Michael Taube: Chow's hard-left base resorts to fearmongering against Bradford - National Post
Toronto mayoral candidate Brad Bradford meets with the Toronto Sun editorial board in Toronto, Ont. on Tuesday June 13, 2023. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/PostmediaArticle contentIt seems like only yesterday that the Toronto mayoral election appeared to be a foregone conclusion. Olivia Chow, in spite of her left-wing ideology, fiscal irresponsibility and tax-and-spend mentality, had led in the polls from the start. She had outpaced and outlasted an assortment of potential challengers, including former mayor John Tory, and was on the cusp of victory.
That’s not the case any longer. In less than three weeks, a significant number of Torontonians have had second thoughts about giving Chow a second destructive term in office. Her lead has completely disintegrated — and her main challenger, city councillor Brad Bradford, has been riding a massive wave of political change that may propel him to a historic victory.
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Some recent polls are showing Bradford in the lead for the first time. Build Canada’s Oct. 11-16 poll put him in front of Chow by 48-44 per cent. Mainstreet Research had Bradford ahead by 49-48 per cent in its Oct. 16-18 poll. Liaison Strategies’ Oct. 18-19 poll suggested Bradford was on top by 49-47 per cent.
These are all close margins, to be sure. Things could easily change in this election at the mere drop of a hat. Nevertheless, it’s quite clear that Bradford, and not Chow, has all the momentum before voters go to the polls on Oct. 26.
Chow and her team may be putting on a brave face in public, but they surely know in private that this election has unexpectedly slipped from their grasp. Losing by a close margin now seems like a distinct possibility. Hence, they’ve been throwing everything and the kitchen sink at Bradford and his team in hopes that something — anything — would break his momentum.
The mayor critiqued her main rival’s plan at the Oct. 6 debate, for instance, and brazenly claimed his policies would cut library services, transit services and affordable housing for Torontonians. Chow suggested that Bradford’s campaign promises would ultimately close libraries and the Toronto Zoo without any supporting evidence.
Progress Toronto, a left-wing ally of Chow’s, unsuccessfully attempted to give the mayor a boost by releasing a bizarre meme that stated, “One does not simply vote for a man named Brad Bradford” — attacking his name, of all things. Chow announced some recent endorsements from two of the least successful premiers of Ontario, Bob Rae and Kathleen Wynne, as well as far-left B.C.-based environmental activist David Suzuki, that barely caused much of a stir.
Chow’s hysteria and desperation to score cheap political points reached a new low this week. She claimed that Bradford wants to privatize Toronto’s water if he becomes mayor.
Chow held a press conference on Oct. 21 to speak out against Bradford’s plan to transform Toronto Water from a City of Toronto department into a municipal corporation, which would be along the lines of a public utility like Toronto Hydro. The aforementioned Suzuki made an appearance, calling the idea “crazy” and asking, “Why the hell are we trying to privatize things where the public has already invested in the infrastructure to deliver our water?” Chow also rejected Bradford’s campaign promise of lowering the city’s water prices, noting, “My opponent cannot promise what the water bill will be. He cannot promise that Toronto will remain in control.”
