Compensation for Local Storefronts
Over 300 small businesses along Eglinton Avenue were forced to close their doors due to unending transit construction. While local family businesses went bankrupt, contractors collected full fees and executive bonuses. It is time to make them pay.
1. The Eglinton Small Business Relief Fund
Jason McDonald will champion the creation of a dedicated Eglinton Small Business Relief Fund. This fund will provide direct financial grants and tax offsets to surviving and recovering small businesses along the Eglinton corridor.
Crucially, this fund will not be paid for by Ward 8 property taxpayers. It will be financed entirely through penalty fines levied against transit agencies, Metrolinx contractors, and utility firms that missed contractual deadlines.
2. Direct Financial Compensation for Devastated Business Owners
Local barbers, grocers, dry cleaners, and restaurant owners carried the financial burden of City Hall's infrastructure mismanagement. We will establish a streamlined compensation process allowing verified Ward 8 small businesses to claim property tax rebates and commercial fee credits proportional to construction duration.
3. Executive Bonus Clawbacks on Delayed Public Projects
It is unacceptable for transit executives and corporate project managers to receive performance bonuses while public projects are years late and crippling local neighborhoods.
Jason will push for legal clawback provisions in all municipal service agreements, requiring return of performance bonuses whenever public transit infrastructure fails to meet contractual delivery schedules.
4. Reinvesting Clawed-Back Funds into Ward 8 Streetscapes & Parking
Every dollar recovered from negligent contractors will stay inside Ward 8. Funds will be directed into immediate neighborhood revitalizations: street lighting, shopper parking validation programs, sidewalk repairs, and neighborhood security grants.