It’s surprising how much common ground there is between the candidates in the mayoralty race. It’s an encouraging sign. It means that the process of debate has worked for once, allowing candidates to converge on some common ideas that have stood the test of public scrutiny. Nevertheless, each candidate comes with a very different background, and some significant policy differences.
Jakobek’s long experience as the city budget chief is certainly an asset. And he has some good ideas, including a discounted fare for riders on short trips of four or five stops. But his connection with the MFP scandal just won’t go away, and the fact that he is the only one of the major candidates without a stated policy for improving ethics at City Hall isn’t encouraging.
Nunziata, on the other hand, has a squeaky-clean reputation. When the Liberal party broke its promise to can the GST, he risked political oblivion by splitting ranks with them and running as an independent. But his proposal to make sleeping on the streets illegal is baffling. Rounding up the homeless solves nothing on its own. And if Nunziata’s own strategies for reducing homelessness succeed, then the ban will be unnecessary anyway.
John Tory clearly intends to make a serious effort to reduce homelessness, starting with his promise to build 1,000 new units of affordable housing per year. But his plan to ban panhandling is a bad idea. It may be unsettling to encounter people begging for money, but the ban would simply put poverty out of sight and out of mind without getting to root causes.
Barbara Hall and David Miller are the best candidates in our eyes. Hall is a bridge-builder in more ways than one. She knows how to work with others and is able to listen as well as advocate. But when it comes right down to it, David Miller is our favourite. Respondents to a recent poll on the Varsity’s web site picked transportation and transit as the top issue by a wide margin. And, despite the hoopla over Miller’s musings on road tolls, he’s still a better pick when it comes to transportation. His rival, Hall, has promised a fare freeze, but she may be unable to deliver without a funding increase from Queen’s Park, which is still uncertain. Miller, on the other hand, is focusing on things that can be done without extra money from the province. His suggestion that the TTC introduce a weekly pass for those who don’t want to sign up for a whole month drew the most spirited bout of applause at the Hart House debate.
The biggest strike against Miller is his refusal to rule out new road tolls to finance the TTC. But it seems unlikely that he would actually introduce them, given the vigorous public reaction against the idea over the past few days. Those who are spooked by the road toll issue should clearly look elsewhere. But in the final analysis, Miller is still our pick as the candidate with the best track record and the best vision for the city.
