Toronto deputy mayor endorses Ana Bailao as Olivia Chow maintains lead in latest poll

Ana Bailao picked up an endorsement from Toronto Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie, who has been filling the vacancy in the mayor’s office since John Tory quit in scandal in February.

“I said I wanted the office of the mayor to be independent. I have done that. Council wrapped up last evening. It’s hard to sit on the sidelines,” McKelvie told reoporters alongside Bailao outside city hall Friday.

“I have a responsibility to Toronto to support a good candidate, and that candidate is Ana Bailao.”

Back in February, McKelvie said, “representing the residents of my ward, and ensuring a smooth, stable transition until a new mayor is elected, requires my full attention.”

Ana Bailao was asked why she feels the need to use the power of the mayor’s office at this point in the campaign, 10 days before by-election day.

“I’m not using any power. I’m accepting the endorsement of a dear former colleague, a dear friend,” said Bailao.

Bailao now has endorsements from eight city councillors and eleven members of Parliament.

OLIVIA CHOW HOLDS LEAD IN LATEST POLL  

Four Toronto mayoral candidates are battling to be frontrunner Olivia Chow’s runner-up, a new poll from Mainstreet Research has revealed.

As of Friday, if the election were held today, 31 per cent of decided voters would vote for Chow. Meanwhile, four runners-up are polling similarly and within the poll’s margin of error, with Bailao at 14 per cent, Mark Saunders at 13 per cent, Josh Matlow at 12 per cent and Anthony Furey at 11 per cent.

Mitzie Hunter, Chloe Brown and Brad Bradford have each held onto 6 per cent, 5 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively.

Mainstreet Research conducted this poll on Thursday with a sample size of 899 adults in Toronto. Respondents were interviewed over the phone. The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus 3.3 per cent at the 95 per cent confidence level.

These results follow a heated debate between seven of the election’s frontrunners on Thursday night. The format for the final televised debate before Election Day saw candidates face off on various topics one-on-one before the floor was opened up to wider debate on each question.

Bailao, Bradford, Chow, Furey, Hunter, Matlow and Saunders took part. They squared off on housing and affordability, homelessness and encampments, transit and safety on the TTC, crime and policing, gridlock, property taxes and city services, and livability and the state of the city.

There are 10 days left until election day on June 26.

With files from Joshua Freeman