City Hall committees warn of money woes one year before World Cup
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As Chow put it, the soccer situation is in 'flux.'
The city's World Cup subcommittee on Monday elected to send its update on government funding straight to next week's City Council meeting, bypassing the powerful executive committee to give bureaucrats more time to craft a report. But Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik added the item in time for the executive committee to also discuss it the next day.
'We have recently received some correspondence from the provincial government that has implications on our financing of this magnificent opportunity, so we are doing some negotiations,' Chow told the committee on Tuesday.
'The cabinet has just been sworn in, the federal cabinet that is, and we don't know at this point what the new government would do,' the Mayor added. 'Hopefully, they will honour previous arrangements. We shall see. So, things are in a bit of a flux.'
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City forecasts need for 9.9% property tax increase next year
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LILLEY: Solitary contender needed to topple Chow in next year's mayoral race
SIMMONS: Bam Bam Barger may be the real deal for Blue Jays LILLEY: Solitary contender needed to topple Chow in next year's mayoral race Splitting vote in any way in 2026 municipal election will simply hand Chow second term Get the latest from Brian Lilley straight to your inbox Sign Up Photo by The Canadian Press Article content Who can defeat Olivia Chow? Advertisement 2 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account or Sign in without password View more offers Article content That's one of the most common questions in local political circles these days. Article content tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or LILLEY: Solitary contender needed to topple Chow in next year's mayoral race Back to video tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Play Video Article content Toronto's mayor is doing a horrible job, including trying to chase away jobs from Home Depot with her ridiculous comments this week. She isn't focused on economic development and it shows. The city's unemployment rate stands at 8.6%, well above the national average, as there are 352,000 people out of work in the city. The streets are still a mess, whether it is the state of the roads or the garbage that isn't picked up and the garbage bins that are busted. The encampments in parks move from location to location and our shelter system is at a breaking point, even after expanding to close to 10,000 beds. Most of those beds in the expansion are taken up by asylum-seekers, meaning the federal government should be paying for that, but when was the last time you heard her advocate for the city on that issue? Police Chief Myron Demkiw was boasting Tuesday at City Hall that major crime indicators were down, but that's only compared to last year's record-setting pace. Despite the decline from last year, major crimes — from assault to auto theft — are up substantially compared to five or 10 years ago. Your Midday Sun Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. There was an error, please provide a valid email address. Sign Up By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Your Midday Sun will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Article content Advertisement 3 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Stay classy Toronto! Absolutely disgusting. I got to meet Portnoy briefly a couple of years ago. He was a classy guy, nice to all around him. This is the Toronto hospitality he receives. I'd say @stoolpresidente, and every Jew, deserves better. — Brian Lilley (@brianlilley) June 3, 2025 We have seen an incredible growth in antisemitism and Chow has been mostly silent. Toronto made headlines around the world after Dave Portnoy, the celebrity founder of Barstool Sports, had 'f— the Jews' yelled at him as he was recording a video about pizza on Harbord St. this week – yet nothing from Chow. As nice as Chow is — I've known her for close to 20 years and get along with her — she is not the leader the city needs. We need to find a solid single candidate to run against her in 2026, one who will bring stability and sanity back to city hall. There is a long list of potential candidates, but Chow will surely be re-elected if more than one of them enters the race. Councillor Brad Bradford is looking to run again, as he did in the byelection that put Chow into office. Former Toronto Sun columnist Anthony Furey, who also ran in the byelection, is seriously considering another run. Former councillor Ana Bailao is said to be considering another run as well, but didn't return calls, while Marco Mendicino, a former MP and current chief of staff to Prime Minister Mark Carney, is considering throwing his hat into the ring. Advertisement 4 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content 'I would run as the pro-business, tough-on-crime candidate who is focused on getting the city back on track and getting infrastructure built,' Furey said when contacted Wednesday. RECOMMENDED VIDEO tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Play Video Bradford said he keeps hearing about higher taxes, poorer services and no accountability at city hall. 'I'm hearing from residents across the entire city of Toronto that they are frustrated for paying more and getting less; it's time for new leadership,' Bradford said. There is one name that keeps casting a shadow over the race and could force some of the other potential candidates drop out if he runs: John Tory. Tory is keeping his cards close to his chest and declined to comment. A reporter for Toronto Today approached him Tuesday while he was having coffee in the Financial District and he was non-committal about another run at the mayor's office, which of course got tongues wagging. Advertisement 5 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Read More LILLEY: Chow's hard-left politics could cost city thousands of jobs Scarborough-Rouge Park to pick next councillor in Sept. 29 byelection He didn't want to comment when I reached out to him Wednesday, either, but the chatter about Tory running again has been non-stop for months. Depending on who you believe, he's either being encouraged to run or is telling people privately he will run. 'He's 50-50,' said a former adviser. 'He's running, 100%' said another political activist. Some of those encouraging Tory to run are telling him to announce his candidacy by Canada Day to scare off any other potential candidates and ensure there is one solitary candidate in the centre or centre right of the political spectrum. Regardless of whether it is Tory or any of the other candidates, there is wisdom in putting forward just one sensible and serious candidate against Chow, but does that have to be decided now? The race for mayor officially starts in April 2026, but the public doesn't usually pay attention until after Labour Day. If there is more than one candidate running, they could treat the time between April and September as a primary of sorts. The goal is to have one candidate when it counts, so that Chow doesn't get a second term. Article content Share this article in your social network Read Next
CTV News
20 hours ago
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Sault waterfront design concepts to be presented this spring
The first round of public consultations are finished, and the first design concepts will be presented to the public in the spring. The City of Sault Ste. Marie is moving to the next phase of its waterfront design plan. Residents were consulted on the plan earlier this year and the city will use the input as it prepares to reveal some design concepts this spring. Sault waterfront The City of Sault Ste. Marie is moving to the next phase of its waterfront design plan. (Mike McDonald/CTV News) 'A lot of people want to make it more walkable, more opportunity for commerce, whether or not that's food trucks, pop-up shops, and certainly, the opportunity to get a little bit closer to the water,' said Travis Anderson, the city's director of tourism and community development. 'I think we've got a great opportunity to make some spots for people to actually touch the water, fish in different locations and really just enjoy the waterfront.' Anderson said planning is in the early stages. 'Right now, we're working on the preliminary concept design, taking what we heard from the people and putting together a concept,' he said. 'We'll be coming back out to the public in the next few weeks to show them what we've heard, and hopefully from there, we'll get some more input and tweak the designs.' Anderson said there are no costs to present at this time. City council will have the final say on what will happen with the waterfront design plan.
