Toronto's top job is up for grabs and 102 candidates are vying for it. Here's what you need to know
Where things stand after the 6th week of Toronto's mayoral race
The field is set.
With 102 candidates now vying for the city's top job, Torontonians will have a lot of options when they go to the polls to elect a new mayor on June 26. And while there's still a chance a candidate could drop out, the deadline to enter the race passed Friday.
Like the day nominations opened, there was a flurry of activity, with 15 more candidates signing up ahead of the cut-off.
This week the campaign shifted in part to city hall itself, as council meet for a packed three-day session.
Here's a glimpse of where things stand after the sixth week of the campaign.
Crowded field will present challenges to voters
Experts closely following the campaign worry that the size of the candidate pool, and the physical ballot itself, could be frustrating to some voters.
"It's a record by far in terms of the number of people who've thrown their hat into the ring," Toronto Metropolitan University political science professor Myer Siemiatycki said.
"I think without question it's going to have a sort of confusing, and hopefully not too distorting, impact," he said. "We're going to be handed a record sized multi-fold accordion-like ballot."
Former city councillor Joe Mihevc said despite the size of the pack, there are six main contenders to watch at this point in the race — Ana Bailão, Brad Bradford, Olivia Chow, Mitzie Hunter, Josh Matlow and Mark Saunders.
"I would suggest that the vast majority of the candidates know that they are not really players," he said.
"There really are six candidates that have some degree of public profile, a certain degree of money and a team that can maybe carry them over the finish line."
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Housing, transport dominate council and campaigns
At city hall, council's legalization of multiplexes across Toronto gave one of the campaign's top challengers an opportunity to claim a victory.
Bradford, who is also planning and housing committee chair, delivered a fiery speech, slamming councillors who tried to defer the debate. He even used his campaign slogan, "less talk, more action" to frame the situation.
"Why is there a motion for a deferral?" he asked. "Endless debate, deferral, delay — the hallmark of housing in this chamber for too many years."
But that same day, Bradford's campaign faced allegations that it used social media videos about women's TTC horror stories without their permission.
Coun. Anthony Perruzza fought two unsuccessful battles at the meeting, one against the bid to legalize multiplexes and the other to re-open High Park to allow car traffic in on weekends.
Matlow's push to revisit the controversial billion-dollar Gardiner East project was also a key item on the agenda. With no new construction scheduled on the rebuild until 2026, Matlow wanted the city to temporarily pause entering into any new contracts.
Matlow's campaign team released a video about his opposition to the project just as debate began at council on Thursday. In the end, council voted the measure down.
Chow also claimed a victory when it came to the debate over the future of the Scarborough RT.
Last week, after a key city committee seemed to stumble when it asked Ontario to fund a $3-million study of a more efficient busway to replace the SRT, she jumped on the issue.
Chow said if elected mayor, she'd not only fund the study, but the $60 million to build the busway.
On Thursday, council voted to pay for the study.
"This is what happens when we stand up for Scarborough together," she said in a statement.
Campaign creeps onto council floor
With three mayoral candidates sitting on council, it's a recipe for thinly-veiled campaigning to take place.
And no one appeared more unhappy about that than Speaker Frances Nunziata. It's her job to keep the marathon meetings moving.
So she wasn't pleased with the objections registered by candidate Perruzza about extending Wednesday's session later than normal.
Extending would have made Perruzza and the other candidates late for a mayoral debate.
"This (debate) was set up weeks ago thinking that the council would adjourn at six o'clock and now you're, at the last minute, extending it, making it difficult," he said.
"Coun. Perruzza, you have to remember that you still have your obligation to be here and do your job even though you're running for mayor ... or take a leave of absence," Nunziata shot back, adding that the deputy mayor had given councillors advance notice of the extension.
In the end, the debate start time was pushed back to accommodate the councillors.
Former city councillor Joe Mihevc said these blow-ups happen every election year. Candidates use the council floor to highlight a position, raise profile or just grandstand, he said.
"It's the silly season," Mihevc said. "The blessing for Torontonians is that it's a two-month silly season, not a six-month or eight-month silly season."
More endorsements on campaign trail
In terms of endorsements, Bailão continues to rack up them up from sitting city councillors. Coun. James Pasternak became the latest to sign on to Bailão's campaign, following in the footsteps of Chris Moise, Shelley Carroll, Paul Ainslie and Nick Mantas.
Chow also earned the endorsement of Progress Toronto, which formally registered this week as a third-party advertiser in the campaign. The group had a formidable machine in the 2022 civic vote, endorsing a slate of left-leaning candidates.
Premier Doug Ford has said he's staying out of Toronto's election, but he came as close as ever on Friday to endorsing a candidate.
Policy planks you may have missed
On the policy front, Saunders pitched ideas aimed at making getting around the city easier. He plans to limit summer road closures that take place on weekends if elected mayor. He would also stop the annual weekend closures of the Gardiner and DVP, requiring the work to be done at night.
Bailãopromised to reduce fares on the 501 street cars and the on-street bus replacement for the Scarborough RT to $2.
Chloe Brown is taking a different tact to talk to voters after introducing a proposed city budget at an event last week. People can book time with her at a cafe in Rexdale to chat.
Hunter unveiled a five-point plan to address the housing crisis. If elected she pledged to unlock public lands to help build affordable housing. She would also speed up building approvals and create a tenant advocate.
Anthony Furey pitched a plan to create "Buy-and-Hire Toronto" procurement policies. If elected he would require municipal projects to favour Toronto suppliers, manufacturers, city workers and apprentices.
Chow made another housing announcement, this one aimed at building 25,000 new rental homes.
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