With a busy stretch of advance voting last week, it was nice to find some time with family over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Now we’re back at it, with two weeks until Election Day.
Complacency is our biggest challenge. So we’re knocking on doors every day and taking nothing for granted.
If you can knock doors in your neighbourhood, join us! If you can’t knock on doors, consider sending a note to friends and neighbours to encourage them to vote and support our campaign.
Obviously we’re knocking doors to win an election, but also to add to our list of challenges to tackle at City Hall. We’ve heard about flood mitigation, street safety, EV charging infrastructure, construction co-ordination, and more.
There is high demand for a hyper-responsive councillor
More than any issue, the overwhelming feedback is that our community expects good faith engagement, responsiveness, and follow up action, and that our past councillor failed to meet that basic expectation for many across our community.
It’s one thing to deliver a line in a debate or a social media clip. It’s another thing to put the work in and solve problems locally for people and businesses.
Talk vs. action on the Gardiner ramp
Driving to my wife’s family farm near Sarnia for Thanksgiving, we avoided the mess at Jarvis entirely by taking the O’Connor/DVP route. The status quo isn’t acceptable.
It’s easy to say “rebuild the ramp” on the campaign trail. Of course, rebuilding the ramp at Logan is a fairy tale of untold waste.
Better to have an actual plan. As I wrote in Campaign Dispatch #2, the solution is to fast track the planned rebuild at Cherry Street, together with transparent timelines.
I’ve since worked with Mayor Chow’s office on this, and the City will start work on the Cherry Street ramp in the new year, pulling the work ahead of schedule into the immediate next phase.
It’s a realistic action plan to alleviate congestion for our east end.
Talk vs. action in the mayoral race
Do you want a mayor who delivers a rehearsed line or one who acts to deliver results?
It’s no secret that Olivia Chow isn’t the best orator. But she listens effectively, and acts decisively.
Example 1: Policing and public safety
Beyond slashing 911 wait times, Mayor Chow worked constructively with the Toronto Police Association to deliver a multi-year hiring plan, listening to what was needed, and regularly engaging them. The TPA practically endorsed Chow as a result.
In contrast, Bradford’s uncosted promise to hire more officers was made without even consulting the TPA. He promised a substation at Union when that work was already planned. It’s all talk.
Example 2: Sound financial management
Bradford also talks a lot about cutting taxes and blames Mayor Chow for poorly managing the City budget. But his own promises come with no credible plan and would only worsen the City’s financial situation.
In contrast, Mayor Chow improved the city’s fiscal sustainability and credit rating, including by brokering the New Deal with Ontario and re-allocating capital funds to TTC maintenance, local road repair, and community infrastructure. Last year, S&P Global pointed to Toronto’s “strong and stable operating performance and moderate debt burden.”
And with the City now on a more sustainable fiscal track, Mayor Chow has promised tax increases in line with inflation over the next term.
Example 3: Reducing homelessness
Homelessness is a crisis across our province and Toronto is at the centre of it.
While homelessness has increased across the province by more than 20% in recent years, it’s down in Toronto by over 8% in that same time period. And encampments have been reduced significantly too.
No one should accept this as success. But it’s progress to build on.
Bradford’s campaign trail talk about homelessness is contradicted by a record of voting against specific initiatives to address the crisis in our City.
Bottom line:
There are other and more local examples where the Mayor and her team acted in the face of our past councillor’s inaction: from baseball lights at Topham Park to cracking down on the slum landlord at 500 Dawes Rd.
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of talk. And I’m voting for a Mayor who acts.
100%