As Doug Ford visited his brother Rob Ford in a downtown hospital on Sunday afternoon, fellow mayoral candidates were across town testing out some new attack lines.
John Tory and Olivia Chow, the other two leading candidates in the Oct. 27 election, took part in an raucous debate at Evergreen Brick Works.
Tory appeared to lose his cool after being cut off by the moderator while responding to an accusation from Chow that his position on Toronto Island airport expansion isn’t clear. The next city council administration is expected to decide whether to allow jets at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. Chow is strongly opposed while Tory hasn’t committed either way.
Chow also appeared flustered at one point, asking the moderator to step in and “stop the booing.”
Some of those ‘boos’ were in response to her new line: “Mr. Tory, you have gone from a faith-based school funding scheme to a faith-based transit funding scheme.”
Chow was comparing Tory’s unpopular proposal to extend faith-based school funding beyond just Catholic schools, made when he was running for premier in 2007, to his plan for ‘surface subways’ and a downtown relief line. She said Tory’s transit plan would only be possible with a “massive tax hike.” Tory said it could be paid for through better accountability at City Hall and by working with other levels of government.
Chow repeated the line about “faith-based transit funding” while speaking to reporters after the debate.
Meanwhile, Tory told journalists that he lies awake at night worrying about having a Ford brother in office again. “A Ford is a Ford,” he said. “Have you driven one lately?”
