Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Ana Bailão: Toronto Mike'd #1279

Episode Date: June 23, 2023

In this 1279th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with 2023 Toronto Mayoral By-Election candidate Ana Bailão about her campaign, how to pronounce her surname, Guns 'N Roses, and more. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, the Yes We Are Open podcast from Moneris, The Moment Lab, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Welcome to episode 1279 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Season 4 of Yes, We Are Open,

the award-winning podcast from Moneris, hosted by FOTM Al Grego. RecycleMyElectronics.ca, committing to our planet's future, means properly recycling our electronics of the past. The Moment Lab. Brand marketing and strategy. PR, advertising, and production. You need The Moment Lab.

And Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. of the community since 1921. Today, making her Toronto Mike debut is 2023 Toronto mayoral by-election candidate, Anna Bailao. Welcome, Anna, to Toronto Mike. So good to be here. Say your last name for me very slowly

because I mentioned Al Grego. He hosts this great podcast called Yes We Are Open. People should subscribe and listen. But Al is of Portuguese descent and he tells me there's like a little N at the end and it's like Ana Bailão. So I'm going to say it with the

Portuguese accent and it's Bailão. And most people say Bailão. Right. Like I've been saying but there is like he says it's kind of like a little n at the end is that a good way to describe it it's that little thing on top of the a that makes that sound

and what is the name of the little thing on top of the a when I write your name on twitter or wherever in this I actually copy and paste it from like a google search because I'm not sure how to make that character. It's a till. Yes. Okay.

Okay. I had to get that out of the way. So shout out to Al Grego. And by the way, just since I mentioned his name, there's a wireless speaker courtesy of Moneris and you can take that home with you. So you can listen to season four of Yes, We Are Open hosted by FOT and Al Grego. Awesome. Thank you.

It was worth the drive to New Toronto. By the way, speaking of New Toronto, I walked, I didn't say hi because you were very busy, but I walked by you at the Grilled Cheese Challenge. You were at the Grilled Cheese Challenge. I was. That's the beauty of campaigns. You know, you just cross the city from one end to the other.

I think that day, actually, I went to Scarborough. I did. Yeah. Scarborough, North York, Etobicoke, and downtown, all in one day. I had events in all parts of town. Does it become a blur, though? Like, I'm just wondering.

One of my early questions, maybe I'll ask it right now, is like, this is your first mayoral campaign, and we're at the tail end here. We're talking on a Friday, and election day is Monday. Like, how has it been going? Like, tell me how it's been. Are you exhausted? No, no, I'm not exhausted.

But if you ask me exactly the day that I did a special event, I will tell you, I don't know, maybe two days ago, three days ago. Yeah, the days just become one big day. Right. But I'm not exhausted. I actually get a lot of energy from the events, to be honest with you. I was counselor for 12 years. Yeah.

And the part that I liked the most was being in the community and like kind of rolling up the sleeves and listening to people's issues and try to come up with the solutions and working through that with them. So I really get re-energized with the events and going around the city. And, you know, we have such a diverse city and seeing it now, you know, as you go from one end to the other, it's fantastic. Did you have any time to try grilled cheese at the grilled cheese challenge i have to be honest with you no time i didn't i we grabbed an ice cream on the way because that's also the advantage of campaigns mike is you can eat all kinds of stuff because you don't put on any weight so i have i have been taking advantage of all kinds of desserts, all kinds of burgers

and all kinds of food. I have to be honest. Well, I'm going to get this out of the way early because I have some, you know, hard hitting. You're in the hot seat here, and I got some big questions

for you because a lot of FOTM sent in their questions. But because you clearly love to eat like we all do, I do want you to know i have a large lasagna for you from palma pasta oh my god now you made my day did you make it to the taste of uh little italy i did i did i did there was a palma pasta booth there because i dropped by and said hi to anthony and had a meatball sub so you got lasagna from palma pasta

and just because they were also at the grilled cheese challenge and they were at the taste of little italy i just want to shout out the best craft beer in the city great lakes brewery i got some fresh if this was later in the day you might crack one open with me but uh we're doing a morning recording here but i have some great lakes fresh craft beer for you thank you i'll i i i really looking forward to lasagna. Yeah, it's in my freezer. So that box felt empty to you. I'm a foodie. I love trying foods and, you know, getting food and hosting people in my house and trying all kinds of different foods. Not so much of a cook, but, you know, the hosting and getting the food and trying new things.

Love it. Let Palma cook for you. You just stick it in the oven and then it comes out delicious. So it'll save you some time. So of course we talked about the pronunciation of your last name and I'm working on it, Anna. Okay. I take this very seriously, but you mean you're, you're born in Portugal. Like I just want a little taste of when you moved to Canada and like, like adapting to a new new country, you were 15, right? Yeah, I was 15. Thankfully, I came in June,

so I didn't have to come in to two feet of snow. And it was drama, right? You have a teenager leaving school, friends, everything behind. So obviously, I didn't want to come. And I didn't know much English. So I had to start school in ESL. So, uh, I was in ESL for the first couple of years in high school. And, um, but very shortly after like the summer, it was like, it was good. My grandparents had come to drop us off cause my parents were here already. And so started to ease into, you know, the city and how

great it was. Then I got a part-time job and I was so proud. I had, you know. Where was this part-time job? It was cleaning offices downtown. My mom used, she had two jobs. She was a seamstress and she cleaned offices at night. And then, so I got a part-time job with her. So we would go every day after school from 5.30 to 9.30 to clean offices. And I felt really proud because for me, that meant I would be able to go to university, right? I would be able to pay for my university. So that was it. And two years after I got that job, I quit because I felt like my English was good enough

and I was going to work at a store. That was my decision. Retail. Retail. What kind of store? Then I going to work at a store. That was my decision. Retail. Retail. What kind of store? Then I started working at a dollar store. Okay. Okay.

Yeah. You get to start somewhere. That's as good a place as any. That was it. And they were, you know, upset at me when I quit the job. I was like, but you don't even have another job. Why are you quitting? Because I'm going to get another job.

And so I quit. My English is good enough and I'm going to work in retail because I'll practice more there. So that was it. Yeah. So so that and I went to university and well I think obviously it's a massive university but we may have crossed paths because we were at the same university at the same time it's possible yeah I mean how many students could they have 10,000 I don't know my my sociology class on first year. Oh, because it was my major. Oh, because it was my Con Hall. I did the same thing. And it's...

So we were probably at the same class. It's like going to a concert, right? It's just... It's those 101 classes. And I had a few like that. But the ones like in Convocation Hall, it's like you're one of, I don't know, like 2,000 students in that class.

And sociology was one of those. Yeah. Oh, I remember. That's wild. Okay. So I might have been in Con Hall with you at a Sociology 101, although I have a couple of years on you, so we probably weren't in the 101 at the same time.

But okay, here's a big question right off the top is, why, Anna, did you decide not to run for Toronto City Council in 2022? Because you're not a city councillor right now. No, I had the privilege of serving for three terms and five years of those as deputy mayor as well. And I have a big passion, which is affordable housing. And so I went on to build affordable housing.

But now with the by-election, I really felt like it was really important to have somebody with the experience and a track record that can bring council together and work with the other orders of government, Mike. We have big challenges that you need somebody at the table to work with the other level of governments to deal with our budget. And housing is a big issue, and you need to have somebody that is going to deliver on that. And that's why I decided to come back. So is it, well, I don't want to put words in your mouth, were you as blindsided as most of us were to, you know, read the news that day in the Toronto Star that there was a John Tory sex scandal,

and then suddenly, you know, he made that announcement that he's going to step down. Then we have this very rare occurrence where we have a by-election. Like, were you as blindsided by that as we were? I was not expecting to have a by-election at this point in time at all. So I was surprised with everything and the by-election. But I thought it was really important to come back. And after speaking with people that had worked with me, some of my colleagues, and you know, I think that's why I have so many of them. We just announced another one today. So I

have like nine counselors that are, you know, joining my team that are part of my campaign that have endorsed me. And actually speaking with a few of them right as I was making my decision and speaking with the community members, I made the decision that it was important to come back. What was the plan? Had this surprise by election not occurred? Was the plan to run for election in 2020, do math, Mike, 2026? So I went on to build affordable housing. I was just, you know, I usually say I was there for five minutes

because I actually started at the beginning of January because I, you know, I thought I deserved the rest of the year off. So I left City Hall November 15, 14, 14 actually. And so took a few weeks off just to recharge after 12 years of politics and then started the the new job in affordable housing and and then you know I was passionate I am passionate about it so we would see how it goes but there had been a lot of people including the former mayor a few years ago telling me that I should think about running for mayor. And I have to share something with you, Mike.

I am not that kind of person that, you know, when I was 19 or 15 felt, you know, thought about, had a dream about going into politics or being the mayor. Politics came to me as part of my community involvement, not because I loved politics. And let's be honest, not a lot of people like me think about themselves and think about running for mayor, right? You come to this country at age 15, you're struggling to learn the language, get to university, get, you know, your life. And then you have the privilege of representing your community. And then people started telling you, you need to run for mayor. And then you're like, oh, oh. And then I had put some thought into it, you know, before the pandemic and said, you know what, I do bring a lot to the table. The way that I bring

people together, my values, my work ethic, I do bring a lot to the table. So I said, you know, maybe after John Tory is done, I will serve the city once again. But that happened a lot quicker. Two months. Yeah, well, yes, I know. Here we are. Here we are. It's funny because Brad Bradford was here.

Now, he was here in the afternoon. And when I asked him how was his first mayoral campaign going, that's when he cracked open his Great Lakes beer. He was like, no, let's, all right. So, he was here in the afternoon, but he isn't, he's a sitting city councillor. So, should he, and if you, you know, respect the polls at all, this is a likelihood, should he not win this election on Monday, he goes back to City Hall as a city councillor. This is a once in a lifetime occurrence where this can happen. There's a couple of candidates that are active

city councillors and are sort of I always say plain of house money because it's a little different because normally you have to pick where you are on this ballot and here we are where you can stay a city councillor and run for mayor. But you what is the plan and I'm just i know you're a positive thinker and that you are planning to be mayor of toronto after this election on monday but

should you not win this first past the post election i'll get back to that later what is the plan are you gonna you're gonna go back and work on building affordable housing so i resigned housing? So I resigned my job, so I'm in it to win all the way. So, uh, I will win it. Yeah, absolutely. So I, I gave my resignation to the job. So, uh, um, I'm in it to win it. Yeah, absolutely. So we'll, we'll, we'll see, but I have my, my passions and, uh, I will always, uh, be working on something that drives me. And yeah, affordable housing is one of those things that I feel very passionate about and it's a major issue and I have a lot of experience and,

and that's why it's so important to, to have a mayor that brings that to the table as well. Well, hearing you in my headphones here, having this chat with you, it reminds me of a conversation I had with, so I, point out, before she became a city councillor, I would produce Diane Sachs' podcast. It was called, well, still in the archives, everybody. You can still hear it because it's very inspiring itself.

But it's called Green Economy Heroes. And Diane would chat up Green Economy Heroes, essentially. And it was a great podcast. But she stopped the podcast when she became a city councillor. But I asked her, I said, like, you're a first time city councillor. You know, she's an older person than us. And I said, like, why?

That was my question, right? So it's coming for you too, why? But why? And she told me that she felt she could affect more change as a city councillor. Like, so she felt that that was the position where she could affect the most change. And it sounds to me like you have reached a similar conclusion that, you know, your passion for building affordable housing, that you could, you know, satisfy that most effectively as mayor of Toronto. Yes, especially at the municipal level.

uh yes especially at the municipal level it's actually people don't realize but it's the the level of government that touches our lives the most right everything we do on a daily basis um you know from you know our parks to our garbage collection to roads everything is is city hall with the affordable housing you know the city cannot solve it on its own. There's no one order of government that can solve it. We need all hands on deck from governments to nonprofits. But the city has a big role because we control the planning, the zoning, how fast we do it, how slow we're doing it. We have land and the mayor has a big microphone as well. And we can leverage then the other programs that the federal government has through the national housing strategy, the other programs and tools that the province have, which are a lot and their land as well.

So you need somebody that can bring that together. And that's what I commend because I have done it and I have that expertise. All right. Time for some... And I'm not like other candidates that think that government should build it all. You know, like Olivia Chow thinks that government is the one that needs to build it all. And you can't solve housing just with government. You need the builders. you need the non-profits, you need the three orders of government. This isn't all hands on deck. And it's quite concerning that that's the way that she's thinking of tackling this issue. Very different from my approach and what actually

works. And we hear it from experts, you know, from across the country. We hear it from experts, you know, from across the country. One big difference between your campaign and Olivia Chow's campaign is that you, and this is the hot new news. So when you were originally scheduled for Toronto Mic'd, I actually had a very different question I was going to ask on these lines. Because it was going to be something to the effect of why hasn't John Tory publicly endorsed you yet? It was that sort of idea. And then things changed because John Tory has publicly endorsed you yet. It was that stuff idea. And then things changed because John Tory has publicly endorsed you. Not a surprise to me because I know you were deputy mayor of Toronto

and I guess you said five from 2017 to 2022. So I have a few questions on the John Tory front. Firstly, the first question, do you think John Tory was a good mayor for this city? Do you think John Tory was a good mayor for this city? I think John Tory did exceptionally well on taking the city through the pandemic, for example, with one of the best vaccination rates that we had. And I think he did a great job on that. I think he was extremely good at dealing with the other orders of government.

We had the largest transit expansion deal signed, $30 billion with the province and the federal government. We got a lot of housing money, billions of dollars. I was there. I got that as deputy mayor and with him. So I think that there's a lot of good that was brought to the city as well. I think that the city now is grappling

with coming out of the pandemic that turned our lives and the city upside down. And that's why my plan to really focus on the key services that are really struggling, like the TTC, for example, our ridership completely tanked during the pandemic. And we're having a really hard time attracting that ridership. And those are the services that I'm going to be really, really focused and housing as well. And I think that that is why it's important

to have somebody with the experience, with a track record to get it done. So if I'm hearing there right, so you think John Tory did a good job because John Tory has endorsed you. And if I, when I listened to his endorsement. I have three former mayors, Mike. Three former mayors.

Shout them out here. Shout out these three former mayors. Mayor, former Mayor Art Eglinton, former Mayor Barbara Hall, former Mayor John Tory, and actually Jennifer McKelvey, who has been doing the job for the last four months. Right.

And the importance of this is that they know what it, they've been there. They know the difficulties of the job. They know what it takes. They know the qualities that are really important. And having all four of them coming and saying, Anna is the one that has the capabilities, the experience, the track record,

I think it means a lot. Oh, no, no doubt. It's good to hear that there are other former mayors endorsing you. But you know why? The John Tory questions are more prevalent because, of course, he was mayor of this city for a very long time. And then very suddenly... Ar Eglinton was longer. Yeah, but it wasn't a megacity.

It wasn't a megacity. But you know that Art is still the longest serving... He kept that record. Yeah, he kept that record because Tory resigned. Tory's got the megacity record, so we'll put an asterisk next to that, sort of like we did with Roger Maris, right? He had more games.

Okay. Art Eglinton was the first mayor I remember. So growing up in the city, the first like consciousness I had of the mayor of Toronto was Art Eggleton, without a doubt. And then I learned, what do you mean Alan Tonks is the mayor? Like I had this whole like, what do you mean? There's two mayors? And then I had this whole, this is true. So I grew up in not York region, but in York, the borough, okay? And I always, I was like, wait, so we're not part of Toronto? Like it actually, like the megacity when it happened, it always made so much sense to me.

It's like, so the mayor of Toronto is not my mayor. It was just a strange disconnect for, because I'm on this side. You know, I'm on the, I was on the other side of the Humber River. I'm in York. It felt like Toronto, but it wasn't Toronto. Just an interesting anecdote. To this day, sometimes people feel a bit confused about that. Oh,

but I'm in, you know, sometimes I still get, I'm in Tobacco. Am I voting? Right. And, and yeah,

it's about bringing the city together. I think, you know, the one Toronto, we need to do a better job at that. So back, back, I know,

go away. It won't just be John Tory for the next half hour unless you want it to be, but John Tory says, No, this is about me. Can I have it about me? It's unless you want it to be. But John Tory says... No, this is about me. Can I have it about me?

Yeah, it's good to get back to you. Come on. Okay, but I have to ask you, because I'm naturally curious. So the John Tory endorsement comes. It's created a lot of conversation. Is this all good? Or do you recognize that there might be a negative

to the John Tory endorsement? I'm just curious what your thoughts are. How do you think it works for you politically as somebody who wants to be elected on Monday? Listen, I worked with John Tory for eight years and was his deputy mayor for five years. And again, I think it's positive to have somebody that has been doing the job to come out and saying, I am the best to do it. And on top of it, it's not only him. It's so many people, including media, including the Toronto Star. So there's been a significant amount of organizations from labor to six unions,

from public unions to private sector unions, from business to politicians to the star. There's been a number of people. So I think that it is important to endorsement. Okay. The more endorsements, the better. But this particular endorsement is an interesting one. And it just so happened, Nana's going to be in my basement for an hour on Friday morning.

So it was like, I'm going to poke into it again. Okay. So we'll move on from John Tory because I have so many questions for you from residents of this city who are also listeners of Toronto Mic who are excited to hear your answers. So I'm just going to read them. But Dan writes in, how does Anna run, quote, to fix city services, build housing, and make life more affordable, end quote, when she chaired Tory's re-election campaign and has accepted his endorsement? Wasn't he leading the city for the last eight years? How does she square these opposites?

This will be it. I forgot before I read it. I didn't realize it was another John Tory question. but let's answer Dan's question before I move on. We started talking about it here, right? I think the city really, really got impacted by the pandemic. Not the only city. We're seeing a lot of issues that we're dealing with in Toronto, in other cities across our country and across North America. And the chronic underfunding of our city from the provincial and federal government since the time of amalgamation, Mike, it's just been leading to all this. And now with the pandemic, we're really having a hard time dealing with these services. So whoever's going to be mayor now is going to have to deal with that. I chose to deal with it in a certain way as mayor with my experience.

So for example, on the TTC, I choose to restore the services on the TTC because I believe that in order for us to attract the ridership that we lost during the pandemic, we need to ensure that it's safe and that it is reliable. the ridership that we lost during the pandemic, we need to ensure that it's safe and that it is reliable. So you respectfully disagree with Dan's assertion that these are opposites that need to be squared. These are not opposites. No, these are not opposites. These are the challenges that are going to, that are facing our city and, and, you know, the changes that are facing our city. And you need a leader that is going to face them head on and day one that doesn't need on-job training. And, and that is going to be able to work with other orders of government to

face the big challenges that our city has right now okay great question came in from uh fotm rosie but before i ask the rosie real quick last thing here is was there a moment in the campaign office where you questioned whether you should have john to endorse you in front of your logo? Like, was there any moment where you thought, well, maybe that'll push some votes to Olivia Chow? Like any hesitancy in your campaign office regarding accepting John Tory's endorsement right now? No, no, no. Because, you know, I, I worked for eight years. I, you know, there's differences. You know. A lot of people would ask me, how are you different? Of course I'm different.

I'm an immigrant woman from a working class. You bring all this to the job. All this life experience, you bring it to the job as well. So of course there's going to be differences. But I worked there. I was there for eight years. And I went to City Hall as well to get things done.

And so I pushed him on some things. Like he acknowledged on the endorsement. I pushed him on some things. Sometimes I would change his mind. Sometimes we would agree to disagree on some votes. You don't share the same brain. Exactly. Two mutually exclusive brains.

But I do appreciate the experience that he had as a mayor for eight years. Right. Now back to Rosie. And this question has nothing to do with John Tory. So enjoy that sip of coffee there. Rosie writes in. And I can swear in front of you? Absolutely.

Okay. Good. Because I'm going to drop an F-bomb. Because I'm quoting Rosie. Rosie dropped the F-bomb. Rosie writes, Toronto is a rich city in both literal wealth and cultural wealth, but there is a fucking enormous livability crisis threatening it. How does Anna plan to deal with this to ensure it is a place everyone can live, rich and poor? She's right.

There's a big affordability crisis. You can drop an F-bomb if you want. This is not CBC Radio, Anna. I might be tempted. There is a big affordability crisis and livability. I recognize that. And from day one, Mike,

I've been talking about this fair deal that we need with the provincial and the federal government. We are the economic engine of this country and this city. 20% of the GDP comes from here. And we're struggling with a lot of our big services, right? From our TTC that the province used to pay 50% of the operating costs, so to transit system, to housing, our workers can't afford to live in here.

These are big things that cannot just come with the revenue tools that we have right now as a city. Property taxes are not going to solve these big issues. We need to have the province and the federal government to partner with us to manage this change that is coming and the growth that is coming for a city. I often say the growth and the change is here. The way that we're going to manage this over the next 10, 15 years

will define us as a city. We need to make sure that is happening in an equitable way to make sure that when you're building development, that there's affordable housing, that is close to transit, that you build complete communities, that it's not only about the housing, but you have the services in the infrastructure and the schools and the hospitals. And all that needs to be done with the three orders of government at the table. And that's

why, again, I go back, it is so important to have a huge champion as mayor that has the respect and the relationship from the other orders of government and can rally the city to really go to the province and the fed and saying we are at a crossroads right now the city keeps growing and you know we know that we need the immigration numbers that the federal government i think is talking about 500 000 immigrants a year a lot of them come to toronto in the gta we need to manage this growth and we need to manage it in an equitable way making sure that we're creating opportunities for our youth, making sure that they can continue to live in our city, making sure that we continue to attract investment so that we create good jobs for people, making

sure that we protect, you know, economic things like the island airport, for example. Another difference between me and Olivia Chow, right? I believe that it is part of our economic growth to have things like that and to protect them and to make sure that we recover our downtown. It is very important how we manage that growth over the next 10 years. Diamond Dog asks, I just like the name Diamond Dog. That's why I hesitated there. Imagine you go through life knowing it's Diamond Dog.

I'm just saying that's pretty cool. At least it's Diamond. Diamond Dog. Like, I'm just saying that's pretty cool. Diamond Dog. Okay, Diamond Dog says, I see several elements of Anna's platform involve uploading costs to the provincial and or federal government. For example, he puts in housing,

highways. How do we know the Ford government will be amenable and amenable? And what is the plan to get the city's finances in order? That's from Diamond Dog. So we got housing downloaded on the city, 58,000 units.

We're the largest landlord of Canada, second largest in North America as the city of Toronto. TTC operating costs, 50% downloaded on us. Highways, DVP and Gardiner used to be provincial highways. 50% of the people riding on those highways are not residents of Toronto. And unlike any other city in the region,

we're the only ones paying for the maintenance and the upkeep. Nobody notices when they're driving on the QEW that all of a sudden they're getting into the Gardiner. Mississauga doesn't pay for the maintenance of the QEW. So there's very fair arguments to say that we need a different fiscal framework and we cannot keep going,

doing the work of the provincial and federal government, which right now already accounts for $1 billion of our budget, Mike, that we are paying for expenses that are provincial and federal government, which right now already accounts for $1 billion of our budget, Mike, that we are paying for expenses that are provincial and federal expenses. So we need to have the conversation at the table and we need to know, we need to have a mayor

that is going to have these things inside out. But let me just share something with you because this happened to me before people were telling me, it's like, it can't be done. One of my first battles with the fords was in 2012 at the time toronto community housing our biggest landlord um the proposal was to sell 800 homes to start with the repairs because they had a huge repair backlog they were starting to close units and i stopped that sale and i said give me a chance we need to work with the other words of government to get money to repair this. We can't start selling units because

we have a waiting list. Why are we selling and closing units? So again, at that time, people told me, oh, this is no plan. It can't be done. And we did it. I got $1.3 billion from the federal government. We got money from the provincial government. So today there's a $1.3 billion from the federal government. We got money from the provincial government. So today there's a $2.6 billion capital repair backlog. We stopped selling units. We stopped closing units. So it can be done. You bring the facts to the table. Sometimes you need to do a little bit of protest. I took buses of tenants, to be honest with you, to Ottawa. So you stand up. But I also did an economic impact study on what this would mean.

So you come in with a common sense, the pragmatic approach, but you stand up as well. And that's what, as mayor, I will do as well and work with the other mayors across the region as well because our issues are bigger because we're a much bigger city, but many other municipalities are going through the same challenges that we are.

I'm digging your passion here. And I'm seeing this next question I'm reading, and there's a little caveat at the end that I need to push for a real answer. So this is for Judy Land. Another cool name, by the way, Judy Land. So Judy Land says, my question is, how does Anna justify voting for all the cuts and then turning around and saying she will reverse

said cuts. She supported austerity for 12 years. Why? Again, please push for a real answer. So I know we have Taylor to witness this. If I push you, it's because Judy Land told me I need to push you here. But what do you say to Judy? So again, we have a choice on, I'm going to give you the TTC example, which these last cuts, I wasn't at council, but we have a choice to make with regards to the TTC.

We can continue to go down the path of the cuts, or we can continue, or we can have the ridership back and actually help deal with the budget issues as well. I choose to have the investment to restore those cuts that were done. So it's not about, it's recognizing that it's a very different world after the pandemic that we have. The challenges are different. We are, for example, the two biggest things that are impacting our budget right now and therefore impacting all our services are the TTC, which our ridership completely tanked during the pandemic, and shelters. that the federal government comes to the table with an appropriate settlement path for refugees so that they're not ending up on our shelters and using the capacity that we need as well. And as mayor, I'll be more than willing to work with the federal government on that settlement

path. But this needs to be a responsibility of the federal government as well. So those are the two major impacts that we're having on our budget right now. So it's not about, you know, cutting. It's about what are the choices now that we're going to make to make sure that we have the better services and we deal with our budget. Okay, Judy, please send me a note. Slide into my DMs and tell me if i pushed enough there because i just want to know how i did there okay tobias vaughn this is interesting because it ties into a recent episode of toronto mic when i mentioned brad bradford dropped by and uh tobias vaughn says what is

her response you are her anna what is her response to brad bradford who on your podcast accused main street of faking a poll in her favor. Is anyone in her campaign connected to Main Street? You know what? We have no control over polls, any polls. And I don't look at them. So there is no shady business here with the Main Street polls. Otherwise, I would have probably had a heart attack by now because every day is a different poll. My poll, what I look at is how it feels out on the every day is a different poll. I look, my poll, what I look at is how it feels out on the street.

That's my poll. And how's it feeling out there? You're going to win this election on Monday. I will. Because, again,

I sound like a broken record, but I told my daughter who was, I don't know, 16, I can't remember how old my daughter was, but she was very interested

in Hillary Clinton becoming the first woman president in United States history. Very excited. And I told her at about 6 p.m. on that election night, which I did not have a vote in, everybody, but I told her at 6 p.m., don't worry. I quoted a couple of 530, some very good polls.

I said, it's a slam dunk. Hillary Clinton is going to win this election. I said that to her at like 6 p.m., and at 8 p.mpm I called her apologizing profusely. The polls got it very wrong. So there's my don't trust these polls caveat. Polls, don't,

the only, I know this is cliche, so cliche, but the only poll that matters, but it is, it's election day. And right now it feels good out there and you can call your daughter that she will have a woman mayor. The first one of the megacity.

Of the megacity. That is correct. We have not had a woman mayor for the megacity, which is exciting. And the other day, somebody was reminding me we never had a non-English speaking person

as mayor of the city. Well, I would say again, I'm not part of the Anna Bailao team, although I'm enjoying this conversation and I wish you so much luck on Monday. But I would say again, I'm not part of the Anna Bailao team, although I'm enjoying this conversation and I wish you so much luck on Monday. But I would say reading the tea leaves out there that the winner will be a woman whose English was their second language. Like that is going to happen. So I'm putting that out there. Slam dunk, that'll be the case.

Whether it be Anna or Olivia, tune in Monday. And when Anna comes back and we can talk about it. Okay. So I'm running, I know that you don't have unlimited time. I'm used to, I had Vernon Reed from Living Color on the show yesterday. And even him, I said, I need more time, but here, I'm going to burn through these questions. Cause I know there's a great listener of this program named Canada Kev. I've met him at many TMLX events. Hello, Canada Kev, whose mom is listening to this episode. So this is the first time Canada Kev's mom is going to listen to Toronto Mike because Canada Kev's mom sent me this note.

Okay. Her name is Penny. This is from Penny. A statement made by Bailao. No, I don't know how to say your name. Bailao. Bailao. Oh my God.

That was pretty good. Bailao. You know what? Thank you, Al Grego, for that tip. I announced my support for a proposal that would bring the Ontario Science Centre to Ontario Place. The provincial government has announced they will be moving forward with this and have been working on it for some time.

As mayor, I would approve building 5,000 new homes, including 1,500 affordable homes, where the Science Centre parking lot and lands outside of the ravine are currently located. The beloved heritage building the Science Centre is currently in needs to be maintained and used to serve the community after consulting with local residents. We need to be building... I can't tell where your quote ends and Penny's begins here, but this is... That seems to be all me.

That's all you. Okay. We need to be building housing near transit. I think this is Penny now. We need to be building housing near transit and bringing services to residents. If all these homes would be built around the existing science center,

why can't the science center stay put? It is considered an architectural masterpiece and it's not that old. Moving it to Ontario Place apparently would mean reducing it to half its size. Also, what does she think about Ford's plan for Ontario Place? The spa? I'm now putting this affliction. I'm

just reading into it. The spa? The parking? The access available to the members of the public who want to enjoy the waterfront? Tell us, Anna! And then an exclamation mark. Penny, Canada Kev's mom, listening to her first episode of Toronto Mike, wants some answers. I'm going to tell you. So first thing, with an affordability in a housing crisis,

it's outrageous that the provincial government is talking about spending $500 million to build a garage for a private spa at Ontario Place. So very much against that. I do believe that having a park, having some institutional use, that's why I was supportive of having the Ontario Science Centre there. I think it is important. I think people enjoyed when it was the water park, people enjoy going there for the concerts. And I do appreciate, now there's a proposal even to have just a satellite. I am good with that, Mike.

a proposal even to have just a satellite. I am good with that, Mike. What I want to make sure that this conversation includes is the housing on the parking lots. We need opportunities to build more housing and particularly affordable housing. And those are city lands as well. So the city could work with the province. That building, absolutely, it's a heritage building

and I'm looking forward to working with the community on what could go in there. A lot, could it still be related to science? Could we add academic institutions to do even more innovation in there, to have more community services? That community also could use a lot of services on workforce development, on support for communities. The building is underutilized and needs renovation,

so I'm looking forward, as mayor, to have that conversation with the community. My point is, let's include housing. My priority is, let's build affordable housing in there, and let's make sure that we're not spending $500 million on

a private garage for a spa. To me, when I first heard, I should shout out Trillium Park and then Ontario Place, where I ride, I think, three or four days a week. I'm riding on my bicycle in those parks. And the idea, it's so offensive.

I don't know how it, according to Matt Elliott, for example, who comes on the show and talks about City Hall, he's a City Hall watcher. It sounds like you can't stop this. It's going to be a provincial call unless you literally chain yourself to the building or something.

It doesn't sound like the mayor of Toronto or anyone in Toronto can actually stop this private spa from being built on Ontario Place. The lands are Ontario Place and the problem is that at the end of the day, they also control the Planning Act. So it is a challenge, but I believe that the city has been very clear

on the planning challenges that that whole building has, and I think that we need to stand up for our city. And as mayor, I will to make sure that those things are addressed as well. And I believe that, you know, there's such great potential in there for park and for public use. And that's what it should remain as. It's just, we're not building any more waterfront property. Like it's such a limited resource. And especially in a, although it might rain today today but especially at this time of year oh there's no nowhere makes me happier than being by lake ontario in this beautiful city and i believe that people want to have a little bit more than just just a park to be honest with you i think that you know people enjoy going to concerts down there for example

people enjoy a lot of people tell me it's like oh you know it'd be great to have a little bit more food like in small stands i don't know food trucks it is, but people would love to have a bit more of that. But it's not a private spa. I can 100% get behind those ideas. It is not a private spa. So we agree on that. Okay, good.

All right, this is going great. Now, I got a text, like I didn't opt in for this. It was a spam text. I got it two days ago. And it was, it said, I actually wrote it down. What it said is that I'm it down what it said. It said, I'm Mark Saunders running for mayor. If Olivia Chow wins,

she'll defund the police and hike taxes. Only I can stop her. Reply yes to support me. Now the question is, Mike, what did you reply? Yeah,

well, I was, my instinct was to reply with a very bad word but I actually decided, I was afraid to feed the beast and I did not reply at all but that was a text I got on my phone.

I don't know where my number got onto this. I hate, I actually really hate it. But I got to say, can't let you off the hook here. This is, you know, I got to tell you, I did not receive a call, but I have, many FOTMs let me know they received a robocall from John Tory endorsing you. So is your office responsible for the John Tory robocalls

that are endorsing Anna Bailaun for mayor? So campaigns do robocalls, text messages. Depending on the funding that you get, that's what you do. And so that is done from many campaigns. And yes, our campaign is doing calls. Some is live calls. Summer is live calls, so we have also a lot of volunteers calling people to know

if they're voting for us or not. But robocalls are a regular occurrence during campaigns. Okay, just a Toronto Mike PSA to tell you that these texts I got from Mark's Honours campaign and the robocalls people get are annoying.

I just want you to know that. Please don't take that personally, but please stop that. Some feedback. Derek says, only Josh Matlow and Mitzi Hunter have released detailed costing of their promises and how they would pay for them. Where's yours, Anna? That's from Derek. So we have cost. Every time we launch something, we actually, if you go on our website, there's always a cost associated with different ways that we would raise the funds. Some were, you know, increasing traffic tickets.

Others were from certain reserves. Others were from the upload of the Gardner and the DVP because we need that money to have the TTC services fixed. Okay, two Davids wrote in. They're not the same David, I want you to know, but one says, Anna, how do you explain why Housing Now hasn't yet produced any housing? Is it the private sector's fault or the city's? So maybe we should start by explaining what Housing Now is. Let's do it what is housing now

capital h so housing now is one of the many programs that i've started at city hall which was to stop selling land just to get the money and put it in general revenue and actually using the land to create affordable housing so that that was launched in 2019. And we have now identified a series of sites and a few have been put out for tender. And it's with the private sector and non-profit sectors. So there's both to produce affordable housing. And the shovels in the ground are about to start in July. And it took,

it got affected like many projects through the pandemic, cost escalations and so on. So I think it was a mixture of things that happened and it's now, you know, the sites are now about to break ground. But this is one of many programs, Mike. We currently have 3,000 units under construction right now in the city of Toronto of affordable housing. This is just since 2017. And 15,000 already approved and going into that direction. There's a lot more that needs to be done. That's why in my plan I talk about breaking down the silos inside City Hall, making approvals more effective and faster, having, you know, more overall planning.

So we're not dealing on a one by one issues, but actually have it what we call as of right. So people can just go and build in, particularly when it's those smaller buildings, because we need more of that kind of density. So we don't turn into a city of just 80-story buildings and single-family homes. It's that middle that we're missing. And so we need to make it easier to build more of that and to facilitate our non-profit sector also to build more using our land. I'm creating a fund because one of the areas that

they have a lot of difficulty is in the pre-development stage. So I'm actually creating a fund to support nonprofits in building affordable housing as well. When we talked about the Grilled Cheese Challenge, I mentioned that Great Lakes Brewery had entered the grilled cheese competition, or if I didn't mention that, I should have. They were serving beer as well, of course. But I do want to shout out Ridley Funeral Home because they actually also had a grilled cheese in the competition. And Ridley Funeral Home are pillars of this community. And they've given me a flashlight to give you, Anna. This is courtesy of Ridley Funeral Home.

So you not only have the wireless speaker, the lasagna, and the beer, you also have a flashlight from Ridley Funeral Home. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. Is this how you treat all your guests? Because I want to book the next one. It's like a ton of gifts. This is not. I will point out, if someone is hearing their first Toronto Mic'd episode,

like Penny, every guest who visits gets all of this. Absolutely. Everyone leaves with fresh craft beer, lasagna, a Ridley funeral home gift, and the wireless speaker from Moneris. So yeah, enjoy. Enjoy. It's funny. I've had other politicians on, and I always wonder, you're allowed to accept these gifts,

and like, yeah, like as long as it's under, I can't remember what the number is, under $250 or whatever. And I'm like, okay, I think we're good. Okay, great. So winding down here, I'm really enjoying the conversation. I have to shout out conversation I have to shout out I want to shout out The Moment Lab

they're a great PR company that can help take your business to the next level and I'm happy to introduce anyone listening to Matt and Jared at The Moment Lab and you can learn more about how they can help you achieve

your public relations goals so shout out to The Moment Lab and recyclemyelectronics.ca if you have old electronics old tech and you need to throw out maybe your old phone your old uh a track player i don't know we're too young for that but if you need to throw out your old uh sony walkman don't throw it in the garbage because then the

chemicals end up in the landfill go to recycle my electronics.ca find a safe accredited place near you to drop off that old tech and they will safely recycle it recycle my electronics.ca okay i mentioned there were two davids uh this david would like me to ask you about uh your experience working for local 27 of the carpenters union and i got a point i did some research carpenters it's not the band actually i thought it might be like a fan club for the carpenters but no tell me about this because i think david's a member, I believe. I've met him. I gave him a Toronto Mike sticker once. Hello, David. So I don't work for the Carpenters. Okay, good. Let's clarify that right off the top here.

So I have their support. Like I said, I have private sector unions like the Carpenters, private sector unions like the Carpenters, like La Una Local 183, La Una Local 506, and public sector, QP 416 and QP 79, and Unite Here, the hospitality workers. And I have their support. I'm very proud of the work that they do, and particularly around involving women in trades.

They do a great job of that. And creating apprenticeship programs for youth. And they've been really doing great work. And, you know, my dad is a construction worker. And actually, he almost died on a construction site. So he was not a member of the Carpenters. He was a member of 183. But I know the importance that these, you know, having good jobs,

having health and safety at the job sites, having, you know, the support for the families. I know how important it is because I don't know what would have happened to our family if we didn't get that support from the union at the time because my mom was making minimum wage as a seamstress and we probably would have lost our house and and so on and so forth so i know the importance of of having uh good jobs and and uh and having the the support and the protection uh for for these workers that are out there and uh and so i'm very proud of of having their the local 27 support so shout out to the carpenters not the band again but speaking of the band i 27 support. So shout out to the Carpenters.

Not the band again, but speaking of the band, I'm curious. So when you moved to Toronto at the age of 15, what was your radio station of choice? This is out of left field here, but I'm just curious. We're not going back not that long ago when you were 15 years old. I remember what I was listening to when I was 15. It might have been 99.9. So that was the mix at the time.

Yeah, I think so. Okay. I know my favorite band at the time was Guns N' Roses. I was 15. It might have been 99.9. So that was the mix at the time. Yeah, I think so. Okay. I know my favorite band at the time was Guns N' Roses. I was a big... Sorry, it's Guns N' Fucking Roses. Okay.

I love Guns N' Roses. Yes. So that was my favorite band at the time. Because you had an appetite for destruction and that's why you're running for mayor.

It was more a bed of roses. Well, that's actually... Yeah, yeah well bed of roses is actually um what's his name there uh bon jovi that's true that's true and please getting my get out of my basement if you're gonna confuse bon jovi of guns and roses i okay november rain maybe now you're now you're talking and who is doing backup vocals on november rain shannon hoon from Blind Melon. He's on that rooftop there. Don't you cry tonight.

I'm a Slash fan, so I'm so sorry. Slash. Shout out to the Slash's snake pit. Okay. So it's good to get a taste of your jams. One day when you're married, you can come back and kick out the jams. I've mellowed down. I'm a big Bossa Nova fan right now.

So it really went the other way. Okay. Are you listening to any air supply lately? I feel like, who is it? Steve Ryan from CP24, who was a cop. Much like Mark Saunders. But Steve Ryan, I'm like, what songs do you dig? He's like, I listen to air supply and it just didn't really,

like it just seemed like a disconnect here. Okay. But that's fine. Everyone loves their jams. Okay. So here we are, almost done here. I'm going to do a little rant about First Past the Post in a second. But I just want to ask about, I mentioned I bike, I that's fine. Everyone loves their jams. Okay, so here we are. Almost done here. I'm going to do a little rant about first past the post in a second,

but I just want to ask about, I mentioned I bike, I bike every day. And I feel like there's a lot of anti-cycling rhetoric out there amongst some mayoral candidates like Saunders and Davis and Fury. It's like, to me, it's rather reckless.

Like they talk about ripping up bike lanes. So what is your take? Like if you win, if you win a Monday, like I hope you're not about ripping up bike lanes. So what is your take? Like if you win, if you win a Monday, like I hope you're not ripping up the bike lanes. I hope you're building more. We need more cycling infrastructure. What say you, Anna? Mike, we need a balanced approach because we have a growing city. So we need people to get around in a safe way in different modes. And a lot of people are cycling. So we need a network. It's important that we talk about a network. It's not just we talk about a network.

It's not just bike lanes for the sake of bike lanes that lead nowhere. We need to start thinking about how do we connect the city, how we create network. Right. Understanding that we have to balance with the TTC. Like I had in my community, there was a big push to have bike lanes on Dufferin. We couldn't have it on Dufferin.

We have the busiest bus route in the community on Dufferin. We put it on a side street and it works well, right? There's a network for cyclists. Exactly. You need to balance these things. You need to make sure that TTC is moving, that goods and cars are moving, pedestrians are safe. And there's a good, safe cycling infrastructure because that's how you're going to get more people out of the cars. That's how you're going to make sure that people feel safe to have it as an option and so for me it's how do you create a mobility plan for the city and stop this us versus them mentality like it really needs to end yeah we just need a sensible uh grid basically like you need your

east west and your north south and like where you're chatting right now is you're on the waterfront trail. So there's a brilliant east-west cycling route where cars are not allowed. And that's why I'm going to expand bike share all the way here and all the way into Scarborough as well. Love it. Ah, see. I knew you would like that. Okay, okay, okay, okay. And I'll just say speaking again, this is a little bit in my backyard.

And there's a lot of people in Toronto like, oh that's really hyper local of you but i will say uh the only north south i have that's relatively close is royal york and royal york has a paint it's a line of paint and that is your bike lane like i'm not asking for a bike lane on kipling or islington because i'm with you on that whole different thing like some streets are you know car bus streets, and some streets make sense for cycling. But Royal York does make great sense for cycling, but it just needs to be more than a piece of paint. It needs to be like what we see between

Norris Crescent and First, and actual separated bike lanes where you feel safe, as opposed to a line of paint that a car or a truck can just ignore. I'm just saying, paint's not enough, is what I'm saying. I agree that we need more of the separated bike lanes as well.

It's about safety. It's the big thing is about, because if people don't feel safe, they're not going to consider that as an option. Right. Okay. And I promise I close my learning. And this is my analysis

and I'm wishing you so much luck on Monday and I've thoroughly enjoyed this. And I want to give you props for doing this because my rule, I make so I'm trying to, to like I said I'm not going to invite any active politicians on the program I'm not going to pursue I'm not gonna hey Olivia you want to come on Toronto Mike like that's not going to happen but if a notable active politician asks to come on I will 100% have a conversation with and it didn't only two actually I mean it doesn't matter it's fine we're all busy, you know,

but Brad Bradford said, I'd like to come on. And then your campaign said that you would like to come on and we're doing this. And I just want to give you props because this is an hour we're chatting about everything.

And it's probably easier not to do this on the Friday before the election, but you're here and that's awesome. I am. And I really enjoyed it. And you're going to have to allow me to give a shout out to my best friend

because they are big fans of yours. Okay. Slow down. Now we're talking. Paula and Peter. Paula. They were very nervous for me to come here and they're like, you need to do a good job.

You know, he's awesome. He's. Okay. Thank you, Paula and Peter for listening to Toronto Mike. Big shout out to you. Thank you. Yeah. And let me know, send me a note, Mike at Toronto Mike.com and let me know how Anna did on this. okay thank you paula and peter for listening to toronto mic a big shout out to you thank you yeah

and and let me know uh send me a note mike at toronto mic.com and let me know how anna did on this and then let me know how i did because uh i just you just want to have a conversation but i'll say so we have a first past the post system you know this but everybody knows this in toronto that basically whoever gets the most votes on monday is the winner of this election and the new mayor of toronto like that's a fact. So I'm thinking, okay, ideally, and I've, I ranted about this with anyone who will listen to me, but to be honest,

but that's insane to me that you're going to have 102 candidates and whoever gets the most votes is going to win. Like to me, we really need, this is an example, we really need ranked balloting. And I am going to go on the public record as telling you that

if we had ranked balloting on Monday and we do not, I believe you would win this election. I know you told me you will win this election and I hope you do. But I believe you would win this election with ranked balloting. You would be the mayor next week. But you've got Mark Saunders with the support of Doug Ford and others. And you've got him doing the auto text or whatever. And you got this whole, I am the best ABC candidate.

ABC stands for anyone but Chow. I need to correct you with that. Go ahead. It's Anna before Chow. Chow. Anna before Chow. Right. ABC. Always be careful. Always be careful. That's right. That's what I tell my kids. Okay. But it's going to be

first past the post and I'm here to say first past the post sucks. A lot of people are going to be first past the post. And I'm here to say first past the post sucks. A lot of people are going to vote. Some people might say, hey, I really don't want Mark Saunders to be mayor. Therefore, I'm going to cast my vote to who's leading the polls. And that right now is Olivia Chow. Whether we believe in polls or not is a different conversation. So there will be votes to Olivia Chow to block Mark Saunders.

But if we had ranked balloting, I believe you and you're sort of a centrist candidate, as opposed to Saunders, who might be further to the right. And then you got your Olivia Chow further to the left. I think you'd be the mayor if we had ranked balloting. That's how I feel about this election. A couple of things. I've always supported ranked ballots. Take your time here before I play some lowest of the low. You have to play some guns after this.

You're in the jungle, Anna! Oh, yeah. You can say that. The next line is, you're going to die, so I won't finish that one. No, no. I've always supported ranked ballots at council as well, as term limits, and I self-imposed myself term limits.

So that's why I went on to build affordable housing, and as councillor, I had done three terms and thought, nope, this is good. But with the election, I really think that people need to think of who's actually going to be the best at leading this city. And aside from, you know, the stopping chow or stopping mark, which I think we should, but I also believe that I am the best candidate to lead the city because we need pragmatism. We are facing big challenges and we need somebody that can bring council together,

not have a divisive council. We don't need a circus back at City Hall. We need somebody that is going to get things done and work with the other orders of government and focusing on the real issues, which are housing and key core services in our budget. And I am the best candidate. So I hope that people on June 26th

enthusiastically vote for Annabella. It's not Guns N' Roses, I apologize. But it is a great Toronto band band and again i have a couple years on you but in the early 90s i would spin shakespeare my butt by lois of the low and i was talking to the director yesterday of a new documentary about lois of the low and we're going to do like a a lowest of the low episode very soon kicking out Lois of the Low Jams and talking to the director Simon Head of this new documentary and this is Rosie and Grey

from Shakespeare My Butt. That's what we're going to hear instead of Gunners but I love Guns and Roses and I love this chat so thank you again Anna for doing this. This is great. Thank you. And that brings us to the end of our 1,279th show. You can follow me on Twitter.

I'm at Toronto Mike. Anna, you're at Anna Bailao. How do they do? Anna Bailao Tio. We got to get a Tio at the end there. And you can follow Anna there. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta.

Moneris is at Moneris. Recycle My Electronics are at EPRA underscore Canada. The Moment Lab are at The Moment Lab. And Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH. See you all Monday when my guest is Kim MacDonald from

The Weather Network. See you all then.