does it play out in a small town context? How does our municipality address it? What does Accessible mean? Accessibility, at its core, is about who gets included. The Brighton Accessibility Committee, which just had our first 2023Continue reading “Accessibility”
The Politics of Snow Removal
Some people think that Canada’s national sport is hockey; I think I was in my 20’s when I was told that it is, in fact, lacrosse. Turns out it’s both. (Yup, there’s a law for that.) But whatever our national sport is, I think it almost goes without saying that our national pastime, official orContinue reading “The Politics of Snow Removal”
Thinking Big in a Small town
We have a tendency to downplay small towns. The tropes are maybe just true enough to persist: small town folks, the story goes, are sheltered from the big wide world; nothing ever happens in a small town, and young people need to escape to experience the world; and even in reverse, there are a thousandContinue reading “Thinking Big in a Small town”
ROMA Wrapup
After just two nights and three busy days away, my brain took the rest of the week off. Apparently I’m not a young man anymore. The last day of the Rural Ontario Municipal Association 2023 conference was light on learning sessions, and the plenary sessions were sparsely attended as delegates left early. Too bad; theyContinue reading “ROMA Wrapup”