WATCH: Global News Urban Affairs reporter Mark McAllister and City Hall Bureau Chief Dave Trafford break down the latest mayoral debate.
It was loud.
It was raucous.
It was chaotic.
At times it was downright obnoxious.
And that was just in the audience.
The big debate featuring John Tory, Doug Ford and Olivia Chow was a no holds barred, unvarnished, swashbuckling performance – complete with props, sight gags, and gotcha questions.
WATCH: Heckling, transit, Pride parade highlight Doug Ford’s first debate
The Tuesday night showdown at York Memorial C.I among the big three was billed as THE debate in the campaign. This is when the run for the mayor’s chair in Toronto would begin in earnest.
It was hyped by all media, on all platforms as if there were a heavyweight championship on the line.
So it’s not surprising that the 500 or so auditorium seats at filled up in a hurry when the doors opened an hour prior to the debate.
In fact, a few motivated voters from Ward 2 managed to get into the hall while media was doing set up – some two and a half hours before the show began. It was obvious early that all three camps had a ground game; making a real effort to get their most engaged supporters to claim prime real estate in the hall.
I’ve been to plenty of these town hall gatherings and community debates over the past thirty years but there was a sense of electricity in the air that you might get at a leadership convention. True to form in this campaign, this was to be no ordinary debate.
WATCH: Watch all the heckling, heated exchanges and barbs being traded between mayoral candidates John Tory, Doug Ford and Olivia Chow in a 10-minute recap of Tuesday’s Mayoral debate.
The hall filled to capacity in minutes and so began the cat calls and chanting among the candidate camps. There was a dust-up at the back after an anti-Ford voter flashed a homemade picture of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. One Ford supporter was really miffed – mostly because she didn’t understand the picture. She didn’t know the Tweedle Dee/Dum reference. (Police would later escort her from the room after she raised a ruckus during the debate.)
At one point, team Tory and Team Ford were engaged in an infantile argument over which side got more seats in the third row. One of the debate organizers finally said “Surely, you can figure this out. I’m not playing usher tonight”.
The room erupted in a cacophony of screams and chants as the candidates took their seats on the stage. It was almost impossible to tell who was getting more cheers or jeers
And so the tone was established.
The first question of the evening asked each of the candidates to spell out three things that differentiated them from their opponents. It allowed them to stake out their turf and gave us a hint of their strategies.
And it didn’t take long for this prize-fight to become a bare-knuckled political brawl.
At one point Ford warned Tory, “You’ve had a pretty easy ride so far. You better buckle up because it’s going to get a lot rougher.”
READ MORE: John Tory continues to lead over rivals: Poll
But he wasn’t the only one throwing darts. Tory reminded the room that Doug referred to his City Hall colleagues as “monkeys”. Olivia Chow took dead aim at Tory and Ford for failing to have hard job creation targets.
Global’s Mark McAllister had the challenge of not only moderating the candidates, but dealing with the crowd and the chaos throughout the night. At one point he wisely ordered a pause in the action until the craziness in the audience was duly quelled.
But the most interesting part of the debate for me might have been the thing that was absent.
Rob Ford never really factored in the discussion. Yes, Doug referenced the Ford administration and his brother’s record, but Doug carved out his own space in this campaign pretty quickly.
Doug’s unapologetic, shoot from the lip, sometime snarky, personal barbs were front and centre. (He accused Tory of expecting everything to be served up on a silver platter.)
Ford put himself out there and he took as good he gave.
While he staggered John Tory when he quizzed him on the number of standing committees at City Hall, (Tory didn’t know), Ford stumbled over the matter of marching in the Pride parade.
He’s been “down there” at previous parades. He’s donated money. But would he or would he not march in the parade?
He never answered the question. He needs to figure that out before the next debate.
WATCH: Doug Ford evades question on whether he’ll march in Pride parade
A few things are clear after all is said and done.
This wasn’t about changing minds or winning votes. This performance was about staking ground and reinforcing each campaign’s brand.
There were very few minds changed. There were very few new ideas.
But there is definitely a new energy around this campaign.
Game on Toronto! We should all buckle our chin straps. The next month to Election Day is going to be a wild ride.
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