Alexander served as federal immigration minister under Stephen Harper’s government
A former Conservative Member of Parliament is entering the already crowded race to become Toronto’s next mayor.
Chris Alexander registered at city hall Wednesday morning, telling reporters that he feels Toronto is “slightly adrift,” and he is looking to give the city a “sense of direction back.”
“I think it’s going to take an outsider … someone who hasn’t been on council, to get this city back on track, to bring the ideas that are in this city to bear on the challenges we face,” he said.
Alexander said he would present specific policy announcements “in the coming weeks,” but cited city services that aren’t working well, transportation problems, a bad record on housing builds and too many people being unhoused as areas of focus for his campaign.
“Toronto needs to live up to its potential,” he said. “That really is what motivates me.”
The race to be Toronto’s next mayor now features 33 candidates. Current mayor Olivia Chow is seeking re-election, with Coun. Brad Bradford (Beaches–East-York) her main rival at this point according to early polling.
Bradford told reporters at city hall Wednesday that he had never heard of Alexander, despite his standing as a former MP.
“We’ve had folks from the federal government try and run before, I don’t think any of them have been successful post-amalgamation,” Bradford said.
Chow — who was a federal MP for Trinity–Spadina from 2006 to 2014 — sidestepped multiple questions about Alexander at an unrelated city hall news conference, saying she wanted to focus on city business.
“Today I’m focusing on the last council, we have a lot of important items,” she said.
“There’s plenty of time after Labour Day for myself to deal with the upcoming election.”
Both Chow and Bradford are at city hall Wednesday for the final full council meeting of the term. You can find more on what’s being debated here.
Controversy over barbaric cultural practices bill
Alexander says he grew up in the city and is now raising his three children in Toronto. His family spent six months in Africa after lockdowns in the COVID-19 pandemic, and has been living in the city since 2022.
Ultimately, the Conservatives lost the 2015 election and Alexander was unable to secure his riding.
Alexander told reporters Wednesday that he regrets the controversial bill, saying it was “badly presented in a campaign that was badly run.”
“But I do not disassociate myself from my convictions, my values on this issue, which relate to the rights of women and girls everywhere, but especially in a place like Afghanistan, which I saw firsthand,” he said.
Prior to entering politics, Alexander worked in Canada’s foreign service and served as the first resident Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan between 2003 and 2005.
Bradford called the bill a “snitch line” that sunk the Conservative party’s prospects in that election and was “deeply hurtful” for Canadians, particularly in the Muslim community.
“In the most diverse city in the world, somebody who harbours those views, I think that makes you unfit for this office,” he said.
In 2024, Alexander also accused a veteran Ottawa Citizen journalist of acting as a Russian agent between 1984 and 1990. Reporter David Pugliese refuted the claims, saying they put his family at risk.
In a post on social media platform X on Monday, political advocacy group A Better City (ABC) Toronto said Alexander has “no path to victory.”
“Toronto doesn’t need distractions,” ABC Toronto board member Kelly Aizicowitz said. “Toronto deserves a campaign about safer streets, affordability, housing and traffic.”
“This isn’t a three-way race. It’s a gift to Olivia Chow,” ABC Toronto wrote.
Alexander, meanwhile, said Wednesday that Toronto needs to “re-find a vibrant political centre.”
“The votes of Torontonians are not a pie to be split up by strategists sitting behind closed doors somewhere … you have to earn votes,” he said. “You have to be the leader that arrives with a sense of urgency, a program, a plan, that then inspires people and earns their votes.”
Poll suggests Torontonians split on city’s direction
New polling from Liaison Strategies shows Chow holding an eight-point lead over Bradford among decided and leaning respondents, with Chow at 49 per cent, Bradford at 41 per cent and someone else at 10 per cent.
Those figures come from a random sample of 1,000 Toronto residents polled on landlines and cellphones between July 24 and July 26, with a margin of error +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The poll also found that Torontonians were split on the city’s direction, with 46 per cent saying it’s moving in the right direction, and 46 per cent saying it’s heading in the wrong direction. Eight per cent said they weren’t sure.
“The political story is that Chow is still ahead, Bradford is still inching forward, and the city’s mood is split,” David Valentin, principal at Liaison, said in a statement.
“For Chow, the danger is not that voters have turned decisively against her. The danger is that a merely mixed city mood gives Bradford enough room to keep making the race more competitive.”
You can find a full list of candidates vying to be Toronto’s next mayor on the city’s website.
Originally published by CBC.ca: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/former-mp-chris-alexander-running-for-toronto-mayor-9.7288453