Working on an archive project for my past council coverage and some of these old quotes from Councillor Brad Bradford are wild in retrospect. This was April 2022! Not that long ago!
Familiar face alert: Former Conservative MP Ted Opitz has registered to run for Council in Councillor Amber Morley’s Etobicoke-Lakeshore Ward. He’s been added to the Candidate Tracker: toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/2026-candi...
Bradford attacking Chow for "scalping" World Cup tickets is another example of him attacking a thing he voted for. The hospitality program was approved by Council in March 2025. So non-controversial at the time no one spoke on it and it passed on consent.
(He actually says 15 minutes, not 20 minutes. Four years later, I regret the error.)
Here's the video from that meeting. Quite a contrast from the Bradford we saw just a year later when he was running for mayor: www.youtube.com/live/UJ4UHl1...
My @thestar.com column this week: With the city working at a feverish pace to fix infrastructure and spruce things up before Friday's kickoff, I'm asking: why does it take something like hosting the FIFA World Cup for Toronto to try to look its best?
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
When events like the World Cup happen, a lot of people say things like "the eyes of the world are on Toronto." But the eyes of the world are *always* on Toronto. We shouldn't reserve our best civic self for big corporate mega events.
Gift link: www.thestar.com/gift-redeem?...
In a June 4 letter to advocacy group Safe Parkside, staff from Councillor Gord Perks' office confirm that the safety redesign for Parkside Drive is stalled due to new provincial rules re: bike lanes. City spent years studying how to make the road safer, but dragged their feet and now, well, whoops.
Check your inbox: It's City Hall Watcher #387!
The COUNCIL SCORECARD returns with a big update, and a new COUNCIL COMPARE feature that lets you put councillors head to head.
Plus: island airport impacts, road safety without speed cameras, and more.
toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/council-sc...
Stuff like this and the annual weeks-long crush at the Christmas Market really shows the huge unmet demand for pedestrianized spaces in the city. The right answer is more, but I worry the city will opt for less. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
