Mark Saunders appears at Ford Fest after Ontario premier endorses him to be Toronto's next mayor
CBC
Toronto mayoral candidate and former police chief Mark Saunders made an appearance at a barbecue hosted by Ontario Premier Doug Ford in a city park on Friday only days before residents go to the polls.
Campaign lawn signs in support of Saunders greeted visitors at entrance of Thomson Memorial Park for Ford Fest, an annual barbecue formerly held in the backyard of the premier's family home. The event was promoted by Ford and the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party.
City rules say candidates are not allowed to use city facilities for election purposes.
The signs were later removed and Saunders was seen mingling with the crowd and having his photo taken.
Ford made no mention of Saunders when speaking to the crowd from the stage but has endorsed him for mayor in the municipal byelection that will be held on Monday. Saunders is one of 102 candidates. Polls have put candidate Olivia Chow in the lead for weeks.
Ford also sent out robocalls to Toronto residents on Friday saying he is supporting Saunders for mayor. "We all have to unite behind Mark. It's absolutely critical for the future of our city," the robocalls said.
Asked about the campaign signs, Saunders's campaign manager, Laryssa Waler, said candidate Ana Bailão's signs were also set up at the park and that candidate Anthony Furey was in attendance. Waler also said 10 other "minor" candidates were there as well.
CBC News has requested further comment from Waler and has reached out to Bailão's team.
At the event, Saunders said he was pleased with the endorsement from Ford. "It's a good thing. It's a better thing that Ford Nation is on side as well too," he told reporters. "At the end of the day, I got the momentum. I love what's going on. I love what's happened today."
Reginald Tull, another mayoral candidate, objected to the presence of Saunders's lawn signs and distribution of his flyers in the park. Tull is an entrepreneur and a father of three teenagers.
"They're running this event in order to promote Mark Saunders," Tull said in a tweet that included video of the signs and flyers.
"How is this democracy? This is a public park," he continued.
"This event is supposed to be for the community, but they are using it as a political strategy to get Mark Saunders, who is endorsed by Doug Ford, elected. Right here, on public property. This is what they're doing right here, Ford Nation. He's got his signs out and he says my signs can't be here."
Erin George, spokesperson for the City of Toronto media relations, said in an email on Friday that organizers were made aware of rules under the Toronto Municipal Code.
When he was a student at what was then known as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, Andrew Scott had a professor who regularly said that painting was something that could be done until someone dropped dead, while rock n' roll had a best-before date.
Almost a year after a Miramichi woman spoke out about how dealing with an insurance-related company left her in financial ruin, a watchdog commission in the province is formally warning people to stay away.
Getting a job is not the same as it used to be, a young job seeker told CBC Toronto at an employment fair in Oakwood Village earlier this week.
A teenage girl is dead after she was struck by at least one vehicle Friday night in Vaudreuil-Dorion — a suburb located about 45 kilometres west of Montreal.
There was a time when Manitobans used to consider Saskatchewan a rural, underdeveloped backwater.
The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) found some reasons to celebrate the 2026-27 provincial budget, but it takes issue with the amount designated for the province's Water Security Agency (WSA).
The family of an Edmonton woman who died in Honolulu last year is pushing for Hawaiian authorities to re-open the case.
It was around this time in 2020 that everything changed.
With its emergency shelter beds frequently running at 50 per cent over capacity and demand so great that it's forced to refer some women escaping domestic violence elsewhere, Gillian's Place in St. Catharines will soon be able to offer a broader range of services to more victims of gender-based violence.
The ceiling of the CAW Student Centre at the University of Windsor is decorated by flags of numerous nations — among them, Iran.
Turmoil in Iran, a major disruption in world oil markets, and stratospheric gasoline prices in Canada and beyond. What's racking motorists and governments in 2026 also faced them in 1979, sparked by the Iranian Revolution.
Five decades later, and Thunder Bay's Music World Academy remains a family-run business.
Dalton Dubois of Guelph, Ont., made history at the recent Paris Fashion Week when she became the first transgender model to walk the runway for Chanel Exclusive.