Municipal campaign workers across Toronto were up late last night and into the morning hours putting up their candidates’ election signs.

After weeks of door knocking and asking voters for permission the signs were loaded into cars and put on display. Candidates that put down $250 also get to put their signs on boulevards along pubic streets. John Tory said the sign blitz is an “organizational challenge for every campaign. Doug Ford was out overnight helping stake the signs. He said, “I can go all night putting out signs.” Olivia Chow promised that voters would see hundreds of her signs across the city. For the next three weeks it will be hard to get away from the blizzard of pitches from the hundreds of candidates running for office around Toronto.

For weeks now the Tory campaign has scheduled morning endorsement photo opportunities. One after another councillors and provincial politicians have taken a few minutes to stand beside Tory and state their support for the leading candidate in the race for mayor. Today it was Donna Cansfield’s turn. Tory drove out to Cansfield house in Etobicoke’s Ward 4 for today’s photo op. Many of Tory’s provincial backers are Liberals who sat opposite Tory in the Ontario Legislature when he was the leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party. One after another they’ve forgiven Tory his years as PC leader. Cansfield is a former Liberal Minister of Transportation from Etobicoke Centre. In 2010m, Rob Ford won all six Etobicoke wards by huge margins and it is critical for Tory to cut into that Ford support on Oct. 27. This morning Tory went into Ford Nation to accept Cansfield’s support. The last Forum Research poll had Tory and Doug Ford tied in Etobicoke and York and endorsements like Cansfield can’t hurt. Cansfield told CP24 that on the transit issue, “John can bring everyone to the table.”

Doug Ford held a news conference this afternoon and launched an attack on Tory’s SmartTrack plan. He called Tory “a slick talking politician” and then asked, “What’s the story, Mr. Tory? You’re so called smart plan isn’t so smart.” Ford then repeated his vow to only build subways – 32 kilometers worth. He said “it’s easy to find the $3 billion” Toronto share to make it happen. Ford was asked about Cansfield’s endorsement of Tory and repeated that he can work with the Ontario government. Ford said he talked with Charles Sousa, the finance minister, yesterday and Sousa told Ford, “I can work with you.” Sousa’s response: "The people of Ontario expect me as minister of finance to work with anyone who is democratically elected, and that's what I intend to do. However, it's worth noting that I was a co-chair for Mr. Tory's 2003 mayoral campaign." That’s the next best thing to another provincial Liberal endorsement for Tory.

Chow’s agenda today included two media stops, at The National Post and an interview with a Toronto Chinese radio station. On Friday, Chow is pulling out the stops for a full-on platform release that will include a lock-up so journalists can review the platform promises and costings and clarify what it will all mean. Then Chow will answer questions. Political strategist Will Stewart told CP24 yesterday that he is looking for some new policy announcement to give the Chow campaign a shot of life. It will be interesting to see if the Chow campaign delivers a headline that captures the attention of Toronto.