TORONTO — Councillor Brad Bradford told Olivia Chow during Thursday night’s mayoral debate that Torontonians have lived through the largest property-tax increase in the city’s history after she promised only a modest rise in the last campaign.“It’s the biggest bait and switch in Toronto political history,” Bradford said. “How are you going to pay for your campaign promises other than raising everyone’s taxes?”Chow defended her record, saying the first two years in office were spent fixing a post-COVID budget shortfall and that this year’s increase was 2%, below inflation. She said most of her new promises are already booked into the 2027 budget.Bradford opened the debate by saying the city is “stuck in traffic, stuck feeling less safe, and stuck paying more and getting less.” He pledged a property-tax freeze in his first year, a line-by-line budget review, and the elimination of the municipal land-transfer tax, which he said would save the average homebuyer $18,000..He also promised 1,000 additional front-line police officers and a $300 annual cut to water bills by creating a publicly owned municipal water utility, a model used in Windsor, Kingston, Calgary and Edmonton. Chow accused the plan of opening the door to privatization under Premier Doug Ford. Bradford called the claim false and said provincial law already bars private ownership of water utilities. He said he would resign his seat if Toronto water were ever privatized.On housing, Bradford said Chow promised 65,000 new purpose-built rental units by 2030 but has delivered only 1,500 — 2% of the target. He said continuing at that pace would take 115 years and noted the city has recorded the lowest housing starts in 30 years. Chow said 15,000 units are already under construction on city land and that seven out of ten cranes in the sky are the result of her rental plan. She credited a partnership with Prime Minister Mark Carney for federal funding that she said will make a two-bedroom apartment $48,000 cheaper to build.Chow also pointed to frozen TTC fares, a ten-ride weekly pass with free rides the rest of the week, and a school lunch program. Bradford said the lunch plan is unfunded and would require every municipality in Ontario and across the country to adopt the same model.Voters go to the polls on Monday
