[URBAN NOTE] "Doug Ford and John Tory trade barbs at raucous Toronto mayoral debate"

[rfmcdonald]

CBC reports on last night's mayoral debate. I will say that, following the debate on Twitter last night, the whole thing seemed more than a bit ridiculous.

Toronto’s political crazy train kept on rolling during Doug Ford’s first mayoral debate Tuesday night as candidates traded barbs in front of a rowdy, and at times abusive, audience.

The debate, billed as the public’s first real look at Doug Ford the mayoral candidate, revolved heavily around candidates’ controversial and vastly different plans for new public transit infrastructure. Both Ford and Olivia Chow presented billboard diagrams to illustrate their respective visions.

The two-hour faceoff was punctuated by several heated exchanges between Ford and front-runner candidate John Tory, who Ford criticized as an “elitist” career politician without any real experience at Toronto City Hall.

“I’ll tell you something, John, you’re a slick-talking politician,” Ford said after Tory answered a question on his plan for reducing poverty throughout the city. “You’re from a whole different world.”

The comment garnered a loud cheer from the largely pro-Ford audience at York Memorial Collegiate Institute, located on the border of Wards 11 and 12 near Eglinton Avenue and Black Creek Drive, an area of the city considered a political stronghold of the Ford family. Before the debate began, many audience members chanted “We want Doug!”

Ford continually pivoted to Tory’s inexperience in Toronto municipal politics throughout the night.

“No mayor has ever been elected without first sitting on council," Ford claimed (in fact, a handful have). "I know you’re used to having everything handed to you on a silver platter.… It’s always been handed to John Tory."