The Ben Mulroney Show - Ted Opitz - Candidate for Ward 3, Etobicoke-Lakeshore

Episode Date: October 23, 2026

On today's episode of "The Ben Mulroney Show," Ben welcomes Ted Opitz, candidate for Ward 3, Etobicoke-Lakeshore. tedopitz.ca If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://link.chtbl.com/bms⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Also, on youtube -- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BenMulroneyShow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Insta: ⁠⁠⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠⁠⁠ Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠⁠⁠ Executive Producer:  Mike Drolet Reach out to Mike with story ideas or tips at [e-mail] Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Standard messaging and data rates may apply. All right. I've been very clear that I want everybody in this city to vote. And I want them to do so from an informed position. Because you can't complain at that point. If you don't get what you want, it doesn't matter because everybody voted and they knew why they were voting. And in an effort to bring that information to you, I put the call out, I said, if you're running for city council and you want a platform, you can come here. And if you show up, we'll give you two segments.

And a lot of people have taken us up on it. Very glad. And I think we're running out of real estate. I think today and tomorrow are the last two days. But we've got with us today. Ted Opitz, he is, well, he's got a heck. of a career. He's got a heck of a life. Retired Canadian forces

Lieutenant Colonel. He was a federal politician representing a Tobico Center for the Conservative Party. And now I guess he's decided because he's a I don't know, he likes the pain of politics. He's running for Tobico Lakeshore Ward 3.

Ted, welcome to the show. Thank you, Ben. Right off to that, why did you want to do this? Listen, service has always been part of my mantra. And I should have said that. Thank you for service. Oh, thank you. But I grew up this way. I grew up. My parents were immigrants from Poland right after the Second World War. They were very, very grateful for coming here because they had very, very trying circumstances, both of them throughout the war and here. But they struggled and

they worked hard, but they were thankful for all the opportunities. My parents always told me, you've got to give back. You got to protect Canada. You've got to stand up for Canada. And my My dad always told me you're not going to allow to happen to Canada what happened to the other place. So you got to step up, serve, and that's 16, I joined the military. But so you joined the military and you served your country and then you served it in a different way in federal politics. You could have called it a day.

I mean, that's a lot of service. So why jump into local politics? Well, you know, I'm really enjoying this because this is a very cold-faced kind of politics. You're really close up with the people. is there's no party flags here involved, right? It's, it's, you know, my initiatives, my efforts, my policies. It's, and what I see and think is the best for our award. So I'm really enjoying the closeness with the constituents and the broad base of things that you can do.

In fact, I think a city councilor has a great deal more span of control than a provincial or federal politician. What has been the biggest surprise for you as a candidate for municipal politics, versus the federal side? Well, I think the freedom of being a municipal politician, I like more. I'm not reliant on anybody else's policies or a party flag or any of that. A comms team that says here are the talking points this week. Yeah, your colors aren't vibrant enough on your lit, right? And so I'm not missing that at all.

I've got great people around me. I've got the best campaign manager. Sue MacArthur, who's, I'll put her against anyone. And so we've got a great team reaching out to the people. We're knocking on all kinds of doors. We've had all kinds of events that we've invited everybody to, including Brad. And a lot of good things have followed through. And I think the support is great.

There's the last few days to go. So we're very excited. You know, we keep talking that it feels like this is a change election. But what does that even look like? What does that mean? There are two stark choices. I mean, I'm sure there are other people on the ballot, but you're there because you want to dislodge the incumbent, Amber Morley.

She is not Ted. The two of you have completely different value. So people do have a choice. Have you met her? What are people saying about her when you knock on doors? Look, she's a very nice person. And nobody that gets into politics, I think, sets out to say, I'm going to do a bad job today.

But at the doors, people are dissatisfied. they're talking about the fact that they don't feel represented. They don't feel that they've heard from her. Often enough, they tell me that they've reached out to her office and she's never gotten back to them. And this is a common theme from end to end to end. And so I've been very different as an MP. I've had experience in this.

I've always been in my office. You know, if somebody wants to see you, and it can only be a Sunday afternoon because they're a shift worker, You're there. Yeah. You're there. I said, the first time I saw your name in this race was on an Integrity T.O. Post where Amber Morley was being interviewed and she said her greatest accomplishment was the renaming of Sancova Square.

I took great umbrage to that because that was an expensive exercise that literally had as an effect nothing on people's lives. Like nothing. Didn't make, didn't make it life more affordable, didn't speed up the TTC, didn't help get people off the streets. and the fact that her biggest point of pride was a performance, right? That to me is your eyes are not on the prize. And so I don't know if that's reflective of how she's seen in her ward. She may be a lovely person, but if that's what she's proud of, she's proud of the wrong things. Well, I agree.

And what people are telling me is, you know, look, our seniors, first of all, are the people that laid the foundations we all walk upon today, that greatest generation and just after we've, they've left us with a lot. And so we really have to look after them, but that also means how, right? We have to, I'm looking at your flyer. And by the way, you've got like four things.

Your priorities are like simple. Keep it simple for people, right? Oh, that's it. Our seniors built the foundations we stand on today and we'll honor them by making it easier to access transit, seating, and essential city services. So what does that mean for you? Is transit going to be free for seniors?

I want to advocate for, free transit for seniors. I think they deserve it. I think a lot of them are on low income. You know, Olivia Chow keeps raising taxes and talking about affordability but is creating everything opposite. You know, when you raise tax, especially on a senior, you start

challenging their housing security. You force them to decide whether they're going to the grocery store, buying drugs, you know, their medications or other things that they need. So they should never be put in that position. So giving them a break on TTC is great.

But even just simple things, like a shelter and seating, because I ran a, you know, I was chair of a long-term care home for a while, you know, just seating where they can push off and get up. And of course, the TTC is to have predictable times, right? They have to run on time, right? You're right. Control taxes. That's another one of your pillars. Yeah, and absolutely.

This is where I really aligned with Brad Bradford in a big way because I think, I used to be a military planner back in the day. And so, you know, you have a budget, you have resources, you have things, and you have to work within those means. And I think Brad is right. And of course, having been an MP, I know the waste and I know the bureaucracy. They mean well, but they get into a rut and do the same thing. And like if people really want change, nobody is going to open up the books and take a good, hard look, unless there's somebody else at the top of the pyramid.

They're not going to look at it. And it hasn't been looked at in a long time. and there was an odd amount of pushback from the supporters of the mayor against Brad Bradford's idea. And I really want to know why. Like I was curious before, but now I'm really curious. What don't you want me to see in there? Well, I can only speculate. Yeah, of course we can.

But that's the thing. Yeah, but oftentimes they get into a track and they're used to spending money a certain way and they've done it for years and they just don't want to deviate from that. People don't want to change. And I get that. But elected officials are there exactly that elected to represent, to be accountable, to make those changes happen. And city staff and bureaucrats are there to take direction from elected officials. I'm not suggesting anything unto Ward. I'm suggesting that when the books get opened, certain people are going to have egg on their face because of the amount of waste,

amount of projects that didn't go anywhere. Like funds that fund something ridiculous that could be funded for far. far less. That's the type of thing. I wouldn't, I'm not going to ascribe ill will when incompetence will do just fine. Yeah, and I don't think it's, it's about ill will. I think that's it. It's just people have gotten onto a track of doing things. And yes, they might be embarrassed by the way they've spent that money, but it has to be exposed and it has to be fixed. And we have to find that waste and reallocate it to the places it needs to go because you can't just, your go-to can't be raising taxes. I know, I know, exactly. All right, we're going to take a break.

more with Ted Opitz. He is running for your vote in Ward 3, Atobicole Lakeshore. And I want to talk to him about the sign scandal. We are going to continue our conversation with Ted Opitz. He's the city councilor candidate for Ward 3 atobical Lakeshore, taking on the incumbent Amber Morley. Very hard to dislodge an incumbent. And Toronto typically is a city that skews left. So are you feeling that as you... walk the ward?

Well, in some places of shore. We have a very diverse riding in every, and ward, and everybody says that. Atopico Lake Shore has very distinct neighborhoods. People identify where they come from. They come from Long Branch. They come from Alderwood. They come from Kingsway, right? Humber Bay Shores, they identify that way.

They don't necessarily identify for Tobago or Tobago Lakeshore. So people are very, very tied to their communities and, you know, have lived there decades and decades. Are you assuming you win Because that's why you're here You want to win Assuming you and like nothing else is guaranteed Are how well do you work with others

Meaning like you're going to have to Everything so much is done by consensus So much is done by compromise at city council And you may find yourself Who knows I mean you may find yourself The only center right candidate Amongst a sea of progressives That's not a great scenario

and I suspect that won't happen, but are you prepared to, like, how do you see that your job? Well, look, I, you know, I spent all this time in the military, and you learn those skills, negotiation skills, and compromise, whether it's within your own unit or other places, you know, you have to work with people. It's very important to do in Parliament as an MP. I mean, you had to negotiate sometime with your own fellow MPs to get something done and to work. So I think this won't be any different that way. people have to get along, negotiate.

Once you're elected, people expect you to be a grown-up. And to work with whoever's there at any level or any, you know, even if they have diverse views. You have to work with them. Amber Morley was asked that silly question. She gave a silly question. She gave a silly answer to a good question. I'll put you, I'll give you a version of that.

Assuming you win and you sit on city council for four years, what is the one thing you would want to be known for as an accomplishment if you only accomplish one thing? I want to revitalize Ward 3. There's big pockets of it that aren't happening, aren't moving, a lot of shuttered stores. I want to make this the go-to place for startups and young entrepreneurs to be able to set up a business, to be able to live there, work there, and just raise a family there because we have so many gifts. We have Humber College. We have great zoned land.

We have tremendous neighborhoods, as I said, for people to settle in. And I'm going to very push hard to create a portal where people can do that. And, in fact, use some of the federal programs like the defense industrial strategy and other things on a dual use. That's a good point. You come armed with connections to the feds that others may not have. So that's, you got to push that one. Well, I do. And I do work with them.

and all levels of government, and I've been working with the Ministry of Industry at times. I've reached out to her on a couple of things. She's been very, very gracious. Yeah. But you have to do that, right? Because once you get elected, especially as a city counselor, people expect you to react to them, react to their calls,

fix the problems, whether it's a tax problem, a pothole, or helping their kids find a job so they don't live in the basement when they're 30 years old. See, that's, I like hearing that. I like hearing the scope of your job, as you see it, is what I think the scope of municipal government should be. Like get back to the things that you forgot were your priorities. Like make sure that the streets are clean and the potholes are filled and make sure that the garbage is picked up.

Make sure that the schools are clean. They have air conditioning in the summer. Make sure the pools are open. We can figure out some of the other stuff later. But if you do those things, then Torontoians, the people who are the builders of this city, they can get back to doing that. Get rid of gridlock so people get to work and come home, right? That's a scourge.

Yeah. Yeah. I think it's all great. We got to talk about this story about the signs, right? Every campaign, there's always people doing things they're not supposed to be doing with signs. What happened in your case? we have now lost hundreds of signs hundreds and and they're very costly because you have to raise your own money on

on that yeah um and we're now finding them in uh ravines and woods uh far removed from where they've been taken and uh so for i presume these people are environmentalists some of them and to throw a plastic sign into the woodland is not particularly environmental so you know one of the guys was one of the guys turned himself in he did And two people in particular just were doing this as my volunteers happened upon them. Yeah. By chance. Yeah.

And of course they recorded it. And we got it to the police. And the police had a chat with him and they've charged him. And the other fellow has not been brought in yet. There was, we have a video of a civics teacher who was borrowing a sign off somebody's lawn to show her glass. A civics teacher. And that was, that was. That's crazy. Do you think that's a sign of a scared campaign? It usually is, right? Especially,

look, I've had signs destroyed and stolen in the past, but this is just something else. The scope of it is super expensive, of course. I mean, it's into the thousand, thousand dollars, but hundreds of hundreds signs. My editorial here is that the left believes this is their city to run. You hear it in Progress, T.O. when John Torrey decided he wasn't going to run. They took credit for it and said, right-wing politicians like John Tory have no place in elected office. Like, that's what they believe. Like nobody who derogates from their left-wing orthodoxy has any business in government. that's offensive. And I think what we saw with those signs is that's people taking the streets

trying to ensure their continued control over the city. I agree. And I'm very much a centrist. I believe very much in common sense in working with the other groups to come up with reasonable solutions for this city, not ideology. Ideology doesn't feed anybody. Ideology doesn't get anything done. Ted, we had only about a minute left.

What is the weekend? look like for you? Well, the weekend's going to be very busy. We got a lot of volunteers coming in. We got a lot of doors to keep hitting. I mean, that's the bread and butter of it. You and your family have done this for a long long time. And, you know, there's nothing like that people-to-people interaction with residents. And so I'm looking forward to that. And look, it's a sprint to the finish line. We're working hard. I got a great team. We're motivated. We're excited. And we've had good results, I think, and hoping to have a successful outcome. Lastly, Ted, if people want to learn more about your campaign, how can they?

Well, simple ways, my website, Tedopitz.ca, and I've got a website, you can email me at Tedopitz 4, the number 4, counselor at gmail.com, or of course we have a writing number 942-880-9556. Ted, thank you so much. Best of luck in this final stretch, and we will be reporting on it right here on 640 during our election coverage. Really appreciate you, sir. Thanks for coming here. Thank you, Ben. Thanks for having me.

Hi, it's Alan Cross. Here to announce two more legs of my national speaking tour. November will be busy with stops in Halifax, Sydney and Truro, Nova Scotia. Then it's Waterloo, Hamilton, St. Catharines, London, Oshawa, Montreal, Ottawa, and Kingston. In addition to the regular free-wheeling audience Q&A, I'm going to conduct a live performance of my podcast, uncharted crime and mayhem in the music industry. Music and the mob, it's something that we created just for this tour. Tickets at my website, a journal of Musicalthings.com, under the heading, speaking gigs at the top. But hurry, because some dates are already sold out.

Crime and Mayhem and the music industry on the road. this fall. Hope to see you soon.