After more than 50 debates spread across the campaign trail, the three top candidates Olivia Chow, Doug Ford and John Tory faced off for a final round Thursday, at the City TV studios.
“The Final Showdown,” as the organizers called the transit-centered debate, saw the candidates trading blows for the last time with three days left for the Oct. 27 elections.
“Flips-flops are for beaches, not for politics,” Ford said after Tory denied his accusation he wanted to tear down the Gardiner expressway.
“Fictions are for libraries, not for elections campaigns,” Tory fired back.
Chow also took shots on the other two candidates. She said Tory’s brand of politics was too similar to Ford’s and that she was the only one that offered something different from the “status quo.”
“Their policies are so similar and if it sounds like Doug, walks like Doug, it must be a Doug Ford,” she quipped.
Chow and Ford were quick to pick on leading candidate Tory. They focused their attacks on questioning the funding for his SmartTrack plan.
“There’s no plan B,” Chow said. “…You can’t take confidence to the bank and say ‘trust us.’”
Tory answered by reafirming that he’s confident his transit plan will work.
“I’m going to be bold — I am going to get it done,” he said after the debate.
The three leading candidates said they believed they would win Monday night and that they were eager for the people to go out and vote.
“I look forward to seeing the results Monday night,” Ford said after saying the city’s going to choose him to be its next mayor.
“We’re all going to win,” Tory later joked.