On a clear morning last week, Brad Bradford stood at the top of the hill of Riverdale Park, and talked about a comeback.
asserted
Bradford → stand → comeback
With the Toronto skyline glittering behind him, the mayoral candidate declared to assembled reporters that under his leadership, the city that many feel is foundering could reach its full potential.
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many → glitter → potential
“Every comeback always starts the same way, right?
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comeback → start → ?
It’s long odds.
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It → ’ → ?
It’s people that say it can’t be done,” he said.
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he → ’ → ?
“I know that Toronto can work better.”
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Toronto → know → ?
Bradford, the two-term councillor for Beaches—East York, was talking about a resurgence for the city, but he was also talking about himself.
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he → talk → himself
With mere days until the election, the man who finished a distant eighth place in Toronto’s mayoral contest just three years ago is on the verge of what could be a remarkable political second act.
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what → finish → verge
Some polls in the final stages before the vote on Monday show him in a statistical dead heat with incumbent Olivia Chow, whose double-digit lead as recently as early September has all but evaporated.
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lead → show → September
The also-ran from 2023 now appears within striking distance of becoming the leader of Canada’s largest city.
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ran → appear → city
He’s crafted what could be a winning message by telling residents who are fed up by the state of the city — the congestion, the high cost of living, the perception of disorder — that he shares their frustration, and that they should expect better.
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they → craft → better
He is promising to solve those problems by challenging “status quo thinking,” and using evidence-based ideas to reinvigorate city government.
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He → promise → government
Critics charge his platform — particularly his tax-cutting, high-spending budget proposals — is unrealistic or even risky, and claim that he’s compromised his political beliefs in the pursuit of higher office.
But Bradford says his willingness to change positions is an asset, and he’s confident he has tapped into the mood of Torontonians across the city.
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he → charge → city
Toronto’s leading candidates to be mayor talk to the Star’s editorial board about the most difficult matters facing the city and their campaigns.
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candidates → lead → city
Toronto’s leading candidates to be mayor talk to the Star’s editorial board about the most difficult matters facing the city and their campaigns.
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candidates → lead → city
“I’ve never been an ideological guy,” he told a recent meeting of the Star’s editorial board.
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he → tell → board
“I think we need leadership that is able to respond to the moment.”
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that → think → moment
“I think the city’s headed in the wrong direction, and I think a lot of voters agree with that,” he said.
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he → think → that
On the eve of the election, the Star has done an audit to help you decide your vote: We talk to Bradford and others about his record — and his mayoral plans.
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We → do → record
As a single voice on Toronto’s 26-member council, Bradford has had limited opportunities to implement policy.
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Bradford → have → policy
He says his primary accomplishment since taking office is his work on housing.
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accomplishment → say → housing
An urban planner by trade, in late 2022 then-mayor John Tory tapped him to be his planning and housing chair.
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Tory → tap → him
Bradford says he “held the pen” on the mayor’s housing action plan.
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he → say → plan
The plan was geared toward meeting or exceeding the provincial target of building 285,000 homes over a decade, and included measures to allow greater density on major streets, enable multiplex housing in residential neighbourhoods, and remove “exclusionary zoning” that blocked higher-occupancy buildings from districts dominated by single-family homes.
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that → gear → homes
The policy represented “some of the most significant housing changes in the city’s history,” Bradford told the Star.
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Bradford → represent → Star
Almost halfway through the 10-year plan, the city has built only about one third of the targeted number of homes.
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city → build → homes
He acknowledged that despite the framework he helped implement — and which Chow updated after she took office in July 2023 — housing “approvals are up, but starts are not,” which in part he attributed to changes in provincial policy.
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he → acknowledge → policy
He said if elected, he would have the city adopt technology to further speed up housing approvals, and work with Queen’s Park to refine provincial policies that he says lead to delays.
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he → say → delays
Brad Bradford could win the Toronto mayoralty despite losing support in his home ward of Beaches—East York.
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Bradford → win → Beaches
Brad Bradford could win the Toronto mayoralty despite losing support in his home ward of Beaches—East York.
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Bradford → win → Beaches
Mark Richardson, founder of the HousingNowTO advocacy group, said the policy Bradford helped author was “a plan to be proud of,” given it was delivered during the economic downturn of COVID-19.
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it → say → COVID-19
Carolyn Whitzman, senior housing researcher at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, agreed the 2022 plan was a “positive development.”
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plan → agree → Cities
But she said it wasn’t as ambitious as leading cities’ policies, and Chow has shown there was room for improvement by implementing measures such as more aggressively pursuing programs for affordable units on municipally owned land.
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Chow → say → land
Key Bradford assertion: He’s made council better
Bradford says he’s pushed Chow to do better this term by putting forward good ideas her administration was forced to adopt.
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administration → make → ideas
During his 2023 campaign, he floated the idea of appointing a “congestion relief commissioner” to co-ordinate all construction projects and alleviate gridlock.
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he → float → gridlock
Last December, Chow appointed a “traffic czar” to do just that.
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Chow → appoint → that
In February 2024, Bradford introduced a motion to scrap what he described as the city’s “embarrassing” ban on tobogganing at 45 hills.
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he → introduce → hills
Chow seconded his motion, and it passed with an overwhelming majority.
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it → second → majority
Perhaps most significantly, in December 2023, Bradford moved a motion to make the city’s housing plans more ambitious, including by directing staff to explore options to allow four-storey and six-unit multiplexes through more of the city.
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staff → move → city
His motion, which Chow supported, was part of a package of housing policies that convinced the federal government to commit $471 million to Toronto through Ottawa’s housing accelerator fund.
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that → support → fund
…and 50 more, not listed.
The Aporia
