Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford traded blows over each other’s character, consistency and commitment to public service Tuesday night, as the leading candidates to be mayor of Toronto faced off one-on-one for the first time this election.
“How can people trust you?” the incumbent mayor asked of her rival, whom she has criticized for changing his positions on propositions he once supported, such as bike lanes in Etobicoke. “The only thing you’ve ever changed is your mind. Councillor Bradford, you will say anything to get elected.”
Bradford riposted, saying the fact he is willing to evolve in his positions is the mark of a leader. Chow, he said, is stuck in her ways and out of ideas.
“Mayor Chow has made her peace with the status quo,” he said. “Her campaign is out of ideas and out of gas.”
The two met at a debate hosted by the Toronto Star, Toronto Metropolitan University and United Way Greater Toronto, moderated by the Star’s Edward Keenan.
It was a contest that had meant to feature three mayoral contenders. But on Tuesday morning, Chris Alexander announced he was ending his campaign with less than three weeks until the Oct. 26 election.
The departure of the former federal immigration minister, who had been polling in the single digits, sets up a two-horse race down the final stretch of the campaign.
The latest polls indicate about a seven-point gap between Chow and Bradford, with margins of error around three percentage points.
Here are three takeaways from their debate.
Candidates fight to be face of progress
Chow and Bradford both positioned themselves as candidates who can propel the city forward.
The incumbent said she represents continued progress, claiming her opponent wants to drag Toronto back to what she called the “bad old days,” during which the city was under more austere leaders, whom she said had a propensity to cut services people relied on.
Bradford said he alone can drive Toronto “full steam” toward its potential. The city would stagnate if the incumbent is allowed to squander another term, he said.
“For me, this is a campaign of vision and ideas,” he said. “If you want to change the city, you have to change the mayor.”
Alexander’s absence creates new — and familiar — dynamic
Alexander, a former member of Stephen Harper’s cabinet, could be a blight to both his former rivals on the debate stage.
He professed surprisingly liberal views throughout his campaign. His answers to the Star’s Vote Compass survey led to him getting plotted on the same political compass quadrant as Chow. At earlier debates, he made a more generous funding offer to the arts community than the mayor, who is a trained sculptor, had ever given.
He also made some more fiscally conservative promises than Bradford, such as a true property tax freeze. (Bradford initially promised a freeze but later said he would keep the 1.5 per cent city building fund levy in place.)
Without him, the audience Tuesday night saw a dynamic that city hall watchers would be quite familiar with. Bradford, who is the outgoing Beaches—East York councillor, and Chow frequently tussled with each other over policy at council. Bradford has been the mayor’s loudest critic there since he lost the mayoral byelection to her in 2023. But tonight, with higher stakes and a bigger audience, their barbs were sharper.
Candidates zero in on rivals’ weak spots
One particularly revealing moment was when the candidates were invited to ask each other questions. They gave evasive answers, in the fashion of career politicians, but the questions they picked out were quite pointed and indicated what they thought their opponent’s biggest vulnerabilities are.
Chow said she visited Bradford’s ward. She claimed to have found residents dissatisfied with their councillor, who she said neglected them in favour of his mayoral pursuits.
“They needed help,” she said. “If you won’t show up for them, why should anyone trust you with the city? They needed a councillor. You were too busy with your own ambitions.”
It was a sentiment that echoed her late husband Jack Layton’s famous critique of then Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, whom he said didn’t deserve a promotion to prime minister when he had the worst attendance record in the House of Commons.
Bradford said his constituents were dissatisfied with Chow, too. He jabbed her for raising taxes more than her predecessors and more than he believed residents were prepared for.
“You promised everybody a ‘modest’ tax increase,” he said. “Those were your words. You delivered the largest tax increase in city history. What do you say to folks concerned about your tax hikes?”
Chow said she took over an underfunded city that needed a cash infusion for repairs and to grow services. She said larger increases earlier in her mayoralty allowed her to keep her most recent property tax increase to the rate of inflation. She previously said she would keep future tax hikes “at or around” inflation every year if re-elected.
