Chow and Bradford spar over Toronto's stalled rental housing as mayoral race intensifies

Toronto's mayoral race turned sharp Tuesday night as incumbent Olivia Chow and challenger Brad Bradford traded barbs over housing, affordability, transit and public safety at a debate hosted by United Way at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Bradford opened with Chow's 2022 campaign promise to build 65,000 purpose-built rental homes by 2030. Only 1,500 have been completed to date—2 per cent of the target, he said. "If we continue at that pace, it'll take another 115 years."

Chow fired back that Bradford, as head of the committee that oversees development policy, created the very barriers he now campaigns to dismantle. "Under your watch building homes got a lot more expensive," she said. She also accused him of voting to double development charges, a claim Bradford denied.

The affordability clash widened when Chow challenged Bradford's campaign pledges, arguing he would need to cut library services, transit and housing investments to pay for them. She cited his record: raising TTC fares for years and cutting transit service, leading to lost ridership. "For years, Councillor Bradford raised the TTC fares, cut transit service. We lost riders because of your cuts, and now at election time you're saying the exact opposite. How can people trust you?" she said.

Bradford responded by calling for a modernized city budget, promising an independent line-by-line review. "We haven't done it for 15 years, we probably should. I know folks at home look at their budget every week. They look at their credit card statements every month. City Hall should do that, too." He pledged to fund capital projects without cutting frontline services, though did not specify how.

Chris Alexander, the third major candidate, dropped out of the race before the debate. Advance voting for the municipal election runs through October 11, with election day set for October 26.