TORONTO — Olivia Chow spent Tuesday night defending the largest tax increase in Toronto’s history. Brad Bradford said residents still cannot see where the money went.The two met at Toronto Metropolitan University in the first debate since Chris Alexander quit the mayoral race that morning. Edward Keenan of the Toronto Star moderated, while advance voting opened the same day. Bradford put the tax rise at nearly 20% over Chow’s term. He said she had promised a modest increase in the last campaign. He said she inherited a $1.7 billion opening budget pressure, took billions from Ottawa and Queen’s Park, and still faces a $1.66 billion pressure. “People are asking, where did the money go?” he said. “And they’re asking, how can we trust you, an NDP mayor, not to keep raising taxes up and up and up.”Chow said she came in to fix a $1.8 billion hole and that the money went to libraries open seven days a week, more Toronto Transit Commission service, school meals and an early finish on the Gardiner. Asked if taxes and fees are too high, Bradford said yes, while Chow said this year’s increase was 2%, below inflation. .Bradford’s offer was a tax cut. He said he would scrap the city’s land-transfer tax, which he put at $18,000 on a move, cut water bills by $300 a year, and freeze property taxes in his first year. He said he would pay for it with a line-by-line review, the first in 15 years, and by separating operating and capital spending the way Ottawa has. He said a publicly owned water utility would keep the system in city hands and lower the bill. Chow countered that his plan would cut libraries, transit and housing, and make drinking water less safe, an argument that Bradford called scare tactics.On housing, Bradford said 77,000 people left the city last year, and cited an Ipsos poll for the Star that found three in four Toronto renters do not expect to buy. He said Chow promised 65,000 purpose-built rental homes by 2030 and that 1,500 have been built, about 2% of the target. “If we continue at that pace, it will take another 115 years,” he said. Chow said 15,000 homes are under construction, approvals are 80% faster, and she has a multi-billion-dollar housing spend lined up with Prime Minister Mark Carney and the province. The build totals are campaign claims..They also disagreed on the street count. Chow said homelessness is down 25% and that 98% of parks have no encampments. Bradford said the drop is 8% over two years. “I’m never going to stand up here and tell you that 4% year over year is something to celebrate,” he said. On transit, Bradford said ridership is down 20% from 2019, and that riders he talks to are staying off because the system is not safe, reliable or clean, not because a fare is $3.30. Chow said she froze fares, restored service and opened the Scarborough busway. She said Bradford voted for eight bike lanes in May 2023 and is now asking Premier Doug Ford to rip them out.radford said he would take the mayor’s seat on the Toronto Police Services Board, which Chow has not done, and hire 1,000 officers. Chow said gun crime and 911 waits are down, and that she would spend $28 million on youth jobs and mentorship.
