October 9, 2014 by admin

Chow challenges opponents to explain positions on childcare

Toronto, Olivia Chow challenged rival candidates John Tory and Doug Ford to explain their relative silence on the issue of childcare as she accepted endorsements from a number of female leaders Thursday morning.
A total of 60 prominent woman, including writer and activist Judy Rebick, Equal Pay Coalition Chair Mary Cornish and George Brown College professor Zenat Janmohamed gathered at the Free Times Café on College Street at around 9 a.m. to endorse Chow as someone who is well suited to eliminate the pay gap between men and women and reduce the long waiting lists for child care spaces city wide.
Afterwards, Chow slammed Tory and Ford for largely ignoring childcare during the campaign, noting that it is “not just a woman’s issue.”
“I have a commitment to create at least 3,000 high quality child care spaces in the upcoming years. Mr. Ford and Mr. Tory; how come you are not putting one penny or one nickel into a childcare platform? Are you saying that the City of Toronto can play no role in supporting our families?” Chow said. “By not investing any money you are saying to the families that are desperately waiting for good childcare that they have to wait for years and years longer. I believe that is irresponsible. A good mayor understands the importance of supporting our children.”
Chow has promised to create a total of 3,000 childcare spaces, half of which would be subsidized.
The former NDP Member of Parliament has also vowed to expand a pre-existing school meal program to provide access to an additional 36,000 students.
Speaking with reporters Thursday, Chow said it is “inexcusable” that her opponents haven’t focused on families more and issued a “direct challenge” to Tory and Ford to explain their positions.
“This is an issue that matters for entire families and our entire city and country,” Chow said. “By having high quality learning and care our economy will do better, our families will be less stressed and we will get our investment back when our children grow up to be smarter.”
Minnan-Wong endorses Tory
While Chow was trying to shift the campaign conversation to childcare on Thursday morning, Tory was at the intersection of Richmond and Jarvis streets discussing gridlock and accepting an endorsement from councillor and former Public Works Chair Denzil Minnan-Wong.
“We need someone to lead this city who will make easing congestion a priority, a mayor who not only understands the problem but who will have the attention to detail and the dogged determination to get results,” Minnan-Wong said. “To me that mayor is John Tory. I have worked with all the leading candidates in this race and John Tory is the only one who is the complete package.”
Minnan-Wong is the latest in a line of city councillors and former allies of Mayor Rob Ford to endorse Tory for mayor.
Other executive and former executive committee members to throw their support behind Tory include Gary Crawford, Jaye Robinson and councillor-turned Liberal MPP Peter Milczyn.
Discussing his decision and that of many of his colleagues to support Tory, Minnan-Wong said that a “certain heavy handiness” at council under the rein of the Ford brothers made it difficult to get things done and for him highlighted the need for a mayor that will not be a “divisive force.”
“I am really worried that we won’t get back on track,” he said.
Ford promotes subway plan
Elsewhere on the campaign trail Thursday, Doug Ford held a news conference to discuss his plan to build 32 kilometres of subway lines across the city.
“There is a reason why world-class cities around the world build impressive subway networks,” Ford said. “Subways are faster, more reliable and most importantly subways don’t disrupt traffic. Building subways is the only option that makes sense.”
During his news conference, Ford compared Toronto’s pre-existing underground transit network with that of Tokyo, London and New York, noting that the city must build subways to compete in the “global economy.”
The mayoral candidate then went on to bash John Tory’s SmartTrack plan, which would use pre-existing GO Transit infrastructure to provide 53 kilometres of new light-rail transit.
“It is like building a cheap car and expecting it to last for your grandchildren,” Ford quipped. “Think where our city would be today if our forefathers didn’t invest in the Toronto subway system.”
Ford has estimated that his subway plan would cost the city $9 billion, however a number of experts have cast doubts upon that number given the high cost of building a downtown relief line, which the TTC has previously pegged at between $6.2 billion and $8.3 billion.