It was a tough day to be heard on the campaign trail in Toronto’s mayoral race. Literally. Braving the rain to make a flurry of announcements, the candidates took to the busy streets and transit stations of the city, but found themselves talking over transport trucks (Brad Bradford) and protesting federal workers (Olivia Chow).
It’s also getting harder to be heard because of the sheer number of candidates. There are now a record 68 candidates running for mayor of Toronto.
Here’s some of what they had to say today:
Taking a nearby federal workers protest in stride, Chow intermittently danced along to the chants as she made an announcement about improving transit in Scarborough outside Scarborough Centre Station.
If elected, Chow said, she would build a dedicated bus lane along the current route of the decommissioned Scarborough RT. The move, she said, would save transit riders as much as 10 minutes compared to having to ride the bus in regular traffic while they are waiting for the Scarborough subway extension to be built.
“Can you handle waiting an extra 20 minutes when this thing goes down?” Chow asked riders, referring to the RT. “That’s not good enough.”
The aged transit system is slated to be decommissioned in the fall. The TTC has said that it will replace service on the line with shuttle bus service running along bus lanes with priority transit signals for seven years until the Scarborough subway extension is completed in 2030.
Chow pegged the cost of the dedicated bus route at $60 million. She said converting the Gardiner East to an at-grade boulevard from Cherry Street to the DVP would save the city millions of dollars which it could then direct to other projects.
Council narrowly rejected that idea in a contentious 2015 vote.
City staff are continuing to examine a dedicated busway, but it remains unfunded and the latest staff reports indicate it might not be constructed before the subway extension is built.
Meanwhile Josh Matlow vowed in a tweet that as mayor, he would “move forward with a fully funded and reliable transit plan for Scarborough residents when the RT closes this year.”
He didn’t provide specifics, but said he would have more to say soon.
The eastern stretch of the Gardiner was also on Brad Bradford’s mind. The candidate said Wednesday that if elected, he would change city bylaws to permit 24/7 construction on the Gardiner East rebuild.
He said construction taking place between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. would be limited to sites no closer than 100 metres from an occupied residential property.
“There's some folks in this race who actually want to reopen debates seven years ago and ask for more studies that would increase the costs, delays and inflationary pressures and rob people of time in their lives as they sit in the gridlock caused by political gridlock,” Bradford said, speaking above the din of passing transport trucks.
He said he would also allow 24/7 construction on other priority projects away from residential areas.
Mark Saunders won quietest news conference Wednesday, though that quiet was likely meant to help illustrate his point. Standing at a plot of unused city land, Saunders said the city builds far less housing than it proposes and said he would work to build more housing faster.
He said he would “simplify” the approval process at city hall for getting projects built and use “every tool and option at my disposal, including strong mayor powers, to tackle this issue if we don’t get moving on day one.”
He said he would also introduce a “two-way” system of accountability between the city and builders, “remove silos between city departments” and “digitize processes that are currently paper-based.”
He said further details about his plan would be released in the coming days.
Mitzie Hunter took some time to talk mental health Wednesday, unveiling a five-point plan to tackle the mental health crisis.
“Health care is primarily the responsibility of the province, but at a time when our leading organizations are sounding the alarm, the city can and must play a more central role in supporting the mental health and addiction needs of our people,” Hunter said.
Among other things, Hunter said she would hire a “Chief Mental Health Officer” for the city, boost funding for community partnerships and create a long-term mental health and addiction strategy.
In other news, it seems unlikely that the city will see all candidates gathered together in one place before voters head to the polls. That’s because there are now a record 68 candidates running for mayor of Toronto. That the most since the 2014 race which brought John Tory to power and a record since amalgamation.
