It’s also unaffordable, stuck in perpetual gridlock, and blighted by our collective failure to care for the most vulnerable among us and a growing sense of unease on the streets.
asserted
It → ’ → streets
The perennial questions before Toronto voters are ones we must ask with new urgency as we pick our next mayor: How do we make the most of our significant advantages?
asserted
we → ask → advantages
How do we meet the crises we face?
asserted
we → meet → crises
How do we fulfil this city’s great potential?
asserted
we → fulfil → potential
Under Olivia Chow’s watch, Toronto has no doubt had its moments.
asserted
Toronto → have → moments
Chow has made incremental progress on many of the city’s challenges, including raising much-needed funds (both from higher order governments and through a property-tax hike), shortening commute times, reducing the number of homeless encampments and providing free school meals to Toronto kids.
asserted
Chow → make → kids
Yet her campaign has too often fallen short, offering reheated proposals from her first term rather than a bold vision for progress.
asserted
campaign → fall → progress
She has failed to address the acute concerns of residents worried about public drug use and disorder and struggled to sow unity amid growing local strife over faraway wars.
asserted
She → fail → wars
She has sometimes seemed to send the message that the modest rate of progress in her first term was good enough or that Queen’s Park and Ottawa alone are to blame for what ails the city.
asserted
what → seem → city
Brad Bradford, meanwhile, has grown considerably since his first mayoral bid three years ago.
asserted
Bradford → grow → bid
He has sharpened his message and his skill in conveying it.
asserted
He → sharpen → it
And he has offered several innovative policy ideas, including a plan to decouple the city’s operating and capital budgets and to debt-finance infrastructure.
asserted
he → offer → infrastructure
Though this plan carries more risk than he admits, it’s worth studying.
asserted
it → carry → risk
Bradford has also been effective at giving voice to the sizable constituency that Chow has largely failed to reach — homeowners, in particular, as well as those worried about public disorder and the alarming rise in car thefts and home invasions.
asserted
Chow → give → thefts
Yet, persistent questions remain about what Bradford believes.
asserted
Bradford → remain → what
He says his long history of flip-flops is proof he will change his mind when the evidence demands it.
asserted
evidence → say → it
But his policies, including his proposal to force some drug addicts into treatment, don’t always follow the weight of evidence.
asserted
policies → include → evidence
His fiscal plan is highly speculative, and he has given voters little sense of what programs might be cut — or taxes hiked — in the likely event he doesn’t find promised efficiencies.
uncertain
he → give → efficiencies
Meanwhile, his well-documented history of divisiveness on council raises questions about his ability to rally ideologically diverse councillors around his agenda.
asserted
history → document → agenda
We believe we should make endorsements only when we can do so with a clear conscience and a full throat.
asserted
we → believe → conscience
In this campaign, neither of the leading candidates has persuaded the Star that he or she would be the mayor Toronto needs.
asserted
Toronto → lead → Star
Each candidate is speaking to only parts of the city, as polls attest.
asserted
polls → speak → city
Most homeowners and suburbanites prefer Bradford.
asserted
homeowners → prefer → Bradford
Most downtown renters prefer the incumbent.
asserted
renters → prefer → incumbent
Chow has said she is a mayor for the voiceless.
asserted
she → say → voiceless
We agree and commend her for that.
asserted
We → agree → that
But too often she has failed to show she takes seriously the concerns of everyone else.
asserted
she → fail → everyone
Bradford has admirably managed to reach many of the voters Chow has talked past, but he has too often been dismissive of those who disagree with him.
asserted
who → manage → him
Every vote breaks down along similar socio-economic lines.
asserted
vote → break → lines
But neither candidate seems even to be trying to do the difficult but essential work of reconciling the diverse interests of our diverse city.
asserted
candidate → seem → city
We hope that whoever becomes mayor will be mayor for all Torontonians.
asserted
becomes → hope → Torontonians
The Star’s decision not to endorse a candidate should not be read to mean we believe the outcome doesn’t matter.
asserted
outcome → endorse → candidate
Each of the leading aspirants would take us down a very different path from the other.
asserted
Each → lead → other
Your choice will have consequences.
asserted
choice → have → consequences
We encourage you to look at the candidates’ platforms, read the coverage and the commentary, use the Star’s Vote Compass tool.
asserted
We → encourage → tool
Ask yourself what kind of city you want, and which candidate you think is best placed to deliver it.
asserted
you → ask → it
Consider whether you prefer continuity in Chow or Bradford’s brand of change.
asserted
you → consider → change
Then join us in holding our next mayor to account, and pushing them to make this city — all of it — the best it can be.
asserted
it → join → it
The Aporia
