ABOVE: Olivia Chow slams John Tory for choosing to skip certain debates that don’t feature all three major mayoral candidates
TORONTO – Olivia Chow is accusing fellow Toronto mayoral candidate John Tory of hiding and “running away from the truth” after he decided to rethink his strategy on attending upcoming municipal election debates.
“Yesterday he said that the debates were very productive. It was a good exchange of ideas. Now he said, ‘Well, maybe not,'” Chow told reporters during a press conference Thursday.
“Mr. Tory. Stop hiding. Stop picking and choosing who you will speak to and attend all the debates and don’t be afraid debating me.”
In a statement released by his campaign team late Wednesday night, Tory said he will review his participation in upcoming debates on a “case-by-case basis” that “don’t exclusively feature the three main contenders.”
The Tory campaign said the decision was made in light of Doug Ford’s choice to pick and choose certain events to attend, a move his brother Rob frequently practiced prior to stepping down to deal with a rare form of cancer.
“Doug Ford’s decision to skip debates provides him with an immense advantage, especially considering that the election is less than five weeks away,” the statement read.
“While debates are an important part of the democratic process, debate preparation, and the events themselves, requires the diversion of significant time and resources from other campaign priorities.”
Chow also criticized Tory for taking a page from the Ford’s playbook on transit expansion and dealing with media at city hall.
“For four years, we have seen a mayor that planned his transit scheme on the back of a napkin,” she said. “Now Mr. Tory is planning his transit scheme on the back of his napkin.”
“For four years, we’ve seen a mayor who picked and choose which reporters he wants to speak to. Now Mr. Tory is doing exactly the same.”
Doug Ford also targeted Tory on Wednesday for his lack of city hall experience and for being “parachuted” into his previous roles as CEO of Rogers and commissioner of the Canadian Football League.
Ford also declared Friday, Sept. 26 “Take John Tory to Work” day.
The Etobicoke North city councillor made the comments after a report surfaced last week that revealed he had the third poorest attendance record this term at city hall.
The numbers show Ford missed 53 per cent of the votes taken at council for 2014.
Comments