Mayoral candidates make their final pitch to Torontonians ahead of Monday’s vote

Four months after former mayor John Tory resigned after revealing he had an inappropriate affair with a member of his staff, Torontonians are just days away from choosing his successor.

The final weekend of the long and winding mayoral byelection campaign saw some of the top candidates make their final pitches to voters.

Olivia Chow, who has maintained a steady and commanding lead in public opinion polls since joining the race, continued to push her message that this election is about two choices: the status quo or change.

“In this election, we have a choice. We could continue with the status quo. We could continue to let this city decline. Or we could choose to come together and build a city that is affordable, more caring and safer, where everyone belongs.”

This mayoral race has been deja vu for Chow, who was also a strong favourite heading into the late stages of the 2014 municipal vote, which saw her ultimately finish third behind winner John Tory and runner-up Doug Ford, who had stepped in to replace his ailing brother Rob Ford.

She has said the difference this time around is she’s being her authentic self and trusting her political vision.

Her current campaign is leading with a pledge to get the city back into social housing development and an annual $100 million investment in a program to purchase affordable homes and transfer them to non-profits and land trusts. She also wants to expand rent supplements to 1,000 homes and boost the number of 24/7 respite homeless shelters – promises funded by an expanded land transfer tax on homes purchased for $3 million and above.

Chow has not delivered a fully costed platform and, despite repeated questions from critics, will not say how high she would raise property taxes, though she’s said any increase would be modest.

Former deputy mayor Ana Bailão continued to question Chow’s economic plan for the city along with her ties to the NDP.

“The city of Toronto is a $16 billion organization and we have residents facing an affordability and a housing crisis. This is not the time for someone driven by ideology, beholden to a political party who won’t be able to work with the other levels of government,” said Bailão, who has positioned herself as a pragmatic consensus builder backed by seven city councillors, nine Liberal parliamentarians and most recently received the endorsement of former mayor Tory.

“Now is not the time for Olivia Chow.”

Former Scarborough MPP Mitzie Hunter is asking Torontonians to consider a new voice to run the city.

“Toronto needs change because the systems are not working for people. And that is why I am in this race. Being from Scarborough, I represent that change. I know what it’s like being on the outside and let me tell you, change is not going to come from inside of city hall. Change will only come from the outside.”

Hunter is one of the few candidates who has released a fully costed platform, focusing on six priority areas including affordable housing and renter protection, and improving city and public transit services. She has said those improvements would be, in part, funded by a property tax increase of six per cent and below three per cent for households with income below $80,000.

Former police chief Mark Saunders, who has been trailing Chow in the public opinion polls, continued to highlight the difference between his plan and that of the long-time city councillor.

“I am knocking on doors and people are telling me ‘How do we make sure that Olivia Chow does not get into the seat?’ which is what started me saying ‘Stop Chow now’ and I was the answer for that. And I am the answer to that because all of the concerns are right there. When we talk about the contrast, the fact that I will fund the police to make sure that our city is safe – Olivia’s going to defund the police. The fact that she will be raising your taxes 25 per cent, that’s on average $2,000 per household, and I am going to freeze taxes to make sure that affordability is something that is key and critical to taxpayers.”

Saunders has pledged to increase the supply of housing by cutting down approval times, easing congestion by deprioritizing bike lanes on major streets and replacing supervised injection sites with treatment options to address drug use and homelessness. He’s also the candidate of choice for Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who recently came out and publicly endorsed the former police chief.

Brad Bradford continued to push his message of less talk and more action at City Hall.

“Toronto is tired of waiting. They are tired of waiting for the Eglinton Crosstown to open, they’re tired of waiting for the Gardiner to be rebuilt, they’re tired of waiting for housing that they can afford,” said the Beaches-East York councillor who has a background in urban planning. “Throughout the course of the campaign I have focused on common sense, practical solutions that will make a material differnce in Torontonians lives. Finding ways to build more housing for more people, faster. Rebuilding the Gardiner two years sooner by running 24/7 construction.”

Bradford has a four-point plan to curb violence on the city’s transit system, a program to boost small businesses and has called for the lifting of a ban on recreational drinking in city parks.

Polls will open at 10 a.m. on Monday, June 26 for residents to cast their ballot.

CityNews will have up to the minute election coverage starting at 8 p.m. on Citytv, CityNews 24/7, CityNews 680 and Citynews.ca.

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report