Unanswered questions swirl around mayoral candidates' fiscal plans in CBC Toronto debate

With just days to go before advance voting begins, Toronto voters got their latest chance to look at the some of the top candidates in CBC Toronto's mayoral byelection debate. 

Five of the leading candidates to be mayor squared off Tuesday, sparring over their plans to build new homes, improve public safety and address the city's deep financial challenges. Of the six top-polling candidates, five participated, including Ana Bailão, Olivia Chow, Mitzie Hunter, Josh Matlow and Mark Saunders. Brad Bradford had to cancel his attendance as he and his wife were at a hospital for the birth of their second child. 

The event led to sparks flying between Matlow and Hunter over Scarborough transit. And some unanswered questions continue to swirl around two of the race's top contenders — Chow and Saunders. 

Here are some of the debate's highlights.

What does Chow need to push her over the finish line?

Chow has been here before.

In 2014, Chow entered the mayoral election and quickly became the frontrunner in a race with then scandal-plagued mayor Rob Ford and John Tory. She was up in the polls with time to go before election day. But after a long, grueling and dramatic campaign, she ended up finishing third. 

Flash forward about nine years later and Chow finds herself in a similar position.

She's the race frontrunner but this time, instead of the months-long marathon she faced in 2014, a win could be mere weeks away. After CBC Toronto's mayoral byelection debate on Tuesday, she was asked if she's worried history will repeat itself and if she can seal the deal.

"That's up to the voters," she said. "I can't predict that. But my vision and who I am has not changed."

So, what stands in her way, besides the 101 other candidates on the ballot? It could be the thorny issue of property taxes. At every debate in recent weeks, Chow has been repeatedly asked how much she'll raise them. Unlike a number of her opponents, she won't give a number or commit to raising taxes at or around the rate of inflation.

Property tax questions linger for Chow

After the debate Tuesday, the former NDP MP and city councillor said the reason why she won't give a number is because she fundamentally disagrees with the city's current budget process.

She would change it if she's elected mayor on June 26.

Instead of starting with a promise to increase taxes at or around the rate of inflation, Toronto should budget based on its needs first, she said. 

WATCH | Five Toronto mayoral candidates square off in CBC Toronto debate:

Chow said the city should consult with people, see what the needs are when it comes to services and programs and build out from there. It could then establish its property tax rate to plead its case to other levels of government for more funding. 

"By not picking an arbitrary number, we actually will not let the other two levels of government off the hook," she said. 

Despite those comments, Chow will likely continue to be dogged by questions about her plan on property taxes and for a concrete number in the remaining debates. 

Saunders lack of budget plan under scrutiny

Toronto's former police chief was also coy about his approach to some key numbers.

Saunders said he needs to get elected first before he talks specifics about the city's budget. He also pushed back against questions about why he couldn't put together a costed spending package now. The city's budget process is open to the public, weeks long and the budget documents are online. 

Saunders said the publicly available information isn't easily understood by the general public.

"I have had people try to decipher the budget that you say is in extreme detail," he said. "And it is not in extreme detail. People cannot navigate through the existing system looking at the public documents to put things together."

Matlow and Hunter clash over Scarborough subway

The debate also led to some fireworks between Matlow and Hunter.

The former Scarborough-Guildwood MPP slammed Matlow for fighting the Scarborough subway, a project she championed for years. She said Matlow's opposition to the project contributed to its delay in getting off the ground.

"You fought the Scarborough subway for years," she said.

"Mitzie, that is just dishonest and wrong," he shot back.

Matlow denied the claim and has said the originally planned light-rail line could have been built faster, for less, and serve more people. Hunter and Matlow share similar outlooks on many issues, but clearly they diverge greatly on the Scarborough subway, a fault line exposed in this debate.

Behind the scenes look

Some of the most telling exchanges happened when the cameras weren't rolling. 

These candidates have spent a lot of time together. They've run the gamut of debates together over the past month, spending hours talking and sparring with each other. Despite it all, and the intensity of the race, there remained an air of collegiality in the CBC studios.

Saunders and Bailão agreed, and laughed, that they've spent so much time together they know each other's campaign lines and stories. They also thought they might be able to repeat them for each other.