I tend to agree with Tenblock's view.
I will split the difference here, btw you and
@Undead as I'm inclined to do.
I find Tenblock's take, in respect of building the additional unit to be right on-point; that does help increase supply, which is great.
However, I find the suggestion that racism is related to people's opinion of the idea, at best, a far reach, and at worse, a form of racism itself.
For one thing, it clearly implies that home ownership in the Toronto region is the exclusive prerogative of Caucasians........which is so patently absurd as to be offensive.
I completely disagree with that take. Judging by the way they toss out words like POC, indigenous and "problematic" it seems like they're just hopped up on critical studies theory that's pouring out of the universities. Pure conjecture.
Addressed above.
A dev buying up condos to rent out would be celebrated--lol what? Did they miss the tide of hatred rolling around for condo investors who snap up units to rent out?
Agree. The simply act of buying up existing supply does nothing to increase supply.
It simply shifts who benefits economically (CORE) in this case.
The actual, consistent, inclusion of second units, however, does increase supply and is laudable in that regard.
******
To sum up:
Is Core doing something terrible? No.
Are the 'second units' they are building a good thing? Yes.
Are some SFH owners (of all backgrounds) NIMBY when it comes to rental housing in their community? Yes
Is the developer acting selflessly to address the housing crisis? No. They are padding their bottom line. If it happens to help around the edges, that's great; but not the primary purpose.
If Core really wants to help the rental housing crisis, building new purpose-built rental would probably be a better choice.