Three more candidates announce Toronto mayoral runs
Three more Toronto mayoral hopefuls have tossed their hats in the race for the city's top job this week.
Coun. Josh Matlow, former Toronto police chief Mark Saunders, and former Toronto Sun columnist Anthony Furey announced their pitches to take the top job in Toronto within hours of one another.
Matlow, Ward 12 Toronto—St. Paul's councillor, said in an open letter Tuesday morning that Toronto City Hall’s leadership “has [long] held this city back from reaching its full potential.”
“We have all seen the decline. The snow is not cleared on time, public washrooms are dirty, if they’re even open, and garbage bins are broken and overflowing,” Matlow wrote in the letter.
“The past decade of leadership has kept taxes artificially low by starving the services that made Toronto the incredible city I grew up in,” he continued.
If elected, Matlow said he will launch the ‘City Works Fund’ – a property tax that will cost homeowners an average of $67 a year, raising over $390 million dollars over five years. He said the funding will be earmarked for services such as transit, public libraries, warming centres, and road and park maintenance.
Matlow has served at Toronto City Hall since his election in the since-eradicated Ward 22- St. Paul's in 2010.
On Tuesday, Matlow signed off his open letter stating that "another Toronto is possible."
As a city columnist for more than a decade, Furey said he will bring a “fresh perspective” to city hall.
He said he sees his past career experience as a natural progression towards running for mayor.
“I feel like the status quo voices that got us to this place are not the ones to get us out of it,” Furey told CP24 Tuesday morning.
Furey said he wants hockey moms and small and medium business owners to be directing the city’s agenda instead of lobbyists, big corporations, and fringe activists.
Saunders entered his name in the race on Monday night after hinting last week he was “strongly considering” running.
He served as Toronto’s police chief from 2015 until his resignation in the summer of 2020 when he joined Ford government’s COVID-19 vaccine task force.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Provinces must seek anti-smoking measures in Big Tobacco settlement: health groups
Three national health organizations want Canada's premiers to push for initiatives to reduce smoking during settlement negotiations with major tobacco companies, years after provinces sued to recoup health-care costs.

Farmers in Atlantic Canada battling 'abnormally dry' conditions, fearing continued drought
Farmers in Atlantic Canada are growing increasingly worried about drought, as many regions on the east coast have been classified as drier than usual for this time of year, with little rain in the forecast.
Engaged couple shot dead fleeing landlord after house dispute near Hamilton, Ont., police say
A 'truly innocent' engaged couple was shot dead while attempting to flee their attacker outside their home after a landlord-tenant dispute escalated on Saturday night, according to police.
Canadian companies adopt 'stay interviews' as workers rethink careers, needs
The discussions, which some companies call 'stay interviews,' are designed to collect feedback from employees and are aimed at learning what the company can do to retain valued team members and keep them happy.
Venice authorities investigate after canal turns fluorescent green
Venetian authorities are investigating after a patch of fluorescent green water appeared in the famed Grand Canal on Sunday morning.
3-year-old boy dies after drowning in backyard pool west of Toronto
Police are investigating the death of a three-year-old boy who was pulled from a backyard pool in Oakville on Saturday.
Humanity at risk: AI pioneer urges federal government to regulate faster
One of the so-called godfathers of artificial intelligence says governments need to move faster on regulations to protect against the dangers of the rapidly advancing technology, before it poses a larger threat to humanity.
5 things to know for Monday, May 29, 2023
Albertans head to the polls on provincial election day, an engaged Ontario couple is shot dead while fleeing their landlord, and Turkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdogan wins a fifth term as president.
China plans to land astronauts on moon before 2030, another step in what looks like a new space race
China plans to land astronauts on the moon before 2030, in what would be another advance in what's increasingly seen as a new space race pitting the Asian autocracy against the United States and its democratic allies.