Running for
Councillor
Ward 19
Beaches-East York
Days until polls open
29

About Adam

Written by Adam Smith in answer to our questionnaire, and published as given. Not our description of them.

My name is Adam Smith and I’m running for Councillor of Ward 19 Beaches-East York.

This is my third run for council, and despite a great job in film and television I keep coming back to run for office because things are not getting better. I want the best for my 9 yr old son and everyone else, and we aren't moving in a good direction.

Our way of life and the neighbourhoods we hold dear are under pressure from forces that see our city as an opportunity for profit and residents as an obstacle. Increasingly it feels as if we have no voice and our interests are not being represented nor respected. I want to change that.

Our questionnaire

Where Adam Smith stands

Adam Smith’s own answers to the questions we put to every candidate, published as given — including, where they wrote one, their reasoning in their own words.

Five decisions facing the next council

Should Toronto permit substantially more housing as-of-right in every ward, including areas currently dominated by detached and semi-detached homes?

  • Adam Smith
    No

    Toronto needs to carefully balance any addition of density with the underlying infrastructure necessary to support it, and to take into consideration the viability of growth policies weighed against ecological limits and future uncertainty due to climate change.

When a person living in a park has been offered an available indoor space that meets their accessibility, safety and household needs, should the city require them to leave the encampment?

  • Adam Smith
    No

    Forcing someone indoors is no different than jail. Encampments needs serious cooperation with the city to organize them better, and strict enforcement to ensure residents have fair access to public spaces.

Should Toronto introduce road-pricing measures, such as congestion charges or tolls, if the revenue is dedicated to transportation improvements?

  • Adam Smith
    Yes

    This should have already happened under Tory but Wynne killed it to appease 905 voters. There should be a catch: no tolls for Toronto residents, only out-of-towners. Such charges should not apply to any driver residing in Toronto/

Should Toronto raise additional local revenue to address its infrastructure repair backlog rather than defer maintenance while seeking funding from other governments?

  • Adam Smith
    Yes

    Begging from senior levels of governments leaves us exposed and vulnerable, Toronto has other revenue tools beyond property taxes to increase revenues.

Should Toronto publish project-level budgets, schedules and performance updates for all major capital projects?

  • Adam Smith
    Yes

    The public should be able to transparently follow the delivery of any city project, especially for things like infrastructure.

Public safety and public space

Which approach should receive the greatest additional investment to improve public safety?

  • Adam Smith
    Mental-health response, addiction treatment and youth intervention

    There is no improving public safety without improving poverty, mental health, and addiction.

Over the next council term, the Toronto Police Service budget should:

  • Adam Smith
    Remain approximately constant after inflation

    There is only one police service to be cut: the mounted unit. They serve no purpose and are dangerous for animals and riders. But that money should go into increased training, especially for mental health crisis management.

How should Toronto govern automated licence-plate readers and similar surveillance technology used on public streets?

  • Adam Smith
    Establish citywide limits on access, retention, auditing and data sharing

    I am not against such surveillance as studies do show it helps guide behaviour, but there must be strict safeguards in place to ensure it doesn't become government surveillance.

Transit and transportation

What should receive the greatest share of the next available transit funding?

  • Adam Smith
    More frequent and reliable service on existing routes

    We need better accountability and oversight of drivers to have more reliable routes.

When there is not enough street space for every use, which should generally receive priority?

  • Adam Smith
    Deliveries, trades, emergency vehicles and accessibility

    I picked #2 but the real answer is it depends on the street. The city's "complete streets" initiative is flawed, it means every street is a jack of all trades and master of none. Streets need to be able to specialize where appropriate.

Housing and growth

If Toronto could make one major housing intervention this term, which should receive the greatest emphasis?

  • Adam Smith
    Build or finance substantially more affordable and supportive housing

    We don't need more units, the supply myth was a self-serving lie told by developers to justify more building. Toronto has a glut in the condo market with over 10K units unsold, and house prices keep dropping because the demand isn't there. We need rent controls back and more publicly-owned housing.

What should be Toronto's primary role in delivering affordable and supportive housing?

  • Adam Smith
    Build, acquire and own significantly more housing

    In this day and age of the commodification of housing, only public housing can create a buffer between renters and investors.

Where should Toronto permit the greatest increase in housing density?

  • Adam Smith
    Concentrate most growth downtown and in existing growth centres

    The real answer is nowhere do we need new density. Overdensity is crushing the city, we need to fully utilize the existing buildings we have (repair, renovate, retrofit), make more realistic projections of dropping future demand, and focus on resiliency to withstand climate change.

City government and service delivery

Which change would you implement to reduce the cost of building housing in Toronto?

  • Adam Smith
    Reduce parking, design and other construction requirements

    None of the above. We have a glut in the condo market, dozens of approved designs on lots vacant for years, house prices falling, and thousands of units mid-construction. Building more is not what we need right now.

What is the most important change Toronto should make to reduce capital-project delays and cost overruns?

  • Adam Smith
    Strengthen professional project management, procurement and contracting

    All of the above, but what must underly it is stopping the focus on facilitating growth and start focusing on sustainability and a circular economy.

Which service-delivery model should Toronto use more often?

  • Adam Smith
    Expand permanent city staff and internal operational capacity

    On a long enough timeline privatization never works for the better. We need a robust public service that expands with the population.

Taxes, spending and fiscal sustainability

Over the next council term, residential property-tax revenues should generally:

  • Adam Smith
    Grow approximately with inflation and population

Which type of additional revenue should Toronto rely on most heavily?

  • Adam Smith
    Congestion charges, tolls, parking levies and service fees

    #1 and #3, and try to target them to be as progressive as possible, like bringing back the vehicle registration tax, but making it dependent on a formula that takes into account the number of dependents and the gas mileage.

What should Toronto do first to address its infrastructure repair backlog?

  • Adam Smith
    Introduce a levy or other recurring source reserved for maintenance

    We also need to play hardball with the province and the feds, because we are the tax revenue cash cow of the province and country and get far less back in services and funding than we give in taxes.

Governance and representation

What should be Toronto's primary approach to the provincial government?

  • Adam Smith
    Plan budgets and services on the assumption that substantial new provincial support will not arrive

    We need a divorce from the province. Check out Charter City Toronto to see how a single province constitutional amendment could circumvent the province and pull Toronto out from under Ontario's thumb.

Strong mayor powers should be used mainly for:

  • Adam Smith
    the powers should sit unused regardless of who holds them

    These powers should never have existed, the mayor is not a king/queen.

Your ward and your record

Which objective should receive the greatest attention in your ward during the next council term?

  • Adam Smith
    Transit, roads, parks, waste collection and local infrastructure

    We don't need more growth, safety and order need work but aren't as bad as exaggerated in the media, so core services is where we will see the most difference.

Which single result should voters use to assess your performance at the end of the term?

  • Adam Smith
    A specific measurable result identified by the candidate

    As a ward is not a fiefdom, and councillors can't do many things unilaterally, the only fair thing to evaluate must be something they had control over.

    If you selected “Ward commitment,” state one numerical target and a deadline100% of households registered and surveyed.

Priorities and trade-offs

Over the next council term, Toronto should:

  • Adam Smith
    Finish approved projects but undertake few additional road reallocations

    All of the above. Some bike lanes were ill-conceived. Some roads need new bike lanes. Some current projects need to be finished first, others may need to be scrapped.

When demonstrations substantially block transportation or access to essential institutions, the city should prioritize:

  • Adam Smith
    Protect protest subject to clear rules for locations, access routes and duration

    The right to protest is important, but not if it infringes on people's movement and right to access core services.

Where should Toronto direct its next major technology investment?

  • Adam Smith
    Public data and systems that measure outcomes and hold departments accountable

    As with the TTC, performance measures need to be kept track of and plans devised based on them to improve.

When Toronto faces a structural operating-budget gap, what should it do first?

  • Adam Smith
    Raise taxes, fees or other revenue

    Specifically we should be going to the feds and the province and telling them that as the economic engine and tax revenue cash cow of the nation they had best start stepping up to give us the funding we need.

What is the most important municipal intervention for improving Toronto's business climate?

  • Adam Smith
    Reduce commercial taxes, fees and licensing expenses

    Lower costs, but not by the suggestion. We need a commercial vacancy tax, so that landlords either lower rent or pay through the nose.

How should Toronto attract major employers, investment and events?

  • Adam Smith
    Housing affordability, transportation, safety and quality of life

    Make the city livable and affordable, both commercially and residentially, and the rest will follow.

What should Toronto prioritize to increase construction capacity?

  • Adam Smith
    Maintain a stable, long-term pipeline of public projects

    All of the above, but we should definitely have public workforces dedicated to such works, instead of always contracting out to the private sector.

What should receive the greatest priority in Toronto's public-realm budget?

  • Adam Smith
    Cleanliness, roads, sidewalks, snow clearing, washrooms and routine park care

What should be Toronto's primary tool for supporting arts, culture and nightlife?

  • Adam Smith
    Simpler permits, flexible operating rules and later hours

    All of the above, but ideally we shouldn't have to subsidize so much.

If autonomous taxi services operate in Toronto, which condition should the city prioritize?

  • Adam Smith
    Mandatory reporting on trips, collisions, congestion and curb use

Each card is one question, with Adam Smith filed under the answer they gave and their own words underneath it. The other options offered are not shown, nor how the rest of the field answered.

How the whole city answered

Registered candidates from the City Clerk’s official list, refreshed daily. Campaign sites are linked as published by the candidate; a link is not an endorsement.

Everyone running in Beaches-East YorkWhere the whole field stands