STOP THE LUXURY PARK
Together we can fight this luxury park and ensure our tax dollars focus on what matters most. Sign our petition to let John Tory and Toronto City Council know that you prioritize health, child care, and transit:
Together we can fight this luxury park and ensure our tax dollars focus on what matters most. Sign our petition to let John Tory and Toronto City Council know that you prioritize health, child care, and transit:
A study conducted by an independent engineering firm found that Rail Deck Park will actually cost Toronto taxpayers $3.8 billion – more than double what we were originally told.
"[COVID-19] could end up costing us as much as $1.5 billion and that is the best-case scenario...This is one of the greatest financial challenges the city has ever faced." – John Tory, Mayor of Toronto, Press Briefing, April 17, 2020
"When we emerge from this, we will be left with an economic crisis. As a country, we lost a million jobs in March alone. Almost seven million people have applied for federal assistance...Entire industries have been decimated. Thousands of families are struggling." – Joe Cressy, Ward 20 Councillor, The Globe and Mail, April 23, 2020
"The pandemic has exposed the extent of our affordable housing and homelessness crisis…If you didn't feel a moral imperative to address poverty before, COVID-19 has exposed the negative health effects of poverty for our entire society. We need to invest in affordable and supportive housing..." – Joe Cressy, Ward 20 Councillor, The Globe and Mail, April 23, 2020
"There's no surprise that [governments] are incurring expenses to get through this and we're going to have to really think about our financial plans about how we're going to pay for it." – Stephen Holyday, Deputy Mayor & Ward 2 Councillor, AM640, April 2, 2020
As a result of lost revenue during this pandemic and increased spending to assist in flattening the curve, Mayor John Tory has said that the city budget will face a shortfall of at least $1.5 billion. The Mayor has said this could rise to as much as $2.76 billion.
Unlike the Federal and Provincial Governments, cities are unable to run deficits meaning this shortfall will need to be made up for with higher taxes or spending cuts.
Rail Deck Park is a proposed luxury downtown park which millions of Torontonians won't be able to use.
There are many parks across our communities which are starved for funding and could benefit from the resources that are being put into building a fancy, new park downtown.
Experts have said Rail Deck Park will cost Toronto taxpayers $3.8 billion. When Council originally approved this proposal we were told it would only cost $1.67 billion. This cost has already more than doubled, and it likely will only continue to increase.
This is your money. It should be invested on priorities, like long-term care for seniors in Etobicoke, transit for the residents of Scarborough, child care for parents in North York, and affordable housing for families living on the East End.
$3.8 billion could:
Priorities Matter, Toronto.
The coronavirus pandemic has left our city reeling with a $1.5 billion hole in our budget.
Mayor John Tory has said City Councillors will need to make strategic spending choices in the weeks and months ahead in order to avoid huge tax hikes or massive cuts to vital city programs.
We couldn’t agree more.
Rail Deck Park is a proposed luxury downtown park which millions of Torontonians will not be able to use.
When city council endorsed the Rail Deck Park proposal in 2016, we were told it would cost $1.67 billion. That figure didn’t include items like property taxes, financing costs, permits and fees, HST, development charges, and many other expenses.
Today, it is estimated this luxury park will cost $3.8 billion to get off the ground – more than double what we were originally told.
Priorities matter.
Thousands of Torontonians are out of work.
Small businesses are closing their doors for good.
Families are struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head.
Spending billions of dollars on a luxury park is not a priority.
$3.8 billion spent on Rail Deck Park is $3.8 billion not spent on services for the people of Toronto. Mayor John Tory and City Councillors priorities should focus on:
We need city council to act responsibly with our tax dollars. We need spending decisions the city makes to benefit the broadest possible group.
We are Priorities Matter Toronto: a grassroots organization fighting for the responsible use of your tax dollars.
Still looking for more? Want to get involved? Please don't hesitate to reach out to our team below: