Taking A Look At The Toronto Mayoral Race So Far

This October, Toronto decides. Do we keep the suave, sophisticated, non-crack smoking incumbent who never has drunken stupors and certainly hasn’t had most of his powers revoked by city council? Or will we opt for someone far less qualified? Who do you think is winning the Toronto mayoral race so far? Check out this overview of the top contenders and decide for yourself…

Rob Ford
Oh Robbie Robbie Robbiekins… whatever would we do without you? From your crack smoking to your drunken stupors, bumping into cameras to wiping out on football fields, urinating in public to babbling incoherently in Jamaican Patois, you have certainly been the oddest mayor our fair city has ever seen. Rob Ford’s share of the vote, according to a recent Forum Research poll, would be about 27% – putting him in second place behind Olivia Chow. Out here in the real world, somebody who acts the way that Ford does would be fired from their job. Literally every job in the world would fire you for acting like he does (unless you were a professional crack sampler or something). How, then, does he command such a significant portion of the vote? It almost seems that in addition to his core of Ford Nation supporters, there’s a contingent of people voting for him just for the entertainment value. Maybe he’s running on a platform of ‘viral videos for all’. Or maybe it’s the addition to his campaign team of disgraced sprinter Ben Johnson that’s keeping Ford in the race.

John Tory
Former Progressive Conservative leader John Tory is also making some noise in this race. After keeping tight-lipped for quite some time as to whether he would run in the mayoral election, John Tory has come out of the gate with solid numbers. Forum Research has him with 24% of the vote in their recent poll. Like Rob Ford, John Tory is pro subway. Unlike Ford, Tory is referring mostly to the trains, not the sandwiches. Tory will push for a downtown relief line in order to relieve overcrowding on the Yonge line, especially at Yonge and Bloor station. The eastern portion of the relief line would connect the Danforth with the downtown core, adding some sorely needed transit options for those who commute to work. He also plans to follow through with the Scarborough subway, keeping Toronto’s transit future underground. Despite being a conservative, John Tory has many socially progressive views, including being pro same-sex marriage. Could he be the one to take down Ford Nation, or is it our next contender…?

Olivia Chow
Former NDP MP Olivia Chow resigned her seat in the House of Commons in order to run in the 2014 Toronto mayoral election. That’s a risky move, to be sure, but one that might pay off considering that she is in the lead – with 34% of the vote – in recent polling. Chow plans to axe the Scarborough subway and instead build Light Rail Transit. She also plans to increase rush hour bus capacity by 10%. It’s an honourable sentiment to keep people moving in Toronto, but remains to be seen whether the people want to commute above ground and be exposed to the elements. She also hopes to promote new jobs in our city by extending small business tax cuts. Regarding the Island airport expansion, which would open up our downtown airport to destinations such as Vancouver, Calgary, and Los Angeles, Chow recommends rejecting it outright.

There you have it, the three front-runners are relatively close, with other candidates such as Karen Stintz, David Soknacki, and Sarah Thomson lagging far behind. Look for this race to get heated through the summer as the October 27th election date approaches. Who knows, Rob Ford may even entertain us with a couple more of his trademark stupors in the meantime.

Who do you think Toronto’s next mayor will be? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @ViewTheVibe.