With one month until election day, building Scarborough and questions about budget savings dominated the Toronto mayoral campaign trail on Saturday. Olivia Chow held a rally in Scarborough where she touted projects during her time in office that have been completed or are about to get underway, including the Scarborough Busway, Rouge Valley Centre, and Chinese Cultural Centre. She told her supporters that after years of being neglected, Scarborough is “turning the corner.” Chow also repeated her campaign promises of a weekly TTC fare cap and seeing that the Scarborough East LRT will get built if re-elected. “Things are getting better here in Scarborough,” she said. “We want a stronger Scarborough. A better Scarborough because Scarborough is one of the most vibrant parts of the city. One of the most diverse parts of a diverse city. And in the future, one of the strongest parts of a stronger city,” Chow added. Meanwhile, Brad Bradford challenged Chow’s claim that her administration found $788 million in budget savings, arguing that only $135 million represents actual spending reductions. “Every family in Toronto knows what a saving is. It’s when you spend less than you did before,” said Bradford, pointing to the city’s operating budget growing from $16.16 billion in 2023, when Chow took office, to $18.9 billion in 2026. “Olivia Chow spent $2.7 billion more, raised your fees, took more money from other governments, put off bills until after the election, and called it $788 million in savings. That’s not finding money. That’s hiding where it went.” Speaking to reporters outside city hall on Saturday morning, Bradford noted that the city’s own budget documents show $135 million in reductions, including $57 million in efficiencies and $78 million from internal line-by-line reviews. The remaining $653 million, Bradford argues, comes from measures including hiring slowdowns and cost deferrals, revenue adjustments, and other changes. In a statement to CTV News, Chow’s campaign said, “anything that reduces the amount taxpayers have to pay is savings.” “Councillor Bradford is highlighting that Olivia Chow was able to save $788 million this year through line-by-line reviews and other measures. As mayor, Olivia Chow will continue to find savings and pass them off to taxpayers,” the statement read. Bradford also rehashed his earlier pledge for an independent line-by-line review for experts to analyze city spending across city divisions, agencies, and programs. He pointed to the city’s property tax increases since Chow took office, citing a 9.5 per cent increase in 2024, 6.9 per cent in 2025 and 2.2 per cent in 2026. His campaign says the 2026 increase was only kept lower through the use of $1.7 billion from city reserves. He also reiterated his pledge to freeze property taxes in his first year as mayor until that review is completed. For her part, Chow has pledged to keep property taxes “at or around” the rate of inflation if re-elected. “I’m a city planner by training. When something isn’t working, you open it up and look under the hood,” Bradford said. “You don’t put a new label on the old problem.” Meanwhile, Chris Alexander hosted a meet-and-greet at his office headquarters on Yonge Street. The former Conservative who trails behind Chow and Bradford in recent polls remains optimistic about his chances with four weeks left to go. “We’re the campaign with new ideas, bolder ideas, a lot of policies that are on our website that go well beyond in terms of detail what the other candidates are offering,” Alexander said. Torontonians head to the polls on Oct. 26.
