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The City’s Money, Good Government & Democracy

A standalone candidate question bank — every figure sourced and checkable, every question identical for every candidate. Also part of the full twelve-category bank.

How to use this bank

The City’s Money, Good Government & Democracy

7.1 [CITY] Across Ontario, municipal revenue comes roughly 39.5% from property taxes, 18.7% from provincial grants, 18% from user fees, and 4.3% from federal grants. Is that the right mix for Toronto? Which revenue tools would you use more, which would you avoid, and what would you say to the residents who pay each one?

7.2 [CITY→PROVINCE] As of early 2025, Ontario had 46 municipalities operating under provincially granted strong-mayor powers. Whatever office you seek: how do you believe those powers should be used in Toronto, and which checks — council votes, public reporting, something else — matter most to you?

7.3 [CITY] In 2022, Ontario’s municipal institutions answered 81% of freedom-of-information requests within 30 days. Beyond answering requests: what city information that residents currently have to ask for would you publish proactively, and by when?

7.4 [CITY→PROVINCE] By a municipal-sector association’s estimate, the provincial government collects at least 422 reports a year from municipalities, and the law governing municipal information access (MFIPPA) has not been comprehensively reviewed in over 30 years. What would you seek to change in the city-province relationship, and what would you offer the province in return?

7.5 [CITY] Toronto has issued eight green-debenture transactions of $100-300 million each since 2018, and the Toronto Atmospheric Fund runs on $78 million in endowments from all three governments without drawing on the tax base. What role should borrowing and arm’s-length endowments play in funding the city’s capital plans — and how should residents see the results?

7.6 [CITY] Between elections, most residents never attend a council or committee meeting. What specific mechanism would you use to hear from residents who don’t show up — and can you name a decision where you would change your vote because of what you heard?

7.7 [CITY→PROVINCE] Toronto’s Integrity Commissioner logged a record 60% jump in formal complaints in 2024, closing 91% of them within the same year. But the only penalty on the books for a proven code-of-conduct violation is a reprimand, or a council-decided suspension of pay capped at 90 days — council itself decides whether to impose even that. The municipal sector’s own association (AMO) has asked the province for real financial penalties and standardized training for commissioners across the province. Do you think council needs a stronger accountability tool for its own members, and would you press the province for one?

7.8 [CITY] The City just settled new four-year contracts (2025-2028) with its two largest unions, CUPE Locals 79 and 416 — Local 79’s agreement eliminating minimum-wage jobs for City workers, for the first time in the City’s history. Separately, the City’s own solid-waste general manager told Council in 2024 that its 2011 decision to contract out west-of-Yonge garbage collection now costs about the same as running the service in-house — and Council renewed that contract anyway, for five years from 2026 with options for two further one-year extensions (a maximum of seven years, through August 2033), while also directing staff to study bringing it back in-house. That study reported to committee in June 2025: it found in-house delivery would run modestly cheaper per year by 2031 than the contracted service, but would need substantial up-front capital spending on new yards and fleet — committee referred the matter for further evaluation rather than deciding either way, so the choice remains open as of this review. How would you decide, case by case, whether a city service should be delivered by City staff or a private contractor — and what would change your mind about a contract already in place?

Universal set — for any candidate, any office

U.1 How will residents know if you succeeded? Name two or three public, checkable measures you are willing to be judged on at the end of the term — and where residents will find them.

U.2 What is one thing you would copy for Toronto from another city — anywhere in the world — and what makes you confident it would work here?

U.3 Name one thing the city currently does or funds that you would stop or shrink — and what you would say, face to face, to the residents who value it.

U.4 When the evidence in front of you and the residents you represent disagree, how do you decide? Give a real example of a position you changed, and why.

U.5 Name one problem residents raise constantly that the office you seek cannot fix directly. What do you tell them honestly — and what would you still do about it?

Sources & receipts

  1. Ontario municipal revenue mix: 39.5% property tax / 18.7% provincial / 18.0% user fees / 4.3% federal — municipal finance data (7.1).
  2. 46 Ontario municipalities under strong-mayor powers as of early 2025 — Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMCTO) reporting (7.2).
  3. Ontario municipal freedom-of-information: 81% of requests answered within 30 days, 2022 — municipal-sector reporting (7.3).
  4. 422+ reports/year collected by the province from municipalities; MFIPPA not comprehensively reviewed in 30+ years — AMCTO (7.4).
  5. Eight Toronto green-debenture transactions, $100-300M each, 2018-2025; Toronto Atmospheric Fund $78M endowment (City $23M / Ontario $17M / Canada $38M), audited FY2024 statements (7.5).
  6. Toronto Integrity Commissioner 2024: 60% year-over-year increase in formal complaints, 91% closed within the same year; penalty ceiling of reprimand or up to 90-day pay suspension, council-decided; AMO recommendation for stronger penalties and standardized training — City of Toronto Integrity Commissioner reporting; AMO municipal governance materials (7.7).
  7. CUPE Local 79 (27,000 inside workers) and Local 416 main unit (4,200 outside workers) 2025-2028 collective agreements — City of Toronto news releases, March 26, 2025 and December 20, 2024; Local 79’s minimum-wage-elimination milestone independently corroborated by Local 79’s own ratification statement and media coverage (7.8).
  8. West-of-Yonge (District 2) waste-collection contract: 2011 contracting-out decision; 2024 cost-comparison finding; 2024 contract renewal (5-year base term, August 2026-August 2031, with options to August 2033), $289,253,139 including HST recoveries; June 26, 2025 feasibility study on in-house delivery — City of Toronto staff and committee reports; contemporaneous news coverage (7.8).

This page went through an independent verification pass before publication (fact-check against primary sources, claim by claim, including a live re-fetch of the newer figures against their original sources). The internal verification record has been removed from this public page; the sourced facts and figures above are unchanged by that removal.