Adam Vaughan, city councillor for Trinity-Spadina, delivered the keynote address at the UTSU AGM last Thursday evening, speaking to students about affordable housing and transportation.
Vaughan’s riding encompasses the western half of the University of Toronto campus, and his constituents include students at several universities and colleges in the downtown core, including George Brown, OCAD, and Ryerson University.
“It is our job to make sure that students have housing and have transit needs met, so that they can get to and from class but also live in a secure and affordable environment,” said Vaughan. “The city has not always done a good job of that. In fact, the university hasn’t always done a good job, and the province hasn’t always done a good job of that either.”
Vaughan said that to resolve the region’s transit woes would require the city to work together with the university, student unions, and the province.
Vaughan also took the opportunity to discuss Knightstone residence at 245 College St., which Toronto City Council rejected earlier this summer. Approval of the proposed residence is currently pending before the Ontario Municipal Board. Vaughan has been an outspoken opponent of the residence development, saying it was of “great concern” to him and local residents.
“The university and the private developer have brought the stories and height of the building down, but the basic problems remain,” said Vaughan. “We haven’t heard the voice of students. You have an important voice to raise in designing, determining, and creating better housing,” Vaughan added, admonishing students to demand better-quality, affordable housing from the university and to get involved in municipal governance.
Vaughan also played down his previous confrontations with local fraternities and sororities, stressing that his priority as a councillor was to render neighbourhoods livable, and where conflicts arise, to bring the different parties together to reach some consensus. He also denied that neighbourhood residents associations, who had strenuously opposed the construction of the Knightstone residence, were against students living in the area. “The idea that we want to kick students out of this neighbourhood, that’s the last thing on my mind,” said Vaughan.
After slamming Rob Ford’s transit strategy, Vaughan was asked pointedly by one student whether he was considering a run for mayor in 2014. “We are, as a city, drifting,” said Vaughan. “And that concerns me. The challenge we have is: are we building a city that is going to provide a future for you and the skills you’re acquiring in university?”
“We’re not talking about that city. And that concerns me a lot… If the only way to stop that backwards drift is to run for mayor, I love this city too much not to do it,” Vaughan concluded.
