Scott Stinson: Despite Toronto's persistent problems, Olivia Chow just smiles through the crisis - National Post
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow addresses media on Thursday June 11, 2026. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk /Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/PostArticle contentAt one point in Tuesday night’s Toronto mayoral debate, Brad Bradford, the councillor running to unseat Olivia Chow, was decrying the city’s reluctance to uncover wasteful spending.
City Hall, he said, is “defined by a culture of status quo.”
Well, yes. And that is basically the problem that Bradford must overcome.
It is hard to imagine that many Toronto voters would argue things are running along tickety-boo these days. Chow, the NDP stalwart, brought in steep property-tax increases in her first two years in office, but problems related to traffic, public transit and housing affordability remain severe. The municipal government doesn’t own any of those files on its own, but Chow had a habit on Tuesday of claiming victories on matters that were, at best, incomplete.
She crowed about vest-clad traffic agents — “they are so effective!” — in response to a question about the city’s perpetual gridlock, as though it were just a matter of hiring a few dozen more stewards to blow whistles and point fingers to ease the endless jams.
Columnist Jesse Kline keeps you up to date with what’s happening in Israel and the effects of antisemitism on life here in Canada. Friday mornings.
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of Channel Israel will soon be in your inbox.
We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again
She talked up her proposed weekly fare cap on the TTC, an odd solution for a transit operator that is already facing a massive budget shortfall, and said city finances would be in better shape just as soon as she gets a new deal with Premier Doug Ford, who may or may not have endorsed her last week depending on your interpretation of events.
And in what might have been the best indication of her tendency to just smile through a crisis, she responded to a question about overcoming local resistance to new housing developments — a problem that is far from unique to Toronto — by explaining that it wasn’t really an issue at all.
“Neighbours are not the problem,” she said. “You can always work with them to find a solution.”
If there were any urban planners in the audience, it’s possible their heads exploded upon hearing the mayor declare that NIMBYism was, in fact, fake news.
Chow, though, is in a comfortable position in the race because she has that status-quo thing working for her. Bradford, the would-be “change” candidate who has been positioning himself for such a run for many months now, staking out conservative positions on issues like government spending and public safety, doesn’t have anything like Chow’s name recognition. He was also joined, late in the game, by former federal Conservative MP Chris Alexander, whose presence in the race remains somewhat mystifying.
