Torontonians go to the polls today to elect a new mayor
Torontonians will go to the polls to elect their new mayor on June 26, about five months after longtime mayor John Tory resigned from office over an “improper relationship” he had with a former staffer.
Polls during the mayoral race mostly favored former NDP MP Olivia Chow, who previously served on the city’s city council. 2014 mayoral election and came third in the vote.
With Tory not running for the first time in the city’s past three by-elections for mayor, the left-wing Chow will now seek to defeat right-wing candidates such as former Toronto police chief Mark Saunders and political commentator Anthony Furey.
Former Deputy Mayor Ana Bailão recently made a jump in the polls, with a June 25 Mainstreet Research questionnaire showing that Bailao has the support of about 30 percent of voters in the city.
According to the same poll, Chow maintained her lead at 36 percent, while Mark Saunders, Anthony Furey and City Councilman Josh Matlow all had about 8 or 9 percent.
Among the favored candidates, former Ontario Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter and City Councilman Brad Bradford took the rear, with 5 percent and 1 percent of voters supporting them respectively.
Last week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford endorsed Saunders for Toronto’s next mayor.
Polling stations are open today from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at more than 1,440 voting locations in the city
About 129,740 eligible voters already voted in early polls between June 8 and June 13, representing a 14,000 increase from early voting in the October 2022 mayoral election. elected had a record turnout of 30 percent.
Tory only remained in the mayor’s office until mid-February and resigned after admitting to having an affair with a former staffer.
Current mayoral candidates have campaigned in recent months primarily to address Toronto’s affordable housing crisis, which has emerged as a top priority in a city struggling with skyrocketing real estate and rent prices.
Chow’s plan to drive down real estate and rental housing prices citywide includes raising taxes on high-priced real estate purchases in Toronto and using the government’s revenue to build lower-cost housing.
Bailao says she will to suggest “rental zoning” to ensure there are locations in the city that can only be used for rental housing.
Saunders says yes to delete real estate taxes of affordable housing in future developments, while Furey proposes to abolish the municipal transfer tax for starters in the city.
Tara MacIsaac and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
