LILLEY: Desperate Chow turns to scare tactics as Bradford surges

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If you doubt the polls showing Brad Bradford overtaking Olivia Chow, just watch Chow. She’s campaigning like someone who’s behind.

The desperation radiating from the Chow campaign grows by the day — wild claims, nothing but negativity. That’s not how front-runners campaign, and it tells me her internal numbers are likely worse than the public ones.

On Tuesday morning, two polls were released showing Bradford overtaking Chow for the first time. Mainstreet’s numbers showed Bradford with 48.9% support compared to Chow’s 47.5%, while a poll by Build Canada showed Bradford at 48.4% to Chow’s 43.7%.

“She has resorted to running a very negative campaign built on scare tactics and lies,” Bradford said at an event Monday.

Scare tactics on tap

He’s correct. Chow is running her campaign based on lies and scare tactics. She was at it again with statements and social media posts on Tuesday claiming Bradford wants to make your drinking water less safe.

“Do we put our water at risk by opening the doors to privatization? Absolutely not,” Chow said.

She’s been pushing the idea that Bradford wants to sell off the city’s water system for weeks, ever since his polling numbers started creeping up, threatening her hold on power. What Bradford has suggested is structuring the water and sewer system much like Toronto Hydro, which is a city-owned corporation but one that can repair and build properly because it is able to borrow money the city can’t.

Bradford’s plan would allow the repair backlog, basement flooding issues and aging pipes to be fixed through proper financing without increasing your bill.

Chow wants the status quo, which won’t help the city improve.

Full potential? Really?

Of course, as Chow said during the debate at the Daily Bread Food Bank, she thinks Toronto is living up to its full potential. It’s outrageous that she said that standing inside the central food bank, which has reported that last year there were 3.7 million client visits to a food bank, up from 2.5 million the year Chow was elected.

How do you claim that a 48% increase in food bank use is the city living up to its full potential?

Chow likes to claim that crime is down under her watch, and while homicides and robbery are down from last year, assault, auto theft, break and enter and theft over $5,000 are all up. In fact, according to the Toronto Police Service, the total number of incidents tracked by the Major Crime Indicators is higher so far this year compared to the same time last year.

The only reason that Chow can make any claim that crime is down is because 2023 and 2024 were record crime years. Crime is only down on her watch in relation to the two record years of out-of-control crime early in her tenure.

The company she keeps

Over the weekend, Chow took the endorsement of Bob Rae, the premier with the worst record in my lifetime — record unemployment, record spending and deficits. She then took the endorsement of the second-worst premier in my lifetime, Kathleen Wynne, who took the Liberal Party so far left that they lost official party status for two election cycles.

Bradford, meanwhile, has the support of current and past councillors, including Jennifer McKelvie, who was deputy mayor under Chow but won’t back her now. He also has the support of several current members of the Carney Liberals in Ottawa, including James Maloney, Yvan Baker and Judy Sgro, along with former Harper cabinet ministers Lisa Raitt and Peter Kent.

Bradford has the support of serious people who have been successful at doing the hard work of governing. Chow has the support of people from the radical left, including those like Rae and Wynne who left Ontario in ruins.

As Bradford’s support grows, the claims by Chow will become more desperate. Don’t buy what she is selling you.

If we want to change the city, we need to change the mayor.

Drop Chow, back Bradford.

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