The background:
The Toronto mayoral election was peppered with back-to-back debates this week across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
There are currently 102 candidates running for mayor of Toronto after the resignation of former mayor John Tory in February 2023 after he had an affair with a staff member.
The top six leading candidates are Olivia Chow, Josh Matlow, Mark Saunders, Ana Bailão, Brad Bradford, and Mitzie Hunter. They all participated in debates this week to discuss issues such as affordable housing, the arts and culture sector, and issues in the former city of Scarborough.
Here are the debates that occurred so far this week.
On May 24, 2023, three mayoral debates took place.
The first debate focused on the arts and culture sector in the city and took place at Young People’s Theatre. Saunders did not appear at this debate, although he was invited.
Candidates spoke on the city’s housing affordability at George Brown College in the afternoon.
It began with a discussion on how oronto could help residents afford housing in a city that is in a housing crisis. Earlier this month, Toronto city council declared homelessness in the city is an emergency.
Read more on Humber News here.
The final debate of the day was focused on issues in Scarborough at the University of Toronto-Scarborough campus.
Robert Martin, a data analyst at Mainstreet Research, said voters should evaluate the candidates on if they deserve to be there.
“Everybody’s debate performance should be viewed through the lens of did they do enough to get into that top six,” he said.
“We noticed that the share of the pie that are undecided is just kind of shrinking and they seem to be going proportionally down,” Martin said.
Candidates discussed livability matters and economic growth at the University of Toronto St. George campus on May 25, 2023.
The candidates debated transit safety in the city and affordability issues for Torontonians.
Read more on Humber News here.
Another debate on climate action will be held June 5 at the University of Toronto-Scarborough starting at 7 p.m. Registration is required.
Chow is currently in the lead at 35 per cent, Bailão in second at 16 per cent, and Saunders at 12 per cent, according to a recent poll from Mainstreet Research. The by-election will take place on June 26, 2023.
More to come.