Mitzie Hunter wants to boost libraries, while Ana Bailão gets a boost from former mayors

Mayoral candidate Mitzie Hunter makes an announcement about her library plan in Parkdale Monday, April 24, 2023.

Mayoral candidate Mitzie Hunter unveiled a plan Monday that would see the city bolster library services in a number of ways.

The former education minister was outside a library in Parkdale this morning to unveil her four-point plan for libraries. It would see libraries create more safe places for young people by opening 16 new youth hubs to complement the existing 24. The hubs would offer drop-in spaces for teens after school and in the summer.

The plan would also use libraries as hubs for a housing support program that expands street outreach to “support the most vulnerable” and would use "existing municipal assets" to create a municipal broadband network.

Library service at all branches would also be extended from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Currently, only some branches are open on Sundays and those that do open are only open from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Hunter said her plan would cost just over $29 million over two years and would draw from the Public Library IT Asset Replacement Reserve Fund and the Library Development Charge Reserve Fund.

She said further details about how she would pay for the program would be revealed in the coming weeks as she unveils a costed platform ahead of the election.

Speaking with reporters, Hunter touted her local credentials from her time as CEO of Civic Action and as a Chief Administrative Officer for Toronto Community Housing.

“I certainly bring a fresh set of eyes and a new perspective, new solutions,” Hunter said. “You know, I haven't been a city councillor or police chief. I really bring different experience to bear locally.”

Her former Liberal colleague at the provincial government, Brad Duguid, put out a tweet Sunday praising her as a “hand-on leader.”

Meanwhile Ana Bailão announced an endorsement of her own from two pre-amalgamation mayors, Art Eggleton and Barbara Hall.

Hall called Bailão “the only candidate running who is capable of addressing the housing crisis head-on to make sure residents won’t be pushed out of the city,” while Eggleton said she is “exactly what our city needs.”

Bailão has already sewn up support from several sitting councillors, including Chris Moise, Shelley Carroll, and Paul Ainslie.

However a new poll shows that she is not one of the top choices among decided voters so far.

The poll, released Monday, showed Olivia Chow, Josh Matlow and Mark Saunders as the candidates with the highest support so far. However it also found that nearly half of Toronto residents have not yet made up their minds, meaning there are still a lot of votes on the table for any candidate who is able to stand out in the next few weeks.

Anthony Perruzza is trying, as he continues his affordability tour of every ward in the city. He dropped in to chat with a family in Rexdale Monday who told him that they were "feeling the pinch of higher inflation and property taxes."

Perruzza has vowed not to raise property taxes for the next three years if elected.

“For an increasing number of Toronto families, higher property taxes and city costs mean pushing the family budget over the edge,” Perruzza’s campaign said in a statement.

He plans to ask the provincial government to fund the tax freeze.