marsha j

So, who did I vote for in Toronto’s mayoral election? And why? A few observations first. Despite all the attention paid to the mayor, it is a relatively weak position. Even with “strong mayor” powers, council is independently elected, City Hall is a vast bureaucracy, and many of our problems are downstream of provincial failures. The job is more constrained than the rhetoric suggests. Both @oliviachow and @BradMBradford are decent people who care about Toronto. Chow also deserves credit for difficult decisions, including raising property taxes after years of avoidance. But with those considerations in mind, I cast my vote for BRADFORD² Firstly, I’ve known him for years. His understanding of planning, municipal finance, bureaucracy and economics stands above most councillors. He’s a planner by trade, and even where he’s moderated on housing, I think he gets its details better than nearly anyone who’s run for mayor in decades. There’s also plenty in his platform I agree with. The land transfer tax is a dumb tax, and I ran on abolishing it provincially. Brad wants to substantially reduce it. His proposed municipally owned water corporation also makes sense. We should finance infrastructure over its useful life, and I proposed a provincial framework for similar municipal models. Frankly, much of the hysterical response has been financially illiterate. There are fair questions about debt and governance, but treating public ownership as privatization is absurd. I appreciate his commitments on what makes a city work. Dynamic traffic signals, transit priority, and a TTC focused on speed and reliability rather than simply keeping fares down. And as I recently wrote for the Toronto Star, public order is fundamental to quality of life. I think Brad understands that in a way Chow and many of her allies don’t seem to. But here is where I’ve felt most disappointed with Chow’s leadership. If we’re going to elect a progressive mayor, I want them to actually fight for progressive things. On sixplexes and neighbourhood retail, we’ve normalized the idea that individual councillors get to decide whether basic city-building reforms apply in their wards. This is one of the worst governing precedents we’ve set in years. I’d have preferred much greater compromises, provided the rules applied citywide. Instead, I worry we’ve set Toronto back decades, and invited the same ward-by-ward veto on future reforms. Yes, Brad voted for the sixplex compromise, which I disagree with. But a mayor needs to organize the politics behind a citywide vision, the buck on this one stopped there. Likewise on Ontario Place, Exhibition Place, bike lanes, and the airport. Even if the province has the stronger hand, why not offer an alternative vision worth rallying around rather than get steamrolled? Then there’s the vacant home tax. It was created before Chow, but the rollout was under her leadership. We now require every homeowner to prove, every year, that their home isn’t vacant. Why not declare once and update it when you move or sell? The tolerance for this sort of mindless bureaucracy drives me nuts. I disagree with Brad on other issues, including bike lanes, or the focus on involuntary care over increased capacity in our drug treatment systems. But I admire how he responded to his last loss, and the energy and tenacity he put in after. And yes, being under 45 matters to me. I value someone who understands the affordability pressures of building a life here personally, not just conceptually. I would happily vote for a mayor considerably more progressive than Brad. That isn’t my objection to Chow. I just don’t see the vision. Often it seems like the goal is simply to have the “right people” in charge. To do what? I couldn’t tell you. Brad my friend, good luck on Monday. Should you win, do justice to why you wanted to be in politics, all those years ago. Good luck!

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