A memorial for Toronto city councillor Jaye Robinson
"The housing crisis and its architects"
u/SenDji on Reddit: Toronto Council named a park after a furiously NIMBY Councillor. So I helpfully made a heritage plaque to add context.
Hi, I’m an artist squeezed by Toronto’s housing crisis. Over the years I attended numerous public consultations in Ward 15, where the late local councillor didn’t just oppose housing - she met any support for more homes with open derision, dismissing housing advocates as developer shills, and implied that renters are not a real part of the community.
In this, she is emblematic of the City Council at large, upholding the status quo that favours rich property owners at the expense of everyone who is yet to own a home. So when they decided to celebrate the legacy of policies that made this city unliveable, I put up a heritage plaque to tell the real story - the one of struggling workers and young families who continue to be pushed out while our leaders whitewash their failures.
Full text of the plaque:
THE HOUSING CRISIS AND ITS ARCHITECTS
In 2025, the average Toronto home costs nearly $1.2 million - while the average household earns just $84,000 a year. In 20 years, the price-to-income ratio has more than doubled, pushing homeownership out of reach for an entire generation.
This did not happen by accident. It is the result of policies enacted by Toronto Council that crippled our city’s growth.
POLITICAL COWARDICE - Keeping property taxes low for those comfortably housed and shifting the burden onto new buyers through skyrocketing development charges.
SURRENDERING TO NIMBYs - A handful of vocal homeowners - armed with time and privilege - dictate policy for millions. Density? Affordable housing? Sixplexes? Not in their backyard. Council obliges.
LACK OF LEADERSHIP - Terrified of being held accountable, councillors hide behind endless studies and reports, kicking the can down the road. Meanwhile, prices soar and young families leave.
In March 2025, Council voted to raise their own salaries to $170,588, insulating themselves from the affordability crisis of their own making.
They also voted to name this park after one of their own, a fiercely anti-development councillor who was the embodiment of Council’s worst impulses. During her long tenure, she delayed construction projects, disparaged pro-housing advocates during public consultations, and blocked every attempt to build a more inclusive city.
By memorializing her, the Council has once again sent out a clear message - this is a city for wealthy property owners, and anyone else can pitch a tent. Just not here - they made that illegal as well.
Erected by Toronto Future Heritage Society - Saving us from those who are “saving Toronto”
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Wikipedia article for Jaye Robinson
Three Toronto councillors hopelessly exacerbating the housing crisis. More Neighbours Toronto, September 2022. Includes Jaye Robinson saying that there’s no shortage of housing supply and that Toronto should be a museum, and accusing people speaking in favour of housing of being developer plants.
Jaye Robinson, September 2018. A New Secondary Plan for the Yonge-Eglinton Neighbourhood - Great News!
I've been a vocal opponent of the out-of-control pace of development in the Yonge-Eglinton neighbourhood at City Council for many years. The Yonge-Eglinton Urban Growth Centre (UGC) is the most densely populated UGC in the Greater Golden horseshoe and ranks among the densest communities in Canada. Over the past several years, I've repeatedly asked the Chief Planner for a moratorium on new development applications until the City's infrastructure is improved to accommodate the rapid influx of new residents.
On June 7, 2018, City Planning staff's new Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan was presented to the Planning and Growth Management Committee. While the Secondary Plan included many beneficial policies, I was very concerned by the permitted building heights proposed for the north-east quadrant of Yonge and Eglinton. If City staff's plan was adopted, building heights on Broadway Avenue, Roehampton Avenue and Eglinton Avenue would range from 32 to 56 storeys. I introduced a motion calling for further community consultation to ensure that the new Secondary Plan accurately reflected our vision for the future of this neighbourhood.
I assembled a working group of neighbours to create a revised plan lowering the permitted building heights in the north-east quadrant of Yonge-Eglinton to between 15 and 20 storeys. After an overwhelming show of community support, the Planning and Growth Management (PGM) Committee voted unanimously in favour of my motion to adopt reduced building heights on July 5, 2018.