Here’s a look at what happened on the campaign trail in Toronto the week of April 14-20.

Chow in the lead

A new poll put Olivia Chow in the lead in the race for the mayor’s office. According to the telephone poll conducted by Forum Research and released April 16, Chow now sits at 34 per cent support among voters. That compares to 27 per cent support for incumbent Rob Ford and 24 per cent for radio host John Tory. Former TTC Chair Karen Stintz sits at just six per cent support while former budget chief David Socknacki sits at four per cent support. The poll is considered accurate to within four percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Most councillors running again

A cp24.com survey published on Wednesday found that the overwhelming majority of councilors plan to seek re-election.

However, it appears that high-profile councillor Adam Vaughan may not be one of them. The Ward 20 councillor, who has been one of Mayor Rob Ford’s most vocal critics, told CP24 Thursday that he plans to run as a Liberal candidate in a federal byelection in the Trinity-Spadina riding. The byelection is being held to fill the seat vacated by Olivia Chow, who stepped down from the job in March in order to run for mayor. Vaughan will have to win the Liberal nomination first. No date has been set for the byelection so far.

Chow, Tory unveil gridlock proposals

On Thursday, both John Tory and Olivia Chow unveiled plans to ease the city’s gridlock. Tory’s proposals included keeping the Gardiner Expressway and exploring the possibility of using city waterways to move people around. Chow proposals included fining construction companies that block lanes of traffic for extended periods of time and using the revenue to pay for expanded smart traffic light technology.

Ford launches re-election campaign

Later Thursday, Mayor Rob Ford launched his re-election bid at a large banquet hall in Etobicoke. Surrounded by his “Ford Nation” supporters and a bevy of media, Ford conceded that he’s made mistakes, but vowed to his supporters that ‘he would never back down.’ While attendance estimates varied widely, there were reports that many of the tables in the venue sat unoccupied.

Firefighters not happy with prop

While the mayor’s campaign team sold T-shirts and Rob Ford bobbleheads, the prop which garnered the most attention was a fire truck purchased by the campaign at auction to sit as a prop in the hall. The truck sat draped in a sign that read ‘saving taxpayers from getting burned.’ The Toronto Professional Fire Fighters' Association quickly issued a statement calling the prop “tasteless” in light of planned cuts to fire services. After initially saying he wouldn’t comment on the controversy, Ford eventually responded Saturday, telling CP24 “I support front-line firefighters like no other mayor ever has.” Ford said the criticism amounted to “political games.”

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