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Scott Stinson: Despite Toronto's persistent problems, Olivia Chow just smiles through the crisis

The incumbent mayor insists everything is going great. Her two conservative rivals disagree

At one point in Tuesday night’s Toronto mayoral debate, Brad Bradford, the councillor running to unseat Olivia Chow, was decrying the city’s reluctance to uncover wasteful spending.

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City Hall, he said, is “defined by a culture of status quo.”

Scott Stinson: Despite Toronto's persistent problems, Olivia Chow just smiles through the crisis Back to video

Well, yes. And that is basically the problem that Bradford must overcome.

It is hard to imagine that many Toronto voters would argue things are running along tickety-boo these days. Chow, the NDP stalwart, brought in steep property-tax increases in her first two years in office, but problems related to traffic, public transit and housing affordability remain severe. The municipal government doesn’t own any of those files on its own, but Chow had a habit on Tuesday of claiming victories on matters that were, at best, incomplete.

She crowed about vest-clad traffic agents — “they are so effective!” — in response to a question about the city’s perpetual gridlock, as though it were just a matter of hiring a few dozen more stewards to blow whistles and point fingers to ease the endless jams.

Columnist Jesse Kline keeps you........

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