07.16.2014 07:47 AM

What the media are saying about last night’s Toronto mayor debate

Olivia Chow won it.  But don’t take my word for it.  Here’s what the commentariat had to say:

“The response to the planks [Tory] rattled off Tuesday night – it is in favour of surface rail, which is basically a subway but has the disadvantage of not being called such – was curiously merely lukewarm.” – Maclean’s

“Well, there’s four things I’ll mention…” – John Tory Zzzzzzz. – Jim Coyle, Star

“[Chow had] stand-out moment at mayoral debate [when] In her opening statement at the debate, Chow zeroed in on Ford, asking voters to “fire” him in the upcoming fall election for his “embarrassing” behaviour over the last few months.” – CTV News

“[John Tory], do not recite lists at an audience. In the name of Bill Clinton, touch a chord!” – Jim Coyle, Star

“On Tory pay increase: he did support pay increase for MPPs…” – Daniel Dale, Star

“The scandals were barely mentioned during Tuesday’s debate. [Only] Ms. Chow who broke the nearly hour-and-a-half silence on the drug and alcohol issue…” – Globe and Mail

“Nearly all polls showed Olivia Chow leading, and it appears clear that she enjoys significant downtown support.” – Maclean’s

“One thing seems to resonate for Chow’s campaign: her messaging on youth unemployment… it earned her the loudest cheers of the night. – Maclean’s

“Tory, presenting himself as a crusading Obama figure to rescue a broken political system? Only, apparently, in Toronto.” – Maclean’s

“Even when you’re clean and sober you can’t stick to the truth,” Chow to RoFo. That one’s gonna leave a bruise.” – Jim Coyle, Star

“Ford lies again.” – Daniel Dale, Toronto Star

“‘Fire him for failure.’ Olivia Chow’s fired up, that’s for sure, at Ford & Tory. ‘We deserve more from Mr. Ford…and Mr. Tory.'” – Adrian Lee, Maclean’s

“Tory: ‘Who has the experience in actually delivering results?’ … TONIGHT’S LOSER: Rhetorical questions.” – Daniel Dale, Star

“As usual in these debates, Rob Ford has said by far the largest number of incorrect or misleading things.” – Daniel Dale, Star

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20 Comments

  1. james Smith says:

    Hey It’s your city but all the media I’ve heard or read so far have wondered why none of the candidates just don’t confront the present Mayor on the whole Drug & Thug thing. – Makes me wonder.
    I’m a little amazed all the candidates for Mayor in your city don’t just reply to EVERYTHING the present Mayor says with: “Why are you still here? You lie. You make stuff up. You did crack on the job. “

  2. JH says:

    Not from ‘Taranawwa’ (thank God), but does the Star ever stop? No brief for Ford, or Tory for that matter, but isn’t there a slight bit of bias in that organization? Read them once in a while, and they always seem so one-sided on many political issues. Isn’t that unusual in a major daily WK?

    • Kaspar Juul says:

      Taranawwa? Where on earth do they call Toronto that?

      • james Smith says:

        I think that most in the GTA say “Trono”

        • Kaspar Juul says:

          Yeah Trono, Tranna that sounds like Gta and surrounding area but Taranawwa sounds more like a Japanese condiment. “Excuse me but do you have any furikake or taranawwa at this izakaya?”

          Plus that toronto star biased unlike other major dailies is just ridiculous. Has JH ever picked up another paper? Toronto Sun?

          • JH says:

            Well, didn’t claim other papers weren’t biased, but don’t read that many of them, except maybe G&M now and then. Star mostly because it supposedly has country’s largest readership and of course comes from the ‘Center of the Known Universe’. LOL! It’s a joke folks. However seems to me the Star has been writing almost exclusively about Ford & family forever – are there no other politicians its editors dislike or disapprove of? Just askin’.

          • debs says:

            lololol, thank you for that, I have been fighting westcoasters for years on how they want to sound like they are saying piranha with a T. I told them we all pronounce it TRONO:) They dont believe me of course, whaddya I know, im from Onterrible:P

        • debs says:

          I have been to smithers, its a beautiful place. lol and yes I dont doubt many refer to the center of the universe as a shithole. and vancouver is hollywood north but not too bad once you get used to the weather. I moved from east to west and stayed in vancouver for a decade before moving off to the islands.

        • debs says:

          I love salt spring, I finally made it over this winter. I reside on next biggest gulf island to the north of this.

    • doconnor says:

      The Toronto Star will stop pointing out the stupid things Rob Ford says when he stops saying stupid things (or it stops generating ad impressions).

  3. JH says:

    Here’s another interesting point about the gun issue. Some folks think by banning guns as in the Long Gun Registry or handguns as Ms. Chow advocates, you will stop folks from buying and abusing firearms.
    Fair enough. However, many of those same people do not believe that banning drugs, stops folks from buying and using them. Interesting. BTW, I don’t own guns or do drugs (well I have a drink now and then) – I’m just curious about the connumdrums people seem to twist themselves into knots over.

  4. Matt says:

    Remember – most of the media and pundits seemed to agree Hudak won the provincial leaders debate before last months election.

    How’d that work out for him?

    Just saying don’t be reading too much into a debate performance 4 months out from an election where few are paying attention.

    • Warren says:

      Totally agree. But I’m just highlighting some of the helpful things from this morning. If you want to do a content analysis spanning weeks, go right ahead.

      • Bobby says:

        I don’t think Olivia does angry very well at all. Kind of melds with Ford’s weirdness….they cancel each other out for me. I saw more of you in her words than I saw of Chow. I think it was a trade off of jabs and barbs….very entertaining but getting folks closer to knowing much about anything at all…..not too much. David S. and Karen S. were invisible except for Stinz’s weird stand-up comedy routine…she was just goofy.

        I couldn’t help but notice watching on CP24 but in the camera angle from the right looking at Chow and Ford together – Chow must have been standing on one hell of a riser because she appeared physically taller than Ford.

  5. Jacob says:

    That list of quotes is very Star-heavy.

    In any case, Tory’s astroturfing campaign burst into gear today with lots of lookalike “Tory sounds like a winner to me!” comments on articles.

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