It appears that tough times may hit kids where it hurts this Halloween — in the candy haul.
Speaking with reporters at Toronto City Hall Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Olivia Chow was asked what she would be handing out for trick-or-treaters this year.
“I just have some peanut butter cups and I have coffee crisps…” Chow said.
“Full-sized?” Interjected one reporter.
“No. We have a budget deficit, no?” Chow joked, alluding to the definitely scary $1.5 billion operating deficit the city faces.
Toronto has been trying to figure out a way to fix its permanent funding arrangement in a "new deal" being worked out between the city and the province. Chow said Tuesday that the federal government is now expected to join the discussions, which are entering a critical phase ahead of an interim report due out next month.
Chow also got into the Halloween spirit Tuesday by donning a construction worker outfit for part of the Executive Committee meeting, a nod to a new affordable housing plan being considered by the committee today.
“I walked in with a hard hat and construction boots and a tool belt I dragged from my basement and a construction vest,” Chow said. “So I'm ready to build.”
The mayor’s plan calls for 65,000 rent-controlled units to be added to the city’s housing stock over the next seven years, in part through active building by the city.
Aside from the city’s own troubled finances, families have been grappling with the rising costs of food – including candy. “Shrinkflation”—paying the same amount for a smaller package size – has also been creeping in amid soaring inflation recently.
