Sparks flew at the first debate of the mayor’s race Monday night with candidates George Smitherman and Rocco Rossi saving their most vicious one-liners for each other as all six major candidates weighed in on taxes, transit, bike lanes, asset sales and other issues dominating the early days of the campaign.
Mr. Smitherman, the former deputy premier, and Mr. Rossi, former top fundraiser for the federal Liberals, squared off over Mr. Rossi's proposal to sell Toronto Hydro to help pay down Toronto's debt.
Mr. Smitherman called the plan “near identical to [former premier] Mike Harris's justification for the giveaway of Highway 407,” which drew enthusiastic boos from the Rossi supporters in the crowd of more than 600 at Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School in Scarborough.
When Mr. Rossi next rose to speak, he slammed the former health minister’s record at Queen's Park. “If he hadn't blown a billion dollars on eHealth with nothing to show for it and if he hadn’t sold the single-biggest single-source deal in Canadian history with Samsung then maybe, just maybe, his former boss would have had the money to continue to invest in this city so we wouldn’t have the debt problem we have today. Again, Mr. Smitherman, how are you going to get rid of the debt? You certainly know how to spend money, you don't know how to save it.”
Mr. Smitherman retorted that he would “put my track record of public service and responsibility against yours any day because the difference between you and me is that I have experience and a track record and you have none.”
The heated exchange suggested that each sees the other as his biggest threat in the race to replace David Miller. Both camps stacked the audience with supporters who whooped and clapped enthusiastically when their candidates spoke. Councillor Rob Ford also brought an entourage, while councillors Joe Pantalone and Giorgio Mammoliti and Women's Post publisher Sarah Thomson arrived with a handful of staff and supporters.
The 2.5-hour debate covered an extraordinary breadth of territory and included many questions on how the mayoral candidates would loosen gridlock’s grip on Toronto. Everyone but Ms. Thomson and Mr. Smitherman rejected road tolls. Ms. Thomson advocated a $5 rush-hour toll on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway to pay for an expanded subway network, while Mr. Smitherman said a mature discussion of road pricing should be part of the campaign. Only Mr. Mammoliti backed tearing down the Gardiner Expressway east of Jarvis Street, a proposal currently undergoing an environmental assessment.
The candidates also sparred over Mr. Miller’s Transit City plan, which would expand light-rail deep into the suburbs, including on Sheppard Avenue East in Scarborough.
The plan's fate is uncertain after the provincial government postponed $4-billion in funding in last week's budget. The $950-million Sheppard line is believed to be safe, however, because it has already broken ground and is the only line that has secured funding from Ottawa.
Every contender but Mr. Pantalone and Mr. Smitherman expressed trepidation about Transit City, with most saying they would prefer tunnelling subways over laying new rail lines.
“LRTs [light-rapid transit] is just a fancy word for streetcars,” Mr. Ford said. “I opposed the Finch Avenue streetcar. There's nothing wrong with Finch Avenue. I don't want to put people out of business like they did on St. Clair.”
Mr. Smitherman said subways are too expensive and require high-density development that he predicted many in the inner suburbs would oppose.
“You have been waiting too long,” he told the crowd. “Here is an historic opportunity for investments and resources that are on the table. I support the implementation of the Sheppard LRT.”
