The day after John Tory backed out of a debate on public transit, the mayoral candidate is being criticized for skipping two more debates scheduled on Tuesday.
Tory was scheduled to attend a one-on-one debate with Olivia Chow to discuss issues concerning residents of Toronto's waterfront, including the proposed island airport expansion.
But on Monday, Tory told organizers, the York Quay Neighbourhood Association, that he would not be attending. Because the debate was billed as featuring Tory and Chow, the YQNA cancelled it.
"Tory's abrupt cancellation is bound to raise questions about his commitment to the Waterfront and will likely cost him votes," the YQNA wrote in a message on its website.
The YQNA wrote that it had paid to rent a hall at Harbourfront Community Centre, and had spent money on a sound system and promotion of the event. The debate had been scheduled three months ago.
A two-person debate scheduled at 2 p.m. Tuesday was also cancelled after Tory dropped out. A spokesperson from Chow's campaign said that she offered to do a question-and-answer session at the Better Living Health and Community Centre instead, but her offer was turned down.
On Monday, Tory backed out of a debate with Chow organized by Ryerson University's student union and TTCriders, a public transit advocacy group.
According to the Ryerson Students' Union vice president of education Jesse Root, Tory had confirmed Saturday that he'd attend the 5 p.m. debate.
However, his campaign sent a notice to media at 2:45 p.m. on Monday saying he would no longer be present.
The students' union reaction was "one of frustration," Root said. "Obviously there is a lot of effort that goes into organizing debates like this.
"We expect that candidates are going to keep to their promises."
The next mayoral debate is scheduled for Wednesday at noon, organized by the Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy.
