Brad Bradford

Okay.

We're short on time and I wanted to get your takes on Brad Bradford stepping aside on the arts debate last night because Jill Andrews, I think it's fair to say has been very critical and it didn't make sense in my mind, Joe, for her to be moderating the, But I guess from time to time, we're going to see Olivia dodge a debate on anti-Semitism, and we're going to see this from time to time.

Do you think it's fair when both do it, or maybe you don't think it's a good comparison?

Well, I think candidates go to debates where they feel they'll be fairly, that's the key word, fairly treated.

Big footing the people of Toronto every other month.

And now he says that they're on the same page.

Brad Bradford says of that alleged or endorsement that, of course, Doug Ford endorses Olivia Chow because Olivia Chow doesn't negotiate in strength when it comes to Doug Ford and rolls over and hands the city over to the province on a silver platter.

That from Brad Bradford and his team.

Time for Tory's Take.

Let's start with Brad Bradford taking a pass on a mayoral debate.

You more than many will know that these debates, there's so many of them.

And sometimes they're extraordinarily tightly focused.

Anyway.

Okay.

Brad Bradford took a pass on a mayoral debate last night.

And Jim, I'll start with you on this one.

It was all about the the arts industry.

And Brad Bradford decided not to do it because Jill Andrew was going to be the moderator.

Jill Andrew, you're probably familiar.

She pundited a couple of times here and she is sort of she can out NDP the NDP.

Yes, no fan of Brad Bradford.

And I think candidates are faced with these calls and they'll make them.

As you know, one of the fun little quirks of the Toronto mayoral debate system is there's a debate for everything.

I think there are questions people might be surprised to hear that given some of the acrimony that's been unfolding between the province and the city over the last number of years over things like bike lanes and speed cameras, but both of them say our working relationship is really good.

I should add in here, Siobhan, as we're chatting, Brad Bradford's campaign put out a statement on the premier's comments.

And I'll just throw this in here.

Of course, the premier endorsed Olivia Chow.

I think there are some maybe more left-leaning supporters of hers who might cringe to hear the premier support Olivia Chow in this way.

But I don't think any minds are going to be changed with the premier's endorsement, however tentative it might have seemed.

And what about the flip side of that? Because as a small C and big C conservative, I'm, to be frank, uncomfortable with it, although Brad Bradford's spin on it is an interesting take.

Well, I think, you know, some of the things he says are true.

There does not appear to be a huge cry for change in the land.

Uh, she has an opponent in Brad Bradford, who has been trying for, oh, I would say more than a year to dethrone her.

I mean, m- most people...

You didn't have to actually register until m- May the 1st, but Mr. Bradford has made clear that, uh, he's wanted this job for a good long time.

Well, that's right.

You know, y- I mean, the, the way you win these races is by having a whole lane to yourself and, a- as Mayor Chow did three years ago.

And, uh, you know, Chris Alexander is sort of fishing i, in the same lake, uh, if you like, for votes as, uh, as Brad Bradford.

I know there's a technique, and, and you'll have seen it many times in the past too, where candidates, um, kind of dance around answers to questions by telling folksy anecdotes about people they've met on the hustings.

Poverty, housing, and transit were top of mind at the first mayoral debate of the Toronto election campaign.

Chris Alexander, Brad Bradford, and Olivia Chow took part in last night's debate, which was hosted by the Daily Bread Food Bank.

It covered a range of issues, including affordability and food insecurity.

We have to start with reliability.

Did Doug Ford endorse Olivia Chow? It sure seems like it.

And was Brad Bradford correct to opt out of a debate that involved somebody who was—because I think he was— Having Jill Andrews moderate a debate for the mayor of Toronto when she has been very vocally, not just anti maybe people who are center right, but anti particularly Brad Bradford.

And you think that that's good optics? Oh, yeah, but she knows the arts.

Maybe she does, but she shouldn't be moderating that debate.

We have to remember it's still early in the election.

We're still in the very early days and voters have a lot of questions about both him and Brad Bradford.

I'm going to wait and see.

But I think Chris did come out of the gate stronger than people expected him to.

She had, I think she got a bit of a rough ride, as the Toronto Star put it.

But she she had some good answers too as well.

So I would say it was a good debate, but I thought Brad Bradford came out the best of the three.

I've heard a lot of people—I've heard mixed reviews.