The race for mayor only truly began once Olivia Chow ended months of completely needless speculation about whether she would run again. Spoiler: she’s running.

I can’t even ask why she dragged the confirmation out so long because, truth be told, she could have waited until Election Day to announce and it still wouldn’t have mattered. This is because her victory in October is the safest of bets, the slammingest of slam dunks.

It gives me no pleasure to make this announcement at this early juncture. I can’t even engage in the usual throat clearing about how I might be wrong and through some act of God Chow might lose. If we allow that she makes it to Election Day alive and well she will be re-elected. And yes, those Toronto Jews and allies who have an interest in seeing her lose are going to take her inevitable re-election squarely on the chin. 

Normally, when the community loses some stupid social media scrimmage or gets out-protested it means nothing because these interactions are public therapy sessions for those who have identified Israel as the source of their personal trauma. This election is another thing altogether, because it is a demonstration of real power and will determine who gets heard and who doesn’t. That is why backing Chow, with all her flaws, provides Torontonians who wish they could vote for Totenkopf-tattoo-wearing Graham Platner of Maine with a local alternative.  

Of course, nobody will say aloud that taking the Jews down a peg is an actual election issue. The columnists and the journalists and the tweeters will focus on the wide disparity in the polls and feature her delightfully clapping back at offensive tweets. They will marvel at how Drake recently nicknamed her Crolivia Chow while conveniently forgetting all about how BBL Drizzy, and Toronto by extension, got turned into a global joke by Kendrick Lamar just a few short years ago. 

They will smirk at how her nominal challenger Brad Bradford keeps getting exposed being at odds with his previous statements and positions, such as when he didn’t vote against allowing e-scooters on sidewalks before coming out against “mini-motorcycle madness” in a contrived friendly radio show interview. But this is all traditional election stick-handling that intentionally misses the main point. There are three reasons why Bradford’s candidacy is dead on arrival that you won’t read anywhere else. 

The first and most obvious of these is Bradford himself. Somebody had to put themselves........

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