We all know that housing affordability is an issue across the country and especially in cities like Toronto and Vancouver. The fundamental lack of supply, stifling regulations, cost of building, and last but not least, rampant inflation are all contributing factors to this problem.
Toronto's city council thinks it can solve the issue with "inclusionary zoning" which boils down to mandating a certain amount of affordable units per new development, putting the cost of building these units on the shoulders of developers, who already have to face a level of complexity that would make most humans give up.
This is like treating a festering wound by adding more bandaids instead of treating it with disinfectant and antibiotics. While there may be room for such a program, it's still mind-blowing that the city cannot loosen up the zoning regulations that prevent developers from building anything but a single-family home in most of the city.
Politicians are afraid of pissing off neighbourhood NIMBYs who are only concerned about their property value (hiding being the convenient, but meaningless protection of the "neighbourhood character") when there is no evidence that more dense developments reduce property values and that there is no one advocating for future residents who will become contributing members of society and ultimately, taxpayers.
I have to give mad props to Chris Spoke at Skyline for relentlessly advocating for a better, fairer city that's not run by NIMBYs afraid of anything that doesn't fit their worldview.