It’s not scientific

I didn’t do a formal poll.

I never went door-to-door.

But my son, who was just visiting Toronto,  tells me the area of the city where he stayed, Forest Hill Village, is awash in Brad Bradford signs.

Three days before the municipal election, pollsters agree the two mayoralty contenders, Bradford and the incumbent mayor, Olivia Chow,  are neck and neck.

I grew up Jewish in the tight knit Jewish community of Forest Hill.  Today, more than 60% of its residents are either Jewish or have an ethnic Jewish background. Many of these folks seem to be supporting Bradford.

Some political pundits claim that what divides the two contenders is that Bradford’s promises are pitched at home owners (the richer), while Chow’s are aimed at renters (the poorer).  On average, residents of Forest Hill earn $123,600 per year, versus most other metro Toronto residents who earn only about half as much–  $59,250 on average, so it could be said the higher the income the more likely the person is to back Bradford.

Just as an exercise, let’s look at the differences between the two candidates: 

• Chow wants free transit after 10 paid rides weekly; she wants to keep bike lanes
• She promises to create 10,000 new rental homes, and 15,000 jobs for youth
• She wants to provide lunch for all school children; help the city open grocery stores
• She says she’ll hired 360 more police every year for the next three years
• Bradford wants to maintain most bike lanes, but remove those especially in Etobicoke
• He wants to cut residential water bills by 25%
• He wants to eliminate the municipal land transfer tax
• He wants to freeze property taxes for a year
• And he wants to hire 1,000 cops right away

Looking back 50 years, David Lewis, a founding leader of the NDP (Avi Lewis’ grandfather), was the MP for York South for about a decade. York South when I was growing up, included Forest Hill Village.  I would expect there would be some residual interest in even mildly left of centre efforts by a mayor like Chow.

But what really shocks me is the hatred and vitriol directed at Olivia Chow during this campaign – as demonstrated by the forest of Bradford signs throughout Forest Hill, the editorials in the The Canadian Jewish News.

In Oct 10, 2024, the CJN published,

“In the matter of the Official Jewish Community versus Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, the petition-rousing charges involve insufficient empathy displayed by the mayor in failing to attend the Oct. 7 anniversary vigil in North York, failing to issue a statement (a most serious crime of our times), followed by an increasingly ridiculous series of excuses for why she couldn’t be there…. Does anyone honestly expect Chow to make a wholesale conversion to standing with the community at its most pro-Israel?”

Or a month later, on Nov 24, this

“… Chow marched in the annual Pride parade (which she has regularly attended throughout her four-decade political career), but did not comment when a demonstration over sponsors’ Israeli investments led the parade procession to be halted prematurely—with some of the parade participants, and big crowds, still lining Yonge Street.”

Why are the Jews in Toronto so angry at her?

Well, in March 2024, Chow published an op-ed in the Toronto Star which called for a ceasefire in Gaza.  That was something the pro-Israel fans could not abide.  According to an article “How Ceasefire Became a Dirty Word” in the Alberta Jewish News:

“For many defenders of Israel, calls for a ceasefire suggest Israel surrender its right to defend itself and eliminate an enemy that slaughtered 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 250 others on Oct. 7 and would surely try to do it again. That many of the early calls for ceasefire came from groups that disdain Israel is reason enough to reject the term, many argue.”

In Oct 2024, Chow didn’t appear at the vigil to commemorate Oct. 7 claiming she didn’t get the invitation in time. For missing the event, the official Jewish community gathered a petition with more than 12,000 signatures to demand she resign. 

A year ago, in a speech to a NCCM (National Council of Canadian Muslims) event she dared to say “the genocide in Gaza impacts us all.”  The Centre for Israel Jewish Affairs (CIJA) CEO Noah Shack called her comment “Reckless, divisive and dangerous.”  CIJA notes even the Prime Minister Carney said he would not use the term ‘genocide’ so as not to “politicize” the situation.

And finally, Chow has refused – for two years — to go to the 50,000 strong March With Israel, attended by many dignitaries including Toronto’s police chief.  Bradford condemned her for it.

In early Sept. Chow refused to attend a forum on antisemitism hosted by the Jewish Lawyers of Canada.  Instead we saw Bradford denouncing her for not showing up to “support” the Jewish community .

It’s because of Chow’s perceived snubbing of local events in praise of Israel, and her refusal to cow-tow to what the official Jewish community demands that Chow has been vilified and Toronto’s pro-Israel Jews have metaphorically put their boots to her.

Of course organizing for and against candidates during an election campaign is the life blood of democracy. But is it good for Toronto to cut taxes, slash people’s water bills with an eye to possible future privatization of the utility,  and allow the car tsunami into the city every day?

Or is a free school lunch program, a modest cut in the transit fares and building new rental housing the way to go?

The official Jewish community does not seem to care – as long as support for Israel is top of the agenda, Chow won’t measure up.