First of only 2 mayoral debates including Tory to be held Thursday
Posted October 12, 2022 5:17 pm.
Last Updated October 12, 2022 6:31 pm.
Just under two weeks before the municipal election, the first mayoral debate will be held Thursday, and it’s just one of two incumbent mayor John Tory plans to attend before voters cast their ballot on October 24.
Five mayoral candidates, Chloe Brown, Sarah Climenhaga, Gil Penalosa, John Tory, and Jack Yan, are all expected to face off in the debate hosted by the Canadian Association of Retired Persons.
The other debate is hosted by the Toronto Region Board of Trade on Monday, October 17, with the same five candidates invited to attend. The Board of Trade said their debate will focus on “thinking like a region, housing, transportation, technology and cutting red tape.”
One election expert said the lack of debates in this municipal election is a missed opportunity to “discuss some of the critical issues that were seeing in our city.”
“Debates are, of course, a critical part of any municipal election, and it’s unfortunate that we only have two. And those two are sponsored by an organization that works with older Canadians and then an organization that’s the Board of Trade,” said John Beebe, Founder of the Democratic Engagement Exchange at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Beebe said that having the debates limited to specific voter groups doesn’t allow for a healthy democracy for the rest of the residents who don’t fall into those categories, such as older voters and business owners.
He said it would be interesting to see if the candidates bring up other topics to bring awareness to issues beyond the concern of those two groups.
“We’re going to have to rely on the other candidates to raise those issues because it may not be that the hosts raise those issues,” he explained.
“But I’m not optimistic, and so a lot is going to be a missed opportunity to discuss some of the critical issues that we’re seeing in our city.”
He said these specific debates are happening for a reason.
“Older Canadians often vote, so they’re getting the candidates’ attention. They agree to participate in this debate. The business community is an important part of our community, and they are holding a debate and [candidates] are participating.”
Incumbent mayor Tory said he anticipates being on the defensive during the debates.
“I expect as properly so as an incumbent that I’ll be on the hot seat, but I have a record, and I’m proud of it in terms of advancing transit, advancing housing, advancing community safety,” Tory said.
“I think we have a record of real progress, and the question is going to be how do we take that progress and protect it, and how do we take that progress and move forward? I think the answer to that is going to be experienced leadership … And so, I’ll put all of that forward, and I will do it respectfully, and I hope that that’s the kind of discussion we could have.”
Candidate Gil Penalosa, meanwhile, told CityNews he was disappointed Tory did not accept any invitations to participate in other earlier debates.
I think it’s shameful that John Tory did not accept any of the multiple invitations to debate before the advanced voting began. That is bad for democracy. That is bad for the city,” the candidate said.
Advanced voting in Toronto began on October 7 and ends on October 14.
Penalosa said his strategy will be to ask voters if they are better off now than they were eight years ago.
“After you’ve been mayor for eight years, it’s not about discussing what you will do in the next four. No. What have you done in the last eight years? So that is going to be my simple strategy.”
He added he believes that some of the concerns that will be addressed during the CARP debate affect everyone.
“How are we going to have safe streets? How are we going to have public services that work? And that is the main concern of people over 60 but also people of any age,” said Penalosa.
The debate at the ZoomerPlex in Liberty Village begins at 11:30 a.m. Monday’s debate will start at 2 p.m. and is being held at The Carlu on Yonge Street.
You can find more information on how to vote in advance here.
