The municipal by-election of Scarborough Southwest poses a second chance for candidate and community advocate, Kevin Rupasinghe. In the October 2022 general election, Kevin made strides against the incumbent with a progressive platform. He put forward innovative strategies to create a diversity of affordable housing options, implement safety improvements to Kingston Road, invest in transit, bolster local businesses, and advance climate resiliency for Toronto at large. Building on this momentum, Rupasinghe launches his second campaign amongst supporters.
Release - Scarborough Southwest By-Election Kicks Off at City Hall
The municipal by-election of Scarborough Southwest poses a second chance for candidate and community advocate, Kevin Rupasinghe. In the October 2022 general election, Kevin made strides against the incumbent with a progressive platform. He put forward innovative strategies to create a diversity of affordable housing options, implement safety improvements to Kingston Road, invest in transit, bolster local businesses, and advance climate resiliency for Toronto at large. Building on this momentum, Rupasinghe launches his second campaign amongst supporters.
“I’m running to represent Scarborough Southwest and be an active voice in City Hall that implements immediate strategies to relieve the affordability, accessibility, and safety pressures so many of us are feeling,” says Kevin Rupasinghe, City Council Candidate for Scarborough Southwest. “As a community advocate and transportation professional, I know that real impact can last when backed by bold political leadership and I am focused on making Scarborough safer and more livable.”
Putting forward a solutions-oriented platform, Rupasinghe recently took to City Hall to depute at the Executive Committee meeting as the only Scarborough Southwest representative. On the issue of Long Term Financial Planning, Kevin spoke about the harm of cutting services and advocated for equitable revenue tools to avoid further cutting services or neglecting infrastructure, such as a modest commercial parking levy to tackle the City’s $1.5 billion shortfall; a commercial parking levy is within the City’s control and could provide nearly $500 million each year to invest in affordable housing, public transit, and other priorities.
Rupasinghe and his supporters have also been connecting directly with the community at local businesses, bus stops, front doors, and community events to discuss the hot-button issues of the Scarborough Southwest constituency. He recently spoke at the Scarborough RT Line 3 memorial event which derailed in July and has since been decommissioned. With years of experience as a sustainable transportation professional and advocate, Rupasinghe is a champion for implementing safe street infrastructure and restoring public transit service to Scarborough.
“Since the general election, Kevin has consistently worked for Scarborough Southwest through dedicated grassroots community organizing such as launching the safe streets organization Danforth Kingston 4 All. I’m excited that he is running for City Council,” says Marvin Macaraig, community leader in Scarborough Southwest.
The by-election will take place on November 30th, 2023. Ahead of that time, Kevin and his team will be engaging voters daily. In the coming days, he will be attending a screening of “I don’t know who you are” at 9pm Thursday September 7 at TIFF Bell Lightbox, the Scarborough Bluffs Community Association’s annual Scarborough Arts, Trades, and Family Festival from 10am to 2pm on Saturday September 9 (Birchmount Community Centre, 93 Birchmount Rd), and a clean up of Warden Woods ravine from 11am to 1pm on Sunday September 10 (125 Pharmacy Ave).
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Cumulative Property Tax Increases
Toronto must get out of the financial hole we've dug ourselves into.
While there's a lot of attention on this year's proposed 10.5% property tax increase, it's possible this could have been mitigated with a modest increase to past years' property tax decisions. One big bite now versus several smaller bites in the past, if you will.
Some very rough analysis below to get a sense of some different paths since Toronto's amalgamation in 1998 that could have led to the same cumulative property tax increase as we are facing today:
