What to know
- Olivia Chow’s campaign is highlighting accomplishments on 911 response times, libraries, transit, housing, homelessness and RentSafeTO.
- Chow says 15,000 units of city-led and supported housing are under construction toward her 25,000-home promise.
- Chris Alexander says Chow deserves credit for individual accomplishments but argues they do not amount to a successful first term.
- Brad Bradford says Toronto needs “real change and real results,” pointing to congestion, affordability, safety and transit.
One day after Toronto’s first major mayoral debate, Olivia Chow’s campaign is shifting the focus back to her record in office, highlighting a list of promises she says she has delivered on during her first term.
Chow’s campaign posted a list on social media which covers everything from emergency services and libraries to transit, housing and homelessness, giving Chow’s re-election campaign an opportunity to make the case that commitments made when she ran for mayor have translated into concrete changes across the city.
On emergency services, Chow says her administration hired more 911 operators, resulting in calls being answered 89 per cent faster. She is also pointing to the creation of Toronto’s Community Crisis Service, which her campaign describes as the city’s fourth emergency service.
Libraries are another area where Chow says she followed through on a campaign commitment. Her campaign says all 100 Toronto Public Library branches are now open seven days a week, with longer hours.
On transit, Chow is highlighting the Scarborough Busway, which is scheduled to open this month. Her campaign says the project was funded in her first budget as mayor.
Chow is also pointing to changes at RentSafeTO, saying her administration doubled the number of RentSafeTO officers and introduced a pass/fail system requiring apartment buildings to display their inspection status.
Housing and homelessness feature prominently in the list. Chow’s campaign says the city has supported 6,427 households with $1,000 rent supplements, while 15,000 units of city-led and supported housing are currently under construction.
That falls short of the 25,000 new rental homes on city-owned land that Chow had promised, although the campaign is counting those units as part of its progress toward that commitment.
On homelessness, Chow says her administration has added hundreds of 24/7 respite spaces and increased funding for drop-in services.
The campaign is also highlighting a change to Toronto’s land transfer tax. Chow had promised to implement a luxury homes tax, and her campaign points to the increase in the land transfer tax on homes sold for more than $3 million as having fulfilled that promise.
The list comes a day after Chow, Brad Bradford and Chris Alexander faced questions at the Daily Bread Food Bank mayoral debate, where housing affordability and homelessness were among the major issues discussed.
Alexander says Chow’s wins don’t make a first-term record
In a statement to Now Toronto, Alexander’s campaign said the candidate considers some of the three accomplishments meaningful, but argued they represent only a small part of Chow’s record.
“A busway, a warm room in January, and a bylaw for tenants matter but that’s not the rest of the term,” Alexander said.
He pointed to what he described as rising taxes, a budget shortfall, increased homelessness, lower TTC ridership and declining homebuilding as evidence that Chow’s broader record is less successful.
“Three things right is a good week but it is not a first term,” he said.
Alexander also questioned how Chow is measuring progress on housing, arguing that the mayor is counting homes when they are approved rather than when they are completed and occupied.
He said that if elected, he would put greater emphasis on measuring completed housing and people actually housed, rather than approvals and announcements.
He also called for closer work with the federal and provincial governments to significantly expand affordable, community and co-operative housing in Toronto.
“The keys are not in the doors. That is not a record. That is a press release with a target on it,” Alexander said.
Bradford says Toronto needs ‘real change and real results’
Bradford’s campaign also pushed back on Chow’s characterization of her first-term record, arguing that the city is “stuck paying more and getting less.”
“Unlike NDP Mayor Olivia Chow, most Torontonians don’t think the city is living up to its full potential,” a campaign spokesperson said in a statement to Now Toronto. “Toronto has never been more congested, more expensive, or felt more unsafe.”
Bradford’s campaign took particular aim at Chow’s decision to highlight the Scarborough Busway, arguing that the project does not go far enough to address the area’s transit needs.
“She thinks a busway in time for an election is good enough. Brad disagrees,” the spokesperson said.
If elected, Bradford said he would make the Eglinton East LRT the city’s “top transit priority in action, not in name,” with a goal of getting shovels in the ground by the end of his first term, according to his campaign.
The campaign also said Bradford would focus on reducing congestion, addressing crime and lowering what it described as costs imposed on residents by City Hall.
“Last night, Brad made it clear that he is the only candidate who can bring change to the City of Toronto,” the spokesperson said.
