Toronto mayoral hopefuls pitch TTC safety, climate change mitigation plans

Toronto mayoral candidates made their pitches on Monday for a safer subway along with plans to mitigate climate change in the city.

Mayoral hopeful Ana Bailão pushed forward her promise to bring cell service to the Toronto transit system alongside increasing security camera coverage and hiring more TTC staff to “have more eyes and ears” across the city.

Bailão said she supports the deployment of more Toronto police officers across the transit system, insisting that increasing TTC staff versus the addition of more police is not an “either or choice.”

Bailão is also pitching to reverse transit cuts, which included reducing pre-COVID-19 service hours, and increasing cleaning schedules across transit stations.

“But we need to go beyond just the subways,” Bailão told CP24 on Monday.

“One thing that I'm proposing is the expansion of the trauma community crisis response, which is a service that was created as being extremely successful as an alternative to police.”

While the crisis response service currently serves 60 per cent of the city, the mayoral candidate said it needs to serve 100 per cent.

Mayoral candidate Mitzie Hunter took Monday as an opportunity to release her three-point plan to mitigate climate change risks of extreme weather.

Her plan includes introducing a residential flood protection program alongside an extreme heat protection program and the creation of a Chief Resiliency Officer.

“The most immediate effect of climate change is severe and dangerous weather and, for Toronto, the biggest risk for people is residential basement flooding and extreme heat,” Hunter said in a Monday release.

Her flooding protection would focus on educating homeowners twice a year on prevention measures for basement flooding.

The extreme heat program would target the most vulnerable Torontonians by increasing regular checks during heat waves. Hunter said the introduction of a Chief Resiliency Officer would ensure Toronto is prepared for extreme weather events going forward.