TORONTO — Coun. Brad Bradford and former Conservative MP Chris Alexander used Monday’s first full Toronto mayoral debate to hammer Mayor Olivia Chow on public safety, TTC disorder, and a property-tax record that has already climbed more than 18% in one term.
The three frontrunners met at the Daily Bread Food Bank warehouse on New Toronto St. in Etobicoke, with food-bank CEO Neil Hetherington moderating before more than 300 people. Voting day is October 26.
Bradford opened by tying Chow’s record to the room they were standing in. He said food-bank visits hit 4.1 million this year, up 340% since 2019, and that more than one in 10 Torontonians now relies on a food bank to get through the month.
“Toronto’s stuck,” Bradford said. “We’re stuck paying more and getting less. We’re stuck waiting for the bus that’s never coming. And we’re stuck feeling less safe than we used to.”
He said Chow promised a modest tax increase three years ago and delivered what he called the largest hike in the city’s history. On the Gardiner and DVP upload, he said the $1.9 billion windfall still did not stop an “unprecedented” 20% tax run-up. “That math doesn’t add up.”
Chow pointed to a combined $15 billion from Ottawa and Queen’s Park over three years and said she has “the confidence” of Prime Minister Mark Carney. Bradford shot back that funding announcements mean little to people who still cannot get a reliable bus, and that Scarborough residents “can’t ride a drawing” while the Scarborough East LRT is still in design.
Bradford, a former planning-and-housing chair, said Chow promised 65,000 rent-controlled homes by 2030 and has delivered about 1,500, or only 2% of the target. Alexander stacked the city’s housing starts at 47,000 in 2023, 38,000 in 2024, and 26,000 in 2025.
Chow said 15,000 homes are under construction and that seven of 10 cranes on the skyline are there because of city incentives. She also said she has the confidence of Prime Minister Carney and another $7 billion for housing.
Chow said she made a different choice than the last council by adding service and freezing fares, and she promised that after 10 rides in a week every extra ride would be free, savings she put at about $1,000 a year for a working family. She reminded the crowd that fares rose while Bradford sat on the TTC board.
Bradford said the system under Chow is defined by delay and dysfunction. “Saying it with enthusiasm doesn’t make it true,” he said. He cited delays up 12%, ridership still about 20% below 2019, and riders who will not use a service they do not trust.
“We need transit that’s safe and reliable if people are going to take it,” he said, pledging uniformed officers in stations, lighting and cleanliness standards, and platform-edge doors at the busiest stops.
Alexander called Chow’s fare approach unsustainable and irresponsible, and said the TTC must crack down on fare evasion and put officers in stations. “Why do half of Torontonians still think it’s unsafe?” he asked.
Bradford asked why Chow will not take the mayor’s seat on the Toronto Police Services Board, a seat he said John Tory, Mel Lastman, and even David Miller used. The crowd split when Chow answered that homicide, shootings, and other serious crime are down, 911 times are faster, and guns are not the only solution.
Alexander then pressed her over last week’s Jewish Lawyers of Canada forum on antisemitism and public safety, an event Chow skipped and that Bradford and Alexander attended. He said Jewish Torontonians feel neglected and that the city has seen one of its worst waves of hate crimes.
“Why should anyone pick you as their next mayor when you are unable to fulfill your responsibility for basic public safety?” Alexander asked.
Chow said antisemitism is unacceptable and that she would keep working with police and communities. She repeated the same answer when Alexander came back at her.
Recent Liaison Strategies polling has put Chow near 50%, Bradford near 39%, and Alexander near 10% among decided voters. The Daily Bread night was the first time all three shared a stage.
