There are candidates in this election who have sat on Council for one or more terms. Now, they're pretending they haven't had a seat at the table when it comes to addressing the urgent housing shortage in Toronto.

“I wish I had eight years to tackle the housing crisis like some of the other candidates in this race,” said Mark Saunders. “We cannot be normalizing $3,000 per month three-bedroom apartments - no working family in Toronto can afford that. Councillors should know better.”

Here’s what Torontonians can expect from the status quo politicians in this race:

Olivia Chow: As a Member of Parliament, Chow voted against $2 billion in federal funding for social housing for low-income seniors, people with disabilities, and First Nations communities. As Councillor, Chow voted against a Sheppard affordable housing project because she “owed” another councillor for her support on another project.

Josh Matlow: Matlow asked Council to vote against the HousingTO plan to build 40,000 new affordable rental and supportive homes unless a study was done first to see if it was worth the money. He lost the vote 1-24. Matlow also voted against replacing a rooming house and three houses on Kingston Road with a new 6-floor, 47-unit rental apartment building – because the Official Plan only allowed for 4 floors.

Ana Bailao: Bailao was named in 2017 as Council's policy lead on housing, including the development and implementation of the HousingTO Action Plan with its commitment to build 40,000 new affordable homes. Since 2017, only 1,617 affordable rental units have been completed - only 4% of the target. At this rate, it will take another 46 years to achieve Bailao's goal of 40,000 units.

Brad Bradford: Bradford has publicly acknowledged the Housing Now program as a failure after being launched in 2018 and not a single shovel has broken ground in the last five years. Bradford has been on Council since 2018, which means his tenure has been “lots of talk, no action.”

With these candidates, Torontonians will only get more of the same. Mark Saunders will bring a new approach on housing to City Hall and will be releasing his plan over the coming days to remove the roadblocks and get more housing built in every corner of the city for families and workers.