CARP Toronto Mayoral Byelection Debate: Candidates Joust Over Seniors Issues, Including Public Safety, Housing and Tax Hikes

On a day when smoke from forest fires as far away as Quebec blanketed a choking haze over Toronto, CARP hosted its byelection debate to help clear the air for older voters to determine which of the city’s 100-plus mayoral candidates is deserving of their support on June 26.

With only weeks to go in the race to replace former mayor John Tory, who resigned in February after admitting to an affair with a staffer, Olivia Chow has emerged as the clear front-runner, with Mark Saunders, Josh Matlow and Anthony Furey trailing by significant margins.

Libby Znaimer, at the ZoomerPlex in Toronto for CARP’s Byelection Debate, welcomed all the top names — including Chow, Saunders, Matlow and Furey along with Ana Bailão, Brad Bradford, Mitzie Hunter. Chloe Brown, who finished third in the last election, who were also invited in an effort to hear from one of the many outsider candidates on the slate.

 

Chow’s Tax Hike Under Attack

 

As in most of this year’s mayor debates, the bickering candidates only presented a unified front when pressuring Chow to reveal how big her property tax increase will be. But the front-runner repeatedly refused to provide anything but evasive answers.

The debate, which focussed on seniors issues such as housing, public safety and accessibility, long-term care and program funding, was chaotic at times. Znaimer was forced to frequently intervene and attempt to stop candidates talking over each other by pressing her buzzer to stop arguments. Despite the constant back-and-forth arguments and accusations, she did her best to nail down the candidates on the following issues.

 

Toronto’s “Decline and Malaise”

 

Znaimer asked the candidates how they would halt the “decline and malaise” in services and safety, especially in parks and on the TTC. Chow’s answer was to build more housing for the “homeless [who] have to go to the TTC, libraries, parks and on the streets.” Furey said the city needs to “invest in our youth and communities to ensure that they’re more resilient, healthy and safe.” Brown argued that we need to pay for accessible housing for people with physical or mental disabilities. Matlow felt we should  “retool” funds allocated toward injection sites and re-allocate them to treatment centres, while Bailão advocated for “mobile mental health clinics” to get people off of our subway stations, parks and streets.

 

Raising Property Taxes

 

In order to afford Toronto’s $14 billion budget, not to mention all of the candidates’ campaign promises, Znaimer asked the debaters whether they intended to raise taxes. Chow refused to provide specific details on her plan, beyond saying she would impose a “modest increase.”

Hunter said she would raise taxes but allow seniors with a household income of $80,000 or less to “eliminate or defer their taxes altogether.” Bradford argued back that “we can defer taxes but not eliminate them.” Furey promised he would “respect taxpayers” by reviewing program spending before raising property taxes, while Bailão and Chow said they would work to secure funding from all levels of government.

 

Tent Cities and Pedestrian Safety

 

Znaimer asked the candidates whether they supported the controversial “tent cities” that mushroomed in the city’s parks during the COVID lockdown, and made a lot of people — not just seniors — worried for their safety. Saunders and Furey were the only debaters to declare their opposition. “Encampments have to go,” said Saunders, while Furey promised he would impose a “families-first policy where we do clear these parks.” While the other candidates felt that tent cities were unfortunate, none said they would clear out encampments when they spring up.

Concerning the high number of senior pedestrians who die each year on our roads and sidewalks, Saunders suggested increasing safety by employing more police officers, traffic wardens and using technology. Brown said we need to improve road design and safety and that any discussions on pedestrian safety should include the TTC.

 

Housing and Long-Term Care

 

Anthony Quinn, CARP’s chief community officer, asked candidates to explain how they would get 35,000 seniors off the waiting list and into public housing. While most of the candidates said they were committed to affordable housing, none of them could offer any clear-cut solution to how they would get the bureaucracy to spring into action.

When Quinn  asked about committing to “emotion-centred care” for delivering long-term care, the candidates instead spoke about improving the care of our frail elderly. Bailão felt we need to increase the number of long-term care beds in the city, Matlow spoke about the need to support long-term care with more personal support workers and Saunders felt we shouldn’t “warehouse seniors.”

 

Free Public Transit?

 

All of the candidates agreed that while the TTC had serious issues of safety and funding that needed immediate attention, they all had differing proposals. Hunter suggested free TTC fares to all seniors, while Brown argued that only low-income seniors should ride for free and Saunders suggested that seniors could ride for free on Mondays. Matlow, Chow and Bailão noted that the future mayor must work out deals with the provincial and federal governments to increase TTC funding.

 

Health-Care Services

 

Znaimer canvassed the participants on how they would deliver city health services to seniors. Bailão said the city should use the same system that brought vaccines to seniors — such as mobile clinics — to deliver health and safety services. Matlow noted that we need to identify areas of “naturally occurring retirement communities” — such as urban apartment buildings with a large dwelling of older adults — and bring services to them. Hunter said the city needs to review its existing resources and “prioritize them to get them into the community,” while Bradford suggested working with the non-profit groups that specialize in delivering services to seniors.

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