Ontario is planning to make changes to a housing fund for municipalities that many have said unfairly measures their progress on building, the minister signalled in a speech Tuesday.

Rob Flack told the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa that he is going to consult with mayors and the association to “extend and improve” the Building Faster Fund.

“That includes ensuring the fund reflects the new market we are in, as well as encouraging municipalities to cut development charges and get shovels in the ground faster on key infrastructure projects,” he said.

The fund rewards municipalities that achieve at least 80 per cent of a housing target the provincial government assigns and gives them money to put toward housing-enabling infrastructure – often coming by way of a novelty cheque from Flack or Premier Doug Ford.

This past year, just 23 of the 50 municipalities with assigned targets hit their thresholds, down sharply from 32 the previous year.

Some municipalities say that rewarding or leaving out cities and towns based on when construction starts is unfair, because while municipalities are responsible for approvals, they can’t control when a builder starts a project.

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Clarington, Ont., missed qualifying for what the mayor said would be $4 million in funding by just 13 housing units.

“All of the big city mayors have the same concern,” Mayor Adrian Foster said in a recent interview.

“I think Clarington has something like 7,000 permits that could be pulled, or very easily pulled by developers with a minimal amount of work. We can’t force developers to pull the permits even after we’ve approved those permits. So there are a variety of problems with using starts. We’re being held accountable for something we can’t control, and not getting credit for the stuff that we can control.”

Foster said Clarington actually surpassed the 80 per cent threshold, but Ontario is using faulty data based on an undercount by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. He is hopeful that discussions about it with the province will remedy the issue, but is frustrated because the same issue happened last year, with Clarington not qualifying for the funding at first.

“It is déjà vu all over again,” he said.

The fund is one of many ways the government has been trying to spur home building, as Ontario is well off the pace of home building that’s needed to achieve Ford’s goal of getting 1.5 million homes built by 2031.

Ontario only reached about 75 per cent of its interim target for getting 125,000 homes built in 2024, even after it tacked on about 20,000 long-term care beds, retirement home suites, post-secondary student housing beds and additional residential units to its count of traditional housing starts.

CMHC figures released Monday show the country’s annual pace of housing starts in July rose four per cent year-over-year, but in Ontario there was a decline of 28 per cent.

Ford announced Monday at the conference that the province is putting $1.6 billion more toward the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program, which helps municipalities get housing built.

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An Ontario homeowner is facing assault charges after a violent encounter with an alleged intruder inside his apartment early Sunday morning.

According to a release issued by Kawartha Lakes Police Service, officers were called to a residence on Kent Street in Lindsay at around 3:20 a.m. on Aug. 18, following reports of an altercation between two men.

Police say the resident woke up to find another man inside his home.

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A physical struggle broke out, leaving the alleged intruder with life-threatening injuries.

He was taken to Ross Memorial Hospital before being airlifted to a Toronto trauma center.

The 44-year-old homeowner has been charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.

He was released from custody with a future court date.

Meanwhile, police say the 41-year-old alleged intruder was already wanted for unrelated offences.

He now faces additional charges, including break and enter, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, mischief under $5,000 and failing to comply with probation.

He will remain in custody pending a bail hearing once released from hospital.

Police say there is no ongoing threat to public safety.

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An eight-year-old Toronto boy killed by a stray bullet while he was in bed with his family is being remembered as a compassionate and fearless child as the community prepares to hold a vigil in his memory later this week.

JahVai Roy was killed in his home in the city’s north end early Saturday morning in what police have called a “cowardly act.”

Marcell Wilson, a friend of the family, said they are still in shock and trying to make sense of the death while making arrangements to bury the boy.

Wilson described JahVai as “a genuinely good, happy, compassionate, kind, curious child,” who always made sure to look after his mom and his two siblings.

“He was the type of boy that wanted to climb a tree, or if there was a bird or something, he’d want to pick it up and touch it,” Wilson said in an interview Tuesday. “He was fearless.”

The vigil for JahVai is set to take place Thursday evening near the apartment building where he died.

The Toronto police homicide unit has said a bullet from a shooting outside the building in the Martha Eaton Way and Trethewey Drive area entered the residence at around 12:30 a.m. Saturday. Police said stray bullets also entered two other units, but no one else was injured.

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“Despite every parent’s instinct to keep their children safe at home, that sanctuary was shattered in an instant,” says a statement on an online fundraiser launched to support JahVai’s family.

The GoFundMe page has already raised more than $57,000, and says funds will help the family with funeral expenses, relocation costs and trauma counselling.

Wilson said JahVai’s mom is currently trying to pick out the clothes she’ll put on her son before she buries him in Wikwemikong First Nation on Manitoulin Island, where traditional ceremonies will be held to honour the boy’s Ojibway-Jamaican heritage.

Wilson, who is also the founder of advocacy organization The One By One Movement, said he first met the family four years ago when they reached out seeking support for JahVai’s older sister, who was being bullied.

From the young age of six, Wilson said JahVai was a strong advocate against bullying and became the youngest member in a child youth council initiative run by Wilson’s organization.

“Because of the stress that his sister was experiencing, he was very enthusiastic about contributing and learning more about bullying and becoming sort of an ambassador for that in his age group,” Wilson said.

Coun. Frances Nunziata, who represents the neighbourhood where JahVai was killed, said she has been in touch with the boy’s family several times to support them.

“I really can’t get over this. It makes me sick of gun violence and innocent people throughout the city being killed,” she said.

Nunziata said she’s received many emails from community members asking how they can show support, and she’s inviting them to attend Thursday’s vigil and help work on solutions to end gun violence.

“It’s just crazy what’s happening,” Nunziata said. “We’re not even safe in our own homes.”

The vigil is being organized by 20-year-old Tenzin Urgyen, a community member who didn’t know the family before the shooting but said he felt sick to his stomach after hearing the news, and was inspired to take action.

He said he’s since spoken to the boy’s family over the phone to learn more about JahVai and how he can show his support.

One of the things he learned from JahVai’s mom is that her son loved the colour blue. Urgyen said he was inspired to ask community members to wear blue as part of a vigil invitation shared on social media.

“I wanted to honour him, honour the words of the family,” Urgyen said.

He’s expecting about 300 people to attend the vigil, including Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, police inspectors and many community members.

Wilson said he hopes the deadly shooting acts as a “wake-up call” to spark community and government action against gun violence.

“We don’t want to see another JahVai Roy, ever. So let this be the last. And the only way this can be the last is that we all work together,” Wilson said.

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