Monday’s debate between Toronto’s highest polling mayoral candidates was dramatically interrupted by a heckler who stormed onto the stage screaming and shouting.
The debate hosted by the Daily Bread Food Bank featured candidates Ana Bailão, Brad Bradford, Josh Matlow, Mitzie Hunter, and Olivia Chow, discussing issues affecting Toronto’s residents, from affordable housing to TTC service.
However, the debate was interrupted past the halfway mark by a heckler who walked onto the stage as Hunter was speaking and incoherently began to shout at the crowd. He said, “You will not fix an election,” before security began to haul the man off the stage and escort him out of the venue.
While security attempted to remove the heckler, the man demanded that the security guards take his hands off of him and complained that he was being assaulted.
The dramatic scene persisted as the heckler struggled against the security guards attempting to escort him out of the building, leading to the stage’s backdrop being pulled down while the heckler shouted that he couldn’t be assaulted as a Canadian citizen.
Police officers and security guards were eventually able to detain the man and escort the man out of the building, not before the incident rattled the candidates on stage and the audience watching the debate.
The heckler was identified as Kevin Clarke, a perennial mayoral candidate who is currently seeking the mayoralty in the June 26 byelection.
Besides the debate’s colourful interruption, candidates spoke on important issues and presented plans that vary from minor reforms to radical makeovers to municipal governance in Toronto.
In his opening remarks, Matlow admitted that his mayoralty would see tax increases and called the clearing of homeless encampments from a public parks and streets as “violent.”
Matlow would use the debate to attack landowners, saying that private developers should not be pocketing profits for building homes while promising to go after landowners who seek to evict renters for a variety of reasons.
The St. Paul councillor promised to expand rent control – a program that artificially brings the price of rent down – in Toronto, increase the fines for property standards violations, and bring in a parking lot tax.
Chow said she is “ready to tax,” saying that she would increase the property vacancy tax from 1% to 3% and increase taxes on high-income homebuyers.
When speaking on the city’s revenue and budget shortfall, Chow said that she doesn’t know why or how the city ended up with a deficit of over $1 billion, but boasted that Toronto can leverage its power to ask superior levels of government for more funding.
After Bailão pressed Chow, expressing her concern that Chow is unaware how the city ended up with a $1.5 billion shortfall, Chow responded by referencing her record as a city councillor.
“Don’t tell me that I don’t know how to read a budget for heaven’s sake,” said Chow.
Bradford attempted to attack Chow on the issue of taxes and the budget, but he gaffed on his line of attack, accidentally complimenting Chow for her plan to make Toronto more affordable.
“My concern when I hear about all of [Chow’s] policies is that they are going to make life in this city a heck of a lot more affordable…a heck a lot more expensive,” said Bradford.
