Two weeks from today, Toronto’s headlines will be reporting on the results of the 2014 Toronto municipal election and today the first votes were cast in the advance polls.
For the rest of this week, including over the weekend, voters can go to their advance polling centres in their ward anytime between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Voters working downtown can drop in to city hall until Friday again between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. John Tory took advantage of the photo opportunity and was the first mayoral candidate to cast a ballot. The advance polling rules are different in each municipality in the Greater Toronto Area. Mississauga’s advance poll was last week and Brampton’s advance poll is this week but ends on Saturday. In Oshawa, advance polling is available today, Thursday and Saturday. So it’s important to check with your municipal office about where and when you can vote ahead of election day.
In the Toronto mayoral race, the endorsement game continued Tuesday. Olivia Chow stood in a park on a beautiful fall day with the leader of the Green party, Elizabeth May. Tory countered with an endorsement from the former leader of the federal Green party, Jim Harris. Maybe the Tory campaign is running out of names. Yesterday it reached outside the GTA to grab Halton Conservative MP Lisa Raitt’s approval.
For endorsement theatre Doug Ford topped them both unveiling a TV ad featuring the “endorsement” of Tory. The Ford campaign strategists went back into the files and found Tory quotes about Ford from 2010. The TV ad is once again in the storybook format with a female narrator quoting Tory as saying Ford would provide a “better run government.” She then adds, “Finally the true story from Mr. Tory.” In an interview with reporters today, Tory responded that he had “high hopes” for Ford four years ago. Now he said he was “disappointed and he (Ford) let a lot of us down.”
Ford had no new endorsements to announce this morning but said he can “feel” momentum building for his campaign. Ford promised to campaign in “every ward in the city” before election day. Today, Ford began his canvassing in York West’s Ward 8 and then in Willowdale’s Ward 23. Rob Ford won both wards in 2010. Ford said he’s going to “hit North York hard” in the coming days. It will be interesting to see how Ford is received in the 14 wards his brother did not win four years ago. This afternoon Ford promised to head downtown and campaign in Trinity-Spadina’s Ward 19. That ward is currently held by the late Jack Layton’s son, Mike. Ford said he’s surprised at the support he is getting in Layton’s ward. Ford opted to canvas in those North York wards instead of taking part in the debate hosted by the Canadian Club. Ford refuses to attend ticketed debates and it cost $70 to be in the room and watch today’s lunchtime session.
Tory and Chow have faced off one-on-one a few times now and today’s session was largely a rehash of the themes each candidate has pushed for months. Chow summed up saying she wants to bring the city together. Tory repeated his goal is to make “a good city great.”
Tonight’s session had the top three candidates at the table - that was the good news. The bad news was that the meeting was kept to a question and answer format with no opportunity for the candidates to engage in any exchange of ideas. That is likely to change on Wednesday afternoon when Radio 1010 hosts its debate. I expect the organizers of that one will allow the candidates time to exchange opinions.
Campaign notes
Mayor Rob Ford also came out to vote in today’s advance poll - the media were alerted and the cameras and reporters were waiting. Ford completed his second round of chemotherapy last week. He made his way slowly from the parking lot to the voting station. Ford looked weak and needed to take an elevator from the basement after voting. He told reporters his priority is to take care of his health. Ford timed his trip to vote to coincide with the debate at the Canadian Club.
In Mississauga, Mayor Hazel McCallion made news over the weekend throwing her support behind Coun. Bonnie Crombie. That left the other main candidate, Steve Mahoney, to trumpet his latest union endorsement, this one from the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers. Both Crombie and Mahoney have high political profiles in Mississauga and both are long-time members of the Liberal party. This is a close race and it will be interesting to what the impact McCallion’s endorsement might have on the race here.
