Toronto media on Joe's "Whole City, Whole Lives"

MayorJoe.ca:

Yesterday, Joe announced his “Whole City, Whole Lives” seniors policy, which aims to support Torontonians at every age, to a group of enthusiastic seniors and supporters at Bar Italia. Today, various Toronto media outlets have responded to Joe’s plan for an age-friendly Toronto. Below are excerpts from these articles:

The Globe and Mail – Pantalone promises property tax freeze for seniors

“Everything we do has to bear in mind what is best for seniors to be able to stay in their home, to basically move around in the city and even work, if they wish,” Mr. Pantalone told reporters at Bar Italia on College Street.

The deputy mayor estimated his tax freeze would cost the city $250,000 per year in foregone revenue. “The calculation is not a lot of money,” he said. “If you distribute that across the whole tax base, people won’t even know that it has happened.”

The financial impact would be limited in part because Mr. Pantalone’s proposal is not much different from the municipal government’s current property-tax relief program, which offers cancellations for pensioners with a household income of $36,000 or less and deferrals for those with incomes of $50,000 or less.

Toronto Star – Pantalone would freeze seniors’ property taxes

“The facts are very clear. Within five years there will be more seniors in Toronto than there are children. Within 20 years, 25 percent of the people of Toronto will be senior citizens — which by the way is double what it was five years ago,” he said.

If elected, Pantalone said, he would create a position at city hall for a seniors’ advocate, who would report directly to the city manager and mayor.

The advocate could, for example, push for regional European-style high-speed trains, so seniors could maintain their ability to travel throughout the GTA and beyond.

Pantalone said he would also work with other levels of government to increase the amount of affordable housing available to senior citizens.

National Post – Seniors will have a voice: Pantalone

As Toronto ages, mayoral candidate Joe Pantalone says City Hall should consider everything it does through seniors’ eyes. He started by promising a four-year freeze on property taxes for those seniors whose household income is less than $50,000, a pitch designed to allow 65 plus voters to stay in their homes longer.

“Every program that would come to City Hall, whether it’s road construction, whether it’s audible signs at intersections, how big the signs are, anything we do has to be looked at from that perspective,” the deputy mayor said during his announcement in Little Italy yesterday for an aging city, which is the topic of a mayoral debate today.

InsideToronto.com – Aging population needs an age-friendly city

Many of Toronto’s older residents feel under pressure and are fearful about their property taxes going up, said Pantalone, the city’s deputy mayor.

Others feel trapped in their homes because they lack transit options, he said, suggesting seniors will find the light-rail vehicles for the province’s Transit City plan accessible because they have no steps. “They’re ideal for an aging population.”

Pantalone said it was important to make Toronto’s subway stations accessible too, but later added he wasn’t committing to speeding up a schedule that would not guarantee that access until 2024. “It’s an issue of money,” he said.

The candidate did say he would build more affordable housing for seniors as well as two “gym parks” which feature low-impact exercise machines designed for older adults in his first term as mayor. The special parks are very popular in Europe and China, he said.