There are six days of campaigning left in the Toronto election campaign and the debates just keep on coming, with two held Tuesday.
This morning’s crowd of Toronto real estate stakeholders was most receptive to the tax cutting mantras of Doug Ford, but John Tory answered each and every jab from Ford with a reasoned response. Tory kept his tone positive despite the continual attacks from Ford. Olivia Chow tried to stick to the questions but her answers did assume tax increases and the need to invest in services throughout the city.
Tory came to the debate armed with a series of motions on different programs from city hall that the Fords voted against. Ford ducked the issue, avoided his voting record and tried to change the channel by going back to poking jabs at Tory’s resume.
After that back and forth between the two leaders in this race Chow tried to bring the discussion back to the original question on taxes and social programs. Later in the session Chow again borrowed Ford’s lines this time asking Tory where his engineering study is for his SmartTrack transit plan. Ford has challenged Tory to explain his plan and tell voters which engineering firm has reviewed it. Ford held up a piece of paper, not Chow’s napkin, but pretty close to mock the Tory SmartTrack plan. The only difference between the Ford and Chow debate attacks on the Tory plan is the volume at which they are delivered. It’s worth noting the neither Ford nor Chow have released their engineering plans for their transit plans.
This morning Tory turned to Ford asking who did the engineering study for Ford’s promised Finch subway line. Ford didn’t answer that question. The reality is that the three leading candidates have plans that live only in their imaginations. No Torontonian can know if any of the plans can pass the various political, legal, environmental or practical obstacles each one faces.
This afternoon, Ari Goldkind’s campaign released a very detailed transit plan. It’s 19 pages of small-print detail on how Goldkind would get the city moving. It’s called “More than a Map.” It recognizes the obstacles that must be overcome to ease gridlock, congestion and improve public transportation. The plan has three phases that would be rolled out over 15 years at a total cost of more than $50 billion. The first promise is “12 new rapid transit lines with a total distance of approximately 207.5 km -- increasing Toronto’s subway, LRT and streetcar rapid transit network by close to 50 per cent.” Goldkind’s proposal comes with a YouTube video and is more detailed than the one-page maps of the other three candidates, but it too reads like someone’s dream of what could be. Goldkind has clearly given the issue a lot of thought. I wonder if his campaign might have fared better if this plan had been released in June instead of six days before the election. Tonight on CP24, Goldkind said his campaign held back the release of the plan until he was seen to be a serious candidate.
The Toronto Star today joined the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Sun in endorsing Tory. The Star editorial acknowledged the contribution Chow has made to the race and applauded her “compassion” but in the end the Star opted for Tory. The editorial called him a “diplomat and unifier.” There is no way of knowing the influence of newspaper endorsements when there are fewer and fewer readers out there. Ford jumped on that notion tonight and dismissed the three endorsements. “People don’t pay attention to newspapers in this town,” he said. But having three papers back one candidate builds on the growing list of prominent Torontonians who have thrown their support behind Tory. Today a release from the Tory campaign announced a list of fashion leaders in Toronto who are supporting him for mayor. When the city’s fashionistas decide to get behind Tory can we start talking about a Tory bandwagon?
