Issues

& Vision

Housing in Toronto is completely unaffordable for all but a select few. It doesn’t have to be this way. Housing is a human right and should be accessible and affordable for all. In a wealthy city like Toronto, we must invest in solutions that help to ensure every person has a safe, stable, affordable and comfortable place to call home.

Create homes people can afford

Alejandra will take action to end exclusionary zoning, waive City permits and fees to support new affordable housing, and create a dedicated planning team to expedite permits and approvals. She will take action to ensure the use of City-owned land to build new mixed-income affordable housing communities. Her plan is to build affordable homes through inclusionary zoning and support non-profit development models.

Stand up for renters

Almost half of all Torontonians are renters. Alejandra will fight for stronger protections from renoviction and unfair rent increases and ensure more rights for tenants. It is time that landlords be held accountable. Alejandra will also advocate to establish a local bylaw for maximum allowable temperature in all apartments to keep tenants safe as our climate changes and work with tenants’ groups for better protection.

Fair development

Work to ensure new development helps to complete communities. Create more family-sized units. Advocate for greater public communal meeting space and green spaces available to all-children, dogs and for leisure.

Cities are at the forefront of the climate crisis. Toronto’s Council must take bold, immediate action to cut carbon pollution, build a sustainable city, and help people and communities adapt to the changing climate.

Fully Fund TransformTO

Toronto's visionary climate strategy will cut emissions to net zero by 2040. But it is not funded. Alejandra will vote to fully-fund Toronto’s climate action plan.

Affordable, Zero-Emission Transit

To encourage more people to take the TTC, we need to stop increasing fares and start making it more affordable to ride the TTC. Alejandra will be a champion for free transit for all and will never vote to increase transit fares. Alejandra will vote to expand RapidTO Bus and streetcar priority lanes to make transit more reliable. And she’ll push to accelerate the TTC’s transition to a zero-emission fleet.

Green our Community

Davenport is at the bottom when it comes to tree canopy coverage. Increasing our tree canopy reduces home cooling costs, reduces the urban heat island effect, and makes communities more livable. Alejandra will push for creative solutions to increase canopy coverage in Davenport, including subsidies for homeowners to re-green paved front yards, increase parkland and green spaces, and invest in our ravines.

Retrofits

More than 50% of Toronto’s emissions come from buildings. To meet our climate goals, we must make retrofitting buildings easier. Alejandra will support scaling up and expanding programs like the Home Energy Loan Program, the Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition (MURA) Program and High-Rise Retrofit Improvement Support (Hi-RIS) Program.

Extreme Weather

A changing climate means more severe weather events. Alejandra will vote to charge polluters a fair stormwater fee that can be re-invested in our community for floodproofing and green infrastructure projects. Alejandra knows that the impacts of climate change are felt disproportionately and will be a champion at City Hall for residents made most vulnerable by extreme weather events. 

Davenport is a vibrant community with long-time residents, students, workers, young families, newcomers, and people at every stage of life. We rely on public services daily, whether it’s a walk through a park, a trip to the library, or recycling a to-go cup. Alejandra believes in and stands up for public services and will be a champion for investing in our community, not making cuts. There are important ways to build our community and help each other thrive! 

Arts and Culture

Davenport is home to a rich community of artists and cultural leaders. Alejandra always has and will continue to champion investments in the arts. She will vote to increase per capita arts funding in line with other Canadian cities like Montreal and Vancouver. She will also work with communities to preserve and create public art in our parks, public spaces and streetscapes. 

Child Care

The new federal-provincial child care deal is a historic win that resulted after decades of hard work from activists. But there is still much to do. Alejandra will stand up for families and guardians by fighting for more child care subsidies and expanding non-profit and public municipal child care spaces in our communities so that every family who wants a space can access one. She will advocate for a fair living wage for Early Childhood Educators who deserve good wages too!

Community Safety and Policing

Alejandra will work to re-evaluate the City’s approach to community safety and policing. Councillors need to take an honest look at the Toronto Police Services budget to review and reallocate it closely, and Alejandra believes that the City should work to detask work currently done by police to ensure that trained crisis workers, social workers, and other unarmed personnel are the first responders to meet needs. Alejandra is not afraid to ask tough questions and has the courage to do the right thing to create positive change for communities. 

Parks

Davenport is towards the bottom when it comes to green space and parkland. We all need our parks - for exercise, meeting friends, playing with kids, taking our dogs for a walk, or just resting in a quiet space. Alejandra will use her community-building experience to identify opportunities to create new parks and invest in our existing parks in every neighbourhood.

Protecting Public Services

Alejandra will defend our vital public services from budget cuts and stand up for libraries, community recreation, seniors’ programs, settlement services and newcomer programs, parent resource centres, youth employment services, safe injection services, and more.

Alejandra is also concerned about how the city can function and maintain robust, quality and accessible public services. She wants to look at alternative funding models to consider ways to support public transit and public services. 

There are so many ways to get around in our city - whether you’re taking transit to school or work, biking, driving to visit family, or walking to the store, you deserve to feel safe. Toronto has fallen behind in investing in safe, well-moving streets.

Better Transit

In Davenport, we have so many transit options, with even more to be built - but the fares keep going up, and the service is not always reliable. Alejandra will fight for lower fares and never vote to increase the cost of riding the TTC. And she will work to expand transit service by implementing dedicated bus lanes on Dufferin Street as part of the TTC’s RapidTO plan.

Cycling

As a cyclist, Alejandra knows firsthand how much more there is to do to make our streets feel safe when you’re on a bike. Alejandra will fight for better cycling infrastructure, including more separated lanes and cycle tracks. 

Safety

No one should be afraid to watch their child walk on the sidewalk or cross the street at the lights, but sadly we know that road safety and speeding through residential areas is a concern for many. Alejandra will fight to make our streets safer with more creative traffic-calming solutions, lower speed limits, and more accountability. This will support the vision to make it easier and safer for all, whether you are walking, biking, or driving.

Driving

Alejandra will advocate for improved maintenance and will fight to bring more winter servicing in-house, so we aren’t stuck waiting for days for the snowplough after a big storm. And she will work with people in our community to improve on-street parking so that those who need it can access reasonable parking.