Housing debate will see 6 top mayoral candidates go head-to-head
CBC
The top six candidates running for mayor of Toronto are squaring off for the first time Wednesday in a debate focused on housing affordability.
Olivia Chow, Brad Bradford, Mark Saunders, Josh Matlow, Mitzie Hunter and Ana Bailão will all be in attendance, according to event organizers.
Those six candidates have emerged as frontrunners — a designation CBC Toronto is basing on a combination of factors including polling data, policy releases and past leadership experience — in a crowded campaign that features a record 102 candidates (you can find the full list here).
Notably, this is the first major debate that will see Saunders, Toronto's former police chief, face off against his rivals, who have all been previously elected to office.
The housing debate, hosted by George Brown College and the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON), begins at 12:30 p.m. ET and can be livestreamed here.
The debate is the second of three happening Wednesday. A debate on the future of the arts in Toronto was taking place Wednesday morning.
Then at 6:30 p.m., candidates have been invited to Scarborough for a debate on issues pertaining to that community.
Joe Cressy, a longtime councillor for Spadina-Fort York who is now George Brown College's senior vice-president of communications, will moderate the housing affordability debate. Cressy was on Toronto City Council from 2014 to 2022.
Cressy said in a news release about the debate that "with an acute housing supply shortage, high rental costs and prolonged wait-times, addressing housing for post-secondary students is paramount."
"I look forward to hearing the candidates' proposed solutions to this crisis and moderating this debate — an event Torontonians will certainly be watching closely," he said.
Toronto has been struggling with housing affordability issues — whether it be for purchasing or renting a home — for years. Former Mayor John Tory, like many of the candidates, described the situation as a "crisis."
Toronto City Council, meanwhile, declared homelessness a public emergency on May 12.
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