When we launched our ”If I Were Mayor,” series to coincide with the municipal election, we asked to hear your ideas on how to make this city a better place.
In our first instalment, we asked 12 notable Torontonians what they would do if voters gave them the city’s top job in October. They called for fleets of ice cream trucks, untamed urban meadows and campaigns to promote stricter adherence to social etiquette, among many other things.
This edition has submissions from more people you might recognize. But we’ve also included some of the many ideas Star readers sent in.
We’ll be sharing more of them in the days to come, and hope that you’ll send yours so we can share it with the rest of the city. Everything you need to know to send in your submission is at the bottom of this page.
If the leading candidates for mayor are savvy enough, they’ll be taking notes.
Dan Riskin, former host of Discovery Channel Canada’s ‘Daily Planet’
As a bat biologist and citizen of Toronto, I have a few big ideas I’d love to put into place for this great city.
Free transit: Many of the world’s greatest cities have free transit, like Belgrade and Cold Lake, Alberta. By making the TTC, the GO train and the UP Express free, we will increase ridership and reduce traffic congestion.
Giant bat cave under city hall: Don’t think of it as losing a parkade, think of it as gaining a sophisticated mosquito prevention program.
Blue Jays “Bat Days”: Nothing says “Let’s go Blue Jays” quite like releasing tens of thousands of little brown bats from behind home plate. OK, maybe letting a bunch of Blue Jays go would also work, but I think bats are more aligned with my vision for the city.
New Crime-Prevention Illumination System: Here’s the plan … we get a giant spotlight. Like, a super powerful one. Then I cut out a piece of cardboard in the shape of a bat. This unconventional system has seen dramatic drops in crime for other jurisdictions, and I’d like to try it here, too.
Aisha Jamal, Hot Docs film programmer
If I were mayor, I would introduce a basic income for artists and call it the Toronto Creates Income.
As someone who works in the arts, I, like many of my peers, have to work other jobs like teaching to live in the big squeeze. Torontonians love to go to the movies, attend concerts or live theatre but no one really wants to pay the artist behind it all a living wage.
As mayor, I would do what Ireland does: pay artists who are actively working a minimum weekly income. This would be regardless of other income, so an artist you can still earn money on top. You wouldn’t need to propose a project or have specific outcomes to prove you deserve the money. You just get paid and make art!
A steady income would give artists the freedom to focus on long-term creative work without the weight of financial anxiety. More of us could actually stay in creative careers and not just start them. This means stronger ideas, richer culture, and a creative ecosystem that benefits us all!
Davis Schneider, Toronto Blue Jays fielder
If I were mayor of Toronto, I wouldn’t really change too much. I love this city, I love the people. I love the way people go around and do things.
Maybe the one thing would probably be the taxes. It’s a lot of taxes. I mean, I’m not complaining about it, but you know, help some people out, make some people pay less money.
But other than that, I love everything about this city, about this country and couldn’t be more grateful to play here.
If I were mayor, I would just probably keep doing what everyone else is doing. I feel like the city is thriving. People love being here. I don’t really have that many complaints about it.
Rachel Kennedy and Laura Paduch, Toronto Fringe directors and co-leads
We’d split the job into a co-mayorship.
We would bring the same breakdown of duties to city hall as we have here as co-leads of the Toronto Fringe Festival. Laura would delve into the day-to-day operations to streamline individual departments, while Rachel would work on collaborations.
This would allow us to seek out new ways for portfolios to work together, building partnerships with other cities internationally and within Canada, and pulling together organizations within the social services and non-profit sectors to provide wraparound supports for Torontonians.
This would be a turbo boost for the resources the city already has, and the best way to discover what is missing.
Toronto’s arts sector punches above its weight on the international stage, and boosts the local economy on a daily basis.
Our co-mayorship would bestow agency to the night economy manager to allow them the resources to support artists of all disciplines, and to help residents and tourists discover Toronto’s rich and diverse cultural offerings.
And would the Toronto Arts Council budget triple during our term? Safe bet.
Our co-mayorship would uphold life/work balance, while identifying gaps, closing them, and setting policies that benefit all sectors because teamwork makes the dream work.
Diana Yoon, climate and housing advocate
More community-owned buildings: The city could double the multi-unit residential acquisition program, allowing community organizations to purchase rental buildings and keep them permanently affordable as co-ops, non-profits and community land trusts.
Right now, when an apartment building goes up for sale, tenants are left in limbo, fearing rent hikes, renovictions or displacement.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. That same building could be purchased and kept affordable — so the people who live there can stay.
Widen the electorate: In a city where nearly half the population is made up of immigrants, extending municipal voting rights to permanent residents would strengthen our democracy and better reflect the people who call Toronto home.
Astra Burka, architect and filmmaker
If I were mayor I would like to be known as the “Mayor of Creativity.” What we are missing here in Toronto is a bold, creative, long-term vision filled with humour and happy places.
We can start by streamlining bureaucracy and getting rid of the dreary bureaucratic branding talk.
We have to create new ways of talking and bring fun, positive energy to how we operate. We need to stop using such expressions as “I will look in my tool kit to solve congestion.” City hall bureaucrats prefer to try to convey stability rather than allow creative expression and action.
I would love to hear enthusiasm from them. The words: “That is a great idea” and “Let’s go for it.” Instead, bureaucratic responses create barriers that result in half measures, compromises, NIMBYism and expensive solutions.
How to send us your ideas
Email [email protected] with the following:
- Your idea in 200 words or less
- A short (45 seconds or less), selfie-style video clip with your elevator pitch.
- A headshot
How to take your headshot
- Face the camera straight on
- Stand against a plain, white or light-coloured background
- Ensure an unobstructed view of head and shoulders
- Resolution: 4000×3000 pixels
Need some inspiration? Check out these ideas from notable Torontonians.
And read what columnist Matt Elliott has to say about the city’s most important job.
Correction — May 2, 2026
This article has been updated from a previous version to correct the spelling of Diana Yoon’s first name.
