“Mayor, how was your commute here tonight?” Brad Bradford asked Olivia Chow near the start of Wednesday’s Scarborough mayoral debate.
CityNews moderator Cynthia Mulligan had a traffic story of her own.
“My partner was supposed to be here, but because of traffic, he can’t make it,” she said.
Congestion and transit became recurring points of conflict between Chow and Bradford during the debate at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
Wednesday’s debate was co-hosted by CityNews and the Scarborough Community Renewal Organization (SCRO), with questions drawn from submissions by Scarborough residents.
Chris Alexander withdrew from the race the day before, leaving Chow and Bradford alone on stage. The debate was also moved to 5 p.m. from 6 p.m. with two days’ notice. SCRO president Larry Whatmore said about 600 people registered and roughly 350 attended.
A recent Mainstreet survey found Chow with 38.1 per cent support while Bradford has 32.2 per cent support. Alexander had about 7.2 per cent support among the 1,000 Toronto respondents 18 and older that were surveyed on Sept. 28 and 29.
During a rapid-fire round, both were asked whether they rode public transit at least eight times a month.
“I used to, but I can’t anymore because I’m mayor,” Chow said. Bradford answered yes, adding that he had ridden transit eight times that week.
Bradford later argued that safety and reliability were keeping riders away.
“Families are not riding transit because it’s not safe,” he said.
Chow said the city had hired more than 400 front-line safety workers on the TTC, including police, security and mental health workers. The 2026 budget provides funds for 420 such positions.
Both candidates in the Oct. 26 election also promised to advance the Scarborough East Rapid Transit line. Bradford called it his “number 1 priority” and pledged to have shovels in the ground by the end of his first term. Chow said Toronto would set aside about $380 million for SERT by year's end. In an April letter to the executive committee, she put the figure at $377.9 million.
City council has designated SERT as its top transit expansion priority. The project does not yet have provincial or federal funding commitments. Council has asked Ottawa and Queen’s Park to each cover one-third of construction costs.
Linda Sawka, 79, of Agincourt, said before the debate that affordability and policing were the two issues she most wanted the candidates to address.
The candidates’ disagreement on affordability centred on taxes, city spending and school food programs. Bradford criticized property tax increases under Chow and promised a freeze in his first year.
“I proposed a property tax freeze, because 20 per cent over the past three years is not sustainable,” Bradford said.
Chow pointed to TTC fare relief, housing and expanded student nutrition programs as ways to lower household costs. When Bradford questioned how she would pay for her proposed expansion of school lunches, Chow responded, “It’s called leadership.”
She said an expanded lunch program could draw on federal and provincial support, contributions from parents who can afford them and private donations.
Bradford also called for an outside line-by-line review of the city budget, while Chow argued city hall already reviews spending internally.
Affordability was only one of Sawka’s concerns. She also came wanting to hear what the candidates would do about policing.
Bradford pledged to hire 1,000 additional officers and argued Toronto does not have enough police for its population. Chow emphasized neighbourhood officers, youth programs and other preventive measures while pointing to a decline in shootings and firearm discharges.
Sawka, who said before the debate that she had already decided to vote for Chow, opposed Bradford’s approach.
“I do not want to live in a police state,” she said. “We need community centres, we need support for youth, we want better support in schools.”
Bradford repeatedly pressed Chow on why she chose not to sit on the Toronto Police Service Board.
“Why did you choose not to sit on the police board if public safety is so important to you?” he asked.
Chow said she took office through a by-election and emphasized collaboration between police and community groups. However, Chow did not directly explain why she declined the board seat. Ontario law allows a mayor to decline the seat, in which case another council member can be appointed.
Earlier in the discussion, Chow argued community relationships and prevention were central to reducing crime.
“That is how you solve it, by preventing the crime from taking place in the first place,” she said.
Jobs and economic opportunity were another concern residents brought into the room.
Shevonne Chin, commuting from Markham Road and Sheppard Avenue, said before the debate she wanted to hear more about youth unemployment, entrepreneurship and infrastructure as Scarborough grows.
“The cure for unemployment is entrepreneurship,” Chin said.
On stage, Bradford proposed a target of 15,000 new jobs for young people through partnerships with private employers. Chow said the city should focus on bringing more jobs closer to where Scarborough residents live.
But after the debate, Chin said the two-person format still left something missing.
“I wish there was a third person on the stage to give a more complex landscape,” she said.
