Ottawa Election 2026: Michael Tay, Somerset Ward

What is the single biggest reason housing costs so much in your ward? And what would you do about it in your first year in council?

When I think about it, I would say we lack the right kind of housing.

We need more, but not just one kind.

We need a diversification of all the different kinds of housing.

So we need to make sure that the city is building more housing.

We need to reduce the red tape.

But really, it's making sure that we have all the different kinds of housing.

That includes supportive housing, affordable housing, deeply affordable housing.

market red family unit, the availability of more of these type of houses allows people to kind of choose where they want to be.

The idea is that Centretown is a place that lots of people like to live because of the availability of being able to walk to work, bike to work, get around the city very easily.

So if we increase the amount of housing and the diversification of the type of housing, I believe it will make a big step towards that.

In the first year, my focus would be, you know, make it easier and faster to build this large, different kinds, these different kinds of housing, because it provides us with that opportunity to live.

And with that bigger stock, we'll have a more affordable system.

Ottawa's committed to more homes inside existing neighborhoods throughout the city.

Where in your ward should new density go? And maybe more importantly, where should it stay off the table?

I say I support intensification, especially in the downtown area.

Right.

We have a lot of like we have the potential to have large buildings.

We have probably the most kind of diversification of large buildings, small buildings, duplexes, triplexes and everything.

So I think it's a good area to increase the stock.

But it's also to consider whether or not the the density matches with the infrastructure.

do we have the ability to increase the types of housing, but also have the available infrastructure for it to work? And that includes reliable transportation, parks, recreation, trees, having more green spaces and ensuring that the people who are living there, they have a good sense of that our growth matches with the infrastructure.

That's what people want.

They don't want to just see buildings piled up without the available infrastructure that exists with it.

So to make sure that we have that, It also, to increase that intensification, we need to make sure that the infrastructure matches.