Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Ian Cunningham: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1983

Episode Date: September 29, 2026

In this 1983rd episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Candidate for Toronto City Council, Ward 10 (Spadina–Fort York) Ian Cunningham about Toronto's mental health, addiction, and homelessness crisis.A version of this podcast without programmatic ads is available to all Toronto Mike'd Patrons at patreon.com/torontomike.Toronto Mike'd, an award-winning podcast, is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, Nick Ainis, and RecycleMyElectronics.ca.If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, I'm Ian Kettingham, and I'm running to be our city counselor in Ward Tense, but I'm in Fort York. I grew up in Scarborough, playing, you know, street hockey and being a big Jay's fan and and Leaves fan, obviously, all my life and the Raptors when they came in. Playing softball in Bridgetwood Park, and, you know, we used to come down and visit downtown to enjoy what it had to offer. I remember it's funny, I live around Queen and Bathurst now, and the Big Bob was kind of a staple for us back then.

Love that place. But I've lived in Trinity Bellwoods now, a little over 10 years. I love it. My background, I've been a cheap operating officer the last 20 years, which has really been focused on, you know, bringing people of diverse thought together to solve problems and deliver results and be accountable for those results. And, you know, when I look at War 10, I love where I live, it's grown so quickly that the, which is a good thing and a bad thing,

because the infrastructure hasn't been able to keep up. So, you know, we have a, streets are feeling, you know, dirty, less safe. The city's struggling to keep up with this year. influx of, you know, of residents. And I see it every day. You know, I'm usually up early walking my dogs. We go through Trinity Bellwoods Park. And, you know, I see the same people over and over again cycling from, you know,

whether it's the street to ER and back. And around April of this year, I started to think, you know, maybe the skills I've acquired and experiences over the course of my career could be put to use to, you know, help help get Ward 10 back on track. and you are excited. I am super excited to be a guest on the Toronto Mike podcast here. I've obviously listened to you and, you know, a bit of a legend yourself. So it's a pleasure to be here. Legend.

To be discussed. Welcome to episode 1,983, 1983 of Toronto Mic'd. An award-winning podcast. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. Order online at Great Lakesbeer.com for free. Local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh,

homemade Italian pasta entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Visit palma Pasta.com for more. Fusion Corpso, Nick Aienis. He's the host of Building Toronto Skyline and Mike and Nick Two podcasts that you ought to listen to. Recycle My Electronics.C.A. Safe, secure recycling for residents, businesses, and the environment. Ready to recycle?

Bring it. And Redley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Joining me today making his Toronto Mike debut, it is indeed a candidate for Toronto City Council, Ward 10, That's Spadina, Fort York. Ian Cunningham. Nice to meet you, Ian. Yeah, great to be here, Mike.

Does anyone ever call you radar? No, they've called me other things, but not radar. Nothing you can say on this podcast, I suppose. Okay, because there is a... I'm trying to think. I think it's Aaron Davis, who's a long time. Do you know the radio personality, Aaron Davis? I do, yes.

So she was on CHFI forever, but I believe, if my memory serves correctly, her producer maybe was a guy they would call Ian radar Cunningham. Amazing. So you're not that, you're not a radio guy. I am not that particular radar now. No radio experience.

No, none. What stations would you have listened to, you know, growing up in, what was it, Scarborough? Yeah, CFNY and Q107. Okay. And I don't know, I won't, you know, I won't ask you your age, but I'm guessing you were too young for the spirit of radio era at CFNY. I caught the second end of it, for sure.

Yeah. Okay. So, I want to let people know. the most recent episode of Toronto Mike, 1982, is a tribute to David Marsden. It was Marsden's vision that basically, that was the spirit of radio at CFNY.

Marsden. And there's an interesting fact. So you'll hear what I think is an, because I re-listen to it yesterday, on my bike ride to TMLX 20, what was it again? 23, and I'll get to that in a minute. But I think that the 100 minutes I spent with David Marsden

in January, 2015, Like listening to that yesterday, and I know I'm biased, it's my podcast, I'm on the other end of this thing, but I just thought it was like magic to hear David tell all the stories. We had a lot of time to let it breathe. And that is, again, that is episode 1982.

So if you want to hear more about David Marsden, in his own words, in his own voice, that's a big recommend from me, Ian. I've got to put that on my list for sure. And here's another mind blow. This only occurred to me. I was talking to Cameron Carpenter, a Cam Carpenter.

You know, he's an FOTM himself. He was at this event I was at yesterday, which I'll talk about in a moment. And then don't worry, Ian, it's going to be all you the rest of the way. But it occurred to me that David Marsden, the news of his passing only went public yesterday morning. So that's Monday morning.

We learned David Marsden, it passed away at 85. But he actually died on Friday. And I was thinking, wow, because on Friday, I was at a West End Phoenix event, Dave Boudini's newspaper, and it was the 10th anniversary of the West End Phoenix, and I was at the Palais Royal.

And it was great musicians performing great Canadian jams. And Dave Bidini himself, with his band, which included FOTM, Rob Pruse, Dave Bidini and his band, they performed Spirit of Radio on Friday, possibly as David Marsden was putting on his wings. And I just thought that's a bit of a mind blow because of course, Rush wrote Spirit of Radio about CFNY. And Spirit of Radio came to David Marsden. That was his slogan, his vision.

What do you think of that, Ian? Oh, that's magic. Actually, if that actually happened, it's magic, man. I love it. There you go. So David's putting on his wings and Padini breaks into Spirit of Radio on Friday night. We only learn about the posting. Yeah, there you go. By the way, just one more housekeeping note before we get to know you better. TMLX23 was last night. That's the 23rd Toronto. I feel like I yelled a lot

because it's loud and you're talking to lots of people. I can hear it in my voice. But TMLX 23, last night at the GLB brew pub at Jarvis and Queens Keith. So I'm here to say, it was amazing.

The turnout was amazing. The vibes were good. It was close to the public. So we had the whole facility. It's such a wonderful place to eat and drink. We had great food. Everybody had their first pour on the house of fresh craft beer. I know you've met Troy Birch,

but I just want to say thank you to Great Lakes for hosting us. We'll be back next year for another event at the GLB Brew Pub. It was amazing. And in a moment, I'm going to have an announcement, a very exciting announcement about TMLX-24. But you told me you had a chance to meet Troy Birch recently. Is that right? That's right.

About two weeks ago, actually Troy and I tried to get together about a month ago because they like to talk to the folks that are running for, for city council. And I think, I believe his son had made the baseball playoff. So we, we rescheduled. East York.

Yeah, until two weeks ago. And we got down and talked about the challenges, you know, local businesses that were facing, they're down on Lower Jarvis there and along the harborfront. So yeah, Troy, great guy and great beer there.

I really enjoy it. One of my faves now. Well, I'm going to send you home with some fresh-craft beer from Great Lakes. So you got some beer out of that too. Love it. And here's the big announcement. So you're ready, Ian.

We now have a date and time and location. for the next TMLX event. So it's going to be TMLX 24. Here's the big announcement. It's taking place November 28, 2026. So that is a Saturday, and it's going to be noon to 3 p.m. at Palma's Kitchen in Mississauga.

So Palma Pasta will host us. Palma pasta will feed us. I'm definitely bringing fresh craft beer from Great Lakes, and everybody, including you, Ian, everybody is invited to TMLX 24 on November 28th. Got it? Appreciate that. Sounds like a good time.

And since I mentioned Palma Pasta, and I want to, you know, get into this with you, I want to just make sure you know, Ian Cunningham, that I have in my freezer upstairs a large frozen lasagna for you

from Palm pasta. Seriously. Yeah. Outstanding. Did you have any idea? You would be receiving so much wonderful swag. No, and I tell you, after we knock on doors all day,

that alzani is going to be mighty good tonight. Well, yeah, absolutely. So I'm going to send you on the, They got the lasagna. You've got the, the beer. A piece of trivia, because this is episode 1983,

and Jeremy Hopkins, who I saw last night, in his full wardrobe, I love it. 1983 was the year that Etobico, where you are right now, Scarborough,

where you're from, and York, where I was raised, were incorporated as cities. So I was, you know, North York was incorporated earlier in 1979.

And of course, in 1998, it all got amalgamated anyways in the six boroughs were amalgamated in 98, which is a nice segue to bring us to you. So tell me a little more like about you. You told me you live near Trinity Bellwoods. That's correct.

Yeah, it's literally for street west of Bathurst between Queen and Dundas. That's with a cool, cool kids lip. Yeah, well, you're one of the cool kids. Okay, well, just tell me a little bit more about like, like, who are you leading up to this election? Like, just give me, I know you mentioned C-O, that's awfully, you know, big there. But, like, what have you been up to in your professional life? And then maybe the big question I have is, why the hell would you want to enter this blood sport called politics? Like, what's going on?

Okay. Great credit. And cut me off of my story. I always say, what's wrong with you, Ian? Yeah, what's wrong? The last thing I would do is enter politics. Yeah. I mean, start in career, pardon me.

Yeah, we can move that over. Yeah. All right, beautiful. Thanks. Yeah. I mean, coming out of school, I went to, I went to you a T here and my first job out of school was a route salesperson from Free to Lay and I had the whole Region Park, Cabotstown area.

And so got to know, you know, that area of the street. And for what it's worth, what a magnificent transformation over in Region Park too. So I've been there recently. Did you get free chips from that deal? Officially or unofficially. I think, uh, I think unofficially we did. The statute of limitations hasn't expired yet. They could get you for that.

Still the biggest fan of Miss Vicki's chips, which we, uh, which we acquired back in 1990. I think it was. But went from there. Long career, three to lay, beautiful, loved it. We got to learn a bunch of things. And then joined Capital One when they entered Canada in 2003 as head up operations and risk. And it took on a couple of roles, including launching the brand as CMO. And then I was the chief operating officer there and round it at my time heading up partnerships in North America out of Chicago.

Travel was getting a bid. And I got the opportunity to come back and be CIO at Tangerine Bank, which many of you know, great customer experience driven institution. Is that a Dutch company? So good question, yeah. It's the old ING direct. Yeah, that's how I used to picture it as like an Amsterdam thing or something. Yeah, absolutely.

And it got acquired by Scotia Bank back in 2012, I think it was. And at the same time, in the U.S., Capital One acquired IG Direct in the U.S. So it kind of had this weird playover. But a great company as well. Okay, and your chief operating officer. Yeah. That's a big title at Tandrine Bank. Yeah.

Okay, I'm just setting the table here. Okay, keep going here. And then from there, from there, I joined a company. I set up a company called Technist at a Buenos Aires in Argentina, a next generation core banking solution, which is really how do you digitize banking for the future. So I set up the North American team because we were entering North America

and Toronto is such a great center for tech talent. We built an amazing team here. And then that business was acquired by SOFI in the U.S. back in 2020. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, it was. And it's part of the whole Galileo SoFi Bank in the U.S. Okay.

Yeah. And then the last three years helped a friend build a small data AI consulting shop. And really our focus was on helping kids from underrepresented communities, you know, get trained and get into secure jobs with the banks. And that was the most rewarding part for me. Okay. But what I'm hearing here, Ian, is I'm hearing that you have had a very successful career in the private sector, like working for these big companies with big titles.

Like you were a successful guy in business. I guess, yeah, I guess you could judge that. Unless they're handing out this title, Chief Operating Officer to just anybody. I mean, that's a big title. I mean, so even just Chief Operating Officer for a bank, you know? I mean, I'm saying these are big titles. You had a lot of success.

So that bring us to this decision you made that you're going to run in Ward 10 to be a city counselor. Right. What has possessed you to do such a crazy thing? Yeah, I mean, lots of people have asked me that. So, and, you know, I love the city. and I love the neighborhood. And over the last few years, I've noticed it,

the same people on the straight cycling in and out with no path to recovery. You know, and I talk to folks, and I literally experience what happens to Queen of Bathurst every day. So, you know, as part of that, you start talking to people and getting their stories. And as fast as we've grown in Ward 10, we just haven't seemed to be able to keep up with some of the simple things. And maybe the most important one is just people having a path to recovery. Okay, because when you use this term cycling, my ears prick up.

I think you're talking about biking. So I'm like, wait a minute. I'm sure we'll get there. He's not talking about bike lanes here. So I'll just do a little disclosure off the top, which is that, and I know I've had, you know, I'm very forward and very honest and fair, but I have been inundated. This election year, more than any other one I can remember, I've been inundated with requests from people running for mayor, people running for city council who want to come

And I actually have decided to blame Professor Prickle Thorne for this, okay? Do you know this name, Professor Prickle Thorne? I do not. Okay, you're not alone. But I love this guy, but he goes to schools and he teaches about the importance of urban trees. He's an arborist whose real name, by the way, Warren Hossilton, okay? Warren, I thought I was going to see you yesterday because he confirmed for TMLX 23 did not show up. I'm taking notes here, Warren, so you better be at TMLX 24 on November 28.

He worked on the Toronto Island for 25 years, and his boss there was a gentleman named James Dan, and James Dan is running whatever Brad Bradford's old ward, his ward is. I can't remember the number. Beaches. Beaches. Okay, so East York beaches or whatever that is. So James Dan, as a favorite Professor Picklethorn, who was going to co-host that episode,

I said, okay, bring James over. Let's find out what's going on. Now, we had a great chat, James, Dan. But I feel like that, because typically I would only talk to people who I thought would probably win or be close. Like that's been like I haven't just talked to anybody. But I feel like when I had James Dan on it, opened some kind of floodgates.

And I'm telling you inundated with requests. And I simply, that's not this show. Like I don't just talk to everybody. But for some reason when I thought about you for a long time, and I thought, oh, like I don't want to hear elect me. I'm the best. I don't even want to, I don't want to be like a stump in like, you know, most politicians of the, I wanted to talk to you about.

Toronto's mental health addiction and homelessness crisis. Like I want to hear from you, why are we falling short and what municipal actions, like in the Toronto level, what municipal actions could make a difference? Like I'm going to shut up, sip this coffee and listen because I want to hear what's broken and how the heck it could be fixed. Because I agree with you, Toronto has a mental health addiction and homelessness crisis. Yeah, I agree, Mike. And thanks for having me on the show, by the way.

Oh, happy to meet you, man. Yeah. So where I live is almost ground zero for it, I would say, at Queen and Bathurst. And those that live around there know that. And what I see, and believe me, I've jumped into the deep end to talk to mental health experts, legal experts, like, you know, what is it the city can be doing? Because clearly, you know, we rely on the province for a number of things. But the city owns the streets and the shelters, and it's responsible for its people. and I'm struck by the silos.

So there's no common theme for somebody to go through a pathway. Let's call it a pathway to recovery through the system. So somebody, you know, they get taken for treatment and then they're discharged and then they're given a number to go, you know, here, go find yourself a home or something. Well, did you mind like dumbing it down a bit like, obviously no specifics, obviously, but just invent a persona. Yeah. And just give me like a specific instance and where they would end up and how it would

work. Like, I think a lot of people listening, if they're, if they're, you know, blessed in life, they might not be aware of this. I happen to have some awareness for a variety of reasons, but be more specific like John Doe or Jim Doe. No, I can think of us, I can think of a perfect guy, Andy from, he was from New Brunswick. And talking to him and he just approached. Is he a barber by any chance? Because my barber's name is Andy and he just moved to New Brunswick. And I think he might have a crisis going on, but we'll talk about that later. Go ahead. Yeah. And Andy had been out. here about he came out during COVID because he you know was attracted to Toronto there was more availability of a lot of things and hadn't been able to get on his feet and he told me that he you know

frequently he scrounges for money he he gets his fix whatever it might be um sleeps you know worries about staying up all night and because they get robbed sometimes and they're they're lying there and if if he does get picked up he gets taken whether it's emergency or a treatment center he gets discharged and they tell him here you can go find a room here and like he doesn't have a phone and like people are expected to steer themselves through the system. And I don't know of any you or I might could, you know, in the circumstances there and be able to do that. So one of the things I'm really pushing for is kind of one person, one plan and one, you know, case manager. Okay, but this Andy individual we're referring to.

So Andy, you mentioned get a fix there. So Andy's an addict. He's an addict, yeah. Okay. And to come in, he's got overlapping mental health issues. as well. Okay. Right.

So he's got mental health challenges. Yeah, often combination. Addiction. And it sounds like because these shelters you're referring to, or he's worried about getting robbed, like where is Andy sleeping? He's sleeping on the street.

Sleeping on the street. Okay. All right. So, yeah, keep going. Yeah. So, yeah.

And I mean, he's sleeping on the street. And so sometimes he'll get picked up because he's incoherent or that and he'll get taken to emergency and, you know, a short stint there and he's back on the street. I mean, they're doing. Is he being taken to like,

And I'm sorry for interrupting, just that I'm very invested in this. So is he being taken to 1001 Queen Street, or is he being taken to like the local hospital's ER? Generally local hospital ER. Yeah. And Toronto Western bias. Okay. Yeah.

And there are some stabilization centers they call them now, which I know that they've been focused on taking, which is a great spot for somebody to, you know, if you want to say decompress or sober up and then they can get back on the street. So that works as well. But I think that the common theme here is that there's people just cannot. steer the way through the system and the silos that are created. And I don't see any reason why we can't have like a single case manager for a group of people who steers them and helps them on that pathway to recovery.

So firstly, that's treatment and then you've got recovery and then you get housing, right? Right. Oh, yeah, because there's, you know, there's, like you're saying, these silos are the, there's the treatment part you're referring to there. And then you're talking about, and that includes recovery to, you're no longer addicted to, to drugs. or alcohol. And then there's the housing component. Every human on this planet deserves a safe place to sleep and hang their hat.

Housing. And then there's the support thereafter. You can't just abandon them there and leave them. Right? So you're suggesting that there should be some kind of a streamlined, like single source of support for all of these silos, as you referred to, as we kind of combat this crisis. Yes, actually knock down the silos and a common case manager for people that steers them through the system on the road to recovery, you know, treatment, recovery, housing and then stabilization as well, right, as they, as they, you know, get back into society. So many are asking for it. There's so little room and so few beds to do it. I mean, if you or I to, you know, say, hey, I'm in bad shape. I need to get treatment, you know, you're looking at a five months wait sometimes or something. And I thought a bad thing's unacceptable. Five months.

Yes. You're upsetting me over here. But I want the real, I need the dose of the real talk here. Because Andy from New Brunswick, who came here during COVID, is in, it's already a very vulnerable state because Andy's not surrounded by family and friends who love and support Andy and will be there to hold his hand through all of this. Correct. Sounds like Andy's on his own.

He's got family back home, he says. Yeah. But he doesn't talk to them, right? they've, you know, their relationships are broken down. And they're in New Brunswick. Yeah, and they can't help them. But yeah, he doesn't talk to them either. Okay, Andy. So, so tell me today in 20, so we're talking here, September 29th, 2026.

So like you said, Andy, when he's, when he's sleeping on our streets and periodically, I guess, TPS, Toronto Police Services will pick him up and take him to the emergency room of a local hospital. It depends on the shape they're in, yeah. Yep. But what happens, Andy about, so he's addicted, does Andy have access to any treatment to help him overcome his addiction and, you know, enter recovery? Andy did use the safe induction site at just below Queen and Bathurst, the Parkdale site, which went away. But he himself said. Which went away, though, stop right there.

So for those who aren't aware, why did this safe injection site go away? Yeah, I mean, they were shut down by the province. But that in itself, here's the thing on safe and jack. And Andy told me this too. He said, you know, giving us drugs every day doesn't help us recover. So if it was led to my recovery or my, if it's part of treatment and then recovery, it would be way more helpful. Was it an easy way to get drugs and do them every day?

Yes. So I think some great cities in the world, Lisbon's one of them. I think Helsinki have done it well where, you know, they do use safe injection as part of a process that leads to recovery. And that's where I come from, too, in terms of my feelings on that. Yeah, I'm, you know, it's disturbing to hear we don't have that built in because if an addict is going to a safe place to do their drugs, that should also be the place where they can access, I don't know, some kind of health care treatment so they can get off.

Because addiction, that's a mental health crisis. Exactly. Exactly. It should be, you know, is it a temporary? solution that there's the gateway to treatment and then recovery and then housing and stabilization. Yes, part of that process, that's where it works in the world, but like we've chosen to cherry pick that one piece of it. You know, the province shut it down. It's caused, it's, uh, it's caused issues clearly. But at the same time, it wasn't, it was just a

temporary fixed gap. It wasn't good enough. It wasn't good enough. It wasn't good enough. Is that what I'm hearing it? But at the same time, now, am I wrong that now Andy might, you know, shoot up in some back alley and die? I'm just wondering, like, is the alternative now? I think that's a risk for many of those people. Yeah, sure, but the one benefit of the safe injection site is that would result in less deaths and you have that. What is it again, the drug that when you take fentanyl, what is it, nar.

No, no, yes, okay. But these types of treatments would be at that facility and it would save lives. We're a world-class city. I struggle to believe that we can't put this. program together for folks. So, so yes, what does is temporarily just, but all it does is perpetuate the addiction every day.

How do we get people to treatment? How do we get them into recovery and how do we get them, you know, stabilized again? And why is Andy sleeping on the streets? Because does Andy want to be sleeping on the streets or is there simply no shelter for Andy to sleep? Yeah, sometimes it's both. It's a choice for him. Sometimes he's just more comfortable if he doesn't

feel safe. Sometimes if he just needs a rest. There's some that he does like. He didn't mention which ones to me. But he definitely he kind of bounces between the two. Often there isn't shelter space though. There's a listener of the program, a great supporter named Liz, who works at a shelter at Bathurst and Lakeshore. Okay. And I visited her there. Scary shit, man. Like that's one that recently closed, Mike, close September 1st, I think. Okay. So, yeah, I might be out of the loop on some of these things. but I, you know, I definitely felt myself just visiting everybody. I felt unsafe.

That one, yeah, I think that one was eight years. The local residents have been bound. And there's a daycare next to it, right? And we were down talking to residents down on Queenskey there. And I think that's an example. Let's talk about shelters for a sec. Yeah, please. Yeah, because there's a senior shelter being built in this neighborhood right now.

And I've seen my neighbors, you know, rally against this thing. Yeah. I'd witness this with my own eyes. That's a story for another day. But talk to me about shelters and please. Yeah, I mean, my view is there's two parts to it. One, and I'm going to start with being a good neighbor. And I think this not being a good neighbor creates part of the nimbism that we feel.

There are a lot of shelters in this city, some of these dens around where they are so well run that people don't even know their shelters. They're their neighbors. You know, there's four within an eight block piece, which is a fair number. but they're well run, they're clean, there's never any incidents. So I think it starts with the city being a good neighbor. And then if we get that done, and by running them properly, running them safely, you're going to get less of this pushback for people. People assume the worst because they see the worst examples

because they get glorified in social media or whatever. But, you know, shelters are a necessary part of our societal infrastructure. So how do we run them well to start with? And then we need to be selective on where they go, not next to, not next to schools and daycares. and unless maybe it's a senior's one, right? Maybe there's an example of one that that's different. Only because it's worth noting this is at third and Lake Shore.

I think it's 66 third. There absolutely is a school on between six and seventh, just a little bit south of Lake Shore. So here are three blocks away from a school. There's another school just north of Lake Shore on second. It's called Second Street. They name these streets so easily for it. There's Second Street School and there's Seventh Street School.

So I don't even know, like, I'm not, and I am, I like what you said about, integrating, like welcoming these people to your community and integrating them and, you know, as new neighbors, basically, like welcoming them. But the whole,

not too close to a school, like, what does that mean? Is that like, is that 100 meters? Like, is there some kind of a benchmark? And what is the fear? I'm curious. Is it that people using shelters

might intimidate children? Like, I'm just trying to understand. Yeah, and I think, I think there's a benchmark. It might be 500 meters, but don't quote me on that, something like that. But, I mean,

I think that, but senior shelter actually sounds a little different. I think what we're talking about is shelters with, with single men and that and hanging out in front. And back to being a good neighbor. So it doesn't feel safe. The kids walk by it in school. People hang on all over the sidewalk.

Mums with their strollers, right? I mean, I've talked to a local resident in my area and, who, you know, has two young kids, one in a stroll,

the other walking with her, dodging people on the sidewalk and like how unnerved she feels. And that's real, right? That's how people feel. And back to this piece that we really need to take care of folks and get them a path to recovery. We also need to take care of the neighbors

and the people and the residents that live in our neighborhoods. And I don't think we have to do one and not the other. I think those two things need to go together. Okay. I'm actually, I was on your website because you're running for city council. more 10. We'll get to that at the end, actually.

But you have, like, I'm going to just count these up, but you've got these, like, three main, like, action items, I suppose, on how, you know, how you can make a difference when it comes to this mental health addiction and homelessness crisis. So I thought maybe to keep us on track, like, I'll read the headline and then let you expound upon it. Sure. And we're already into the first one.

So it's working out nicely because the first one is it's expand supportive and transitional housing. Can you elaborate on that? Yeah. And that you're in it now, but yeah, keep going. Yeah, I mean, so whatever type of transitional housing we need for folks on their path to recovery. So and that commonly is shelters. And where are they? Where do they get placed? How do we accelerate it? Because there is an overwhelming demand like there is for affordable housing and they're in in Spinaina, Fort York as well. So the city, you know, historically is really good at a announcements, maybe not necessarily as good at fulfilling on those announcements. So what I feel always want to bring to the table is the ability to solve problems and

move towards solutions and execute and be accountable for those solutions. Because a lot of people talk about accountability, but nobody doesn't feel like a lot of people want to be accountable. They want to point fingers at others. I'm signing up to deliver the results. Okay. I'm going to toot the horn of the city councilor for, this ward right here.

Are we Ward 3 here? I should know this, right? Lakeshore, Etobicole Lake Shore, I think it's Board 3, I think. Okay, but Amber Morley is the sitting counselor, and I've had many conversations with her, and many of these conversations are about 66 Third Street, which is the shelter.

By the way, you know, senior shelter, sounds like these are old people in Keynes. I just want to point out, I'm less than three years removed from qualifying for senior shelter. It's 55 plus, so I'm right there. Okay, so just, just, okay. Okay.

So, this before she was counselor, when Mark Grimes was a counselor here, counsel passed this, where basically they removed themselves from this decision making about where the shelters go. Like it's not, the counselors aren't involved in that. So really what I like about what Amber Morley is doing and why I support her is she was basically, they have these, you know, professionals who say, well, this is space that would support the shelter space and this is, you know, they design it all. and Amber Morley could like fight it

or she can accept it like she wasn't part of this decision to put it at third in Lake Shore but like you kind of alluded to earlier there is a way you can you know welcome your new your new neighbors and integrate the shelter

into the community where you won't even know there's a shelter there like it's so Amber is doing everything she can to you know to communicate with the constituents and to explain it all, but still what I witnessed, because I'm in these, you know,

WhatsApp groups for dads in the neighborhood and stuff, absolutely most citizens in this ward blame Amber Morley for the shelter coming up at 66 3rd Street, even though she had actually nothing to do with that. And I don't think any elected official should because what electoral benefit is there to any city councilor to say, let's put a shelter in this ward? like that to me that I'm glad city counselors in the city have been removed from that decision

I think I disagree well that that that's what you're here for I want to I want some disagreement over here yeah you know what hit me so I think 2018 they introduced that concept of delegated authority right and which I think in principle makes a ton of sense right keep things moving keep the lower level decisions flowing so that the city doesn't get bogged now in principle I love it but there comes a point where decisions, you know, if you're a counselor and you're signing up to represent the residents of your ward to City Hall, you need to have a say in that, I believe, and you need to work with your residents and you need to own it. I mean, I think that's part of the whole accountability. But those are three different things. The, you know, communication and owning it is

different than being involved in the decision to put a shelter at 66 Third Street. And I only use that as a very specific example because it's down the street. Yeah, no, it's a good one. But it's like, how are the residents consulted? How are people informed? It's all it's like change management. That should happen, but I don't think that should be driven by the city counselor, but that did happen. So that should be communicated and supported by the city councilor,

but I don't think the city councilor should be driving the consultations, etc, et cetera, but I hear what you're saying. They absolutely need to play a key role in all this, especially the communication and they need to be at the consultations, et cetera, et cetera, and they need to participate in it. I just don't think they should be driving

the whole thing. There was another location in this neighborhood. They were talking about putting a shelter in and that's when I saw my neighbors with like signs and stuff.

And I think they were, they were, I think honestly, a lot of them were just worried about property values. Like, you know, let's face it,

your home is always your primary, usually your biggest investment. And I, I understand where that's coming from. But I think the communication and the support

should be removed from the whole decision about the where and what. I just don't think there's any, you'll never get a shelter built anywhere, I think, if city councilors are driving the bus and where they should be.

Because to me, that is never going to be popular with the bulk of the voters. Like these are for the greater good of our vulnerable people. I don't think these are popular decisions for the people who own homes and pay rent in these neighborhoods. But come hit me, because if I'm out to lunch here. Yeah, no, I respect your opinion, but I think at the end of the day, if you're signing up

to be a counselor, you're accountable to the residents of that ward. And part of that process is the tough decisions. You can't just make the easy ones and make the big announcements. I think you really need to own the tough stuff. So why do you think in 20, is it 2018, why do you think they decided to, is it just to let themselves off the hook? Like, why do you think they decided to remove themselves from that decision? Yeah, I mean, I think we could probably get into, we probably don't have time to get into the full part of that, but, uh, I think initially, like I said, I think the premise of it is spot on. You want to keep things flowing.

You want more minor decisions to flow through below a certain level so things don't get bogged down. I think material decisions and your own definition of materiality, whether that's the size of it or impact in a neighborhood. I think that's, I think the council needs to own that. And you think that municipally, we could accelerate because, because you're right, there is years. Like, I don't know when the shelter will open, but it won't be for years still.

but accelerate the creation of these transitional and supportive housing. All types of housing, actually. I mean, you look across, I think our default's been to build towers, but when you look into neighborhoods and get duplexes and quads and sixplexes, that's what I think belongs in a lot of our neighborhoods. I agree. I agree 100%. More six plexes.

Yeah. Yeah. I actually love, I think they're a great concept, well-run, clean, neat. There's a few in my neighborhood, too. I think they're great, actually. I agree. me more of that. Okay. Now number two, I feel like we're counting down here. Casey, case I'm over here. Provide dedicated caseworkers to navigate services. You touched on this earlier, but get into the gritty

details here because it sounds like we have a fragmented system. Right. So let's go back to Andy then. Andy from Brunswick, not your barber. Not my barber, but we'll protect his secret identity. So when Andy first registers, then he's unhoused, doesn't have a home, he's assigned a caseworker who is, you know, checks in on his well-being, where he can get treatment, and kind of directs him through the different silos that we've got. So whether that's initially treatment and then recovery and then assisted housing and then more permanent housing, but always somebody to go to, always somebody that he can call, always somebody that will help him through the process. That's the gist of it. I don't want to over-complicate it. It's pretty simple.

Okay, single point of contact. Yeah, single point of contact. And that's through treatment, housing, health care, social services. That way that I suppose the theory and hopefully in practice, fewer people will fall through the cracks. Yes. Yeah. Because, I mean, back to what I said earlier,

I don't know how people are expected to navigate through these gaps. They fall through and they fall into big crevices. Look, my mom can't even figure out her Wi-Fi. Okay. I'm telling you, you're preaching to the choir here. Okay. Number three, number three, target drug trafficking. and criminal exploitation.

Please elaborate on that one. Yeah. I mean, another part of the tragedy, and I see it, you know, first most at Queen of Bathers is the number of traffickers

preying on the folks who are just looking for their next fix. So, and, you know, I've talked to 14 Division and they arrest people and they're often out the next day. But part of that cycle of destruction

on that corner is, is the amount of trafficking that goes on. And, you know, people are getting preyed on. And so I think once we're so vulnerable. Absolutely vulnerable. I mean, they're taking advantage of. I think it's terrible.

I hate seeing it because I mean, it's pretty obvious when you walk by and I walk by nearly every day. No, it's unsettling. And back to this, you know, we need a path to recovery for these people. And once we have a safe place for people to go. And I actually, a couple Mondays ago, I went to West Neighborhood House at an open house. And, you know, those folks are overwhelmed. That's the location right at Queen of Bathurst. Overwhelmed.

And when you're in a crisis, you can't really fix. said you need to manage it. That's what people do in a crisis. They manage it. So it's the day-to-day survival of trying to help people. But folks are only getting, like these people in distress are only in their few hours. They do not have a place to go. So where do they go? Of course they go to the sidewalks and the parks. They don't have a place to go. So one of the leading things I'm going to push for is a safe place for people to go 24-7 supervised care where they can start receiving treatment if they want it. That takes them off the street corners, takes them out of the parks, starts making the neighborhood more,

more, you know, warmer, livable again for its residents. And that same time, we just clamp down on illegal drug trafficking. Okay, yes, because it's important that we distinct between these, the people who are struggling with addiction. Yeah. And those who profit from it. Those are taking advantage of them, yes.

Okay. I did get a note, so we have an FOTM WhatsApp group and a gentleman who was at the event yesterday. Good to see the cookie man. he was saying his concern is he rides the TTC quite a bit like many of us and the number of unhoused people and addicts who just use the subway stations and subways and streetcars and buses sort of as they're almost like as a home of sorts like what do you say to this this crisis I mean back for I think it goes back to having a safe place to go it's the same reason people are

hanging out on the street corners in the parks. They're using the TTC, and TTC is not a housing solution. No. Right? And we've talked to, you know, we're close to talking to 30,000 doors on the campaign this week. And it's a consistent theme of TTC users that, well, actually, it's twofold. Most, hey, I don't feel safe because of the very reason that Cookie just said there.

And the other is that, well, I pay it nobody else pays. I guess that's a different topic. But, I mean, you'll see in my platform, it's, I think. it's incredible. The TTC needs to deliver safe, reliable transit. I mean, we're a world, we are an amazing city and I think it's tragic that we cannot deliver on time safe delivery. And you want more people to take transit? Make it safer and more reliable, right? Well, you need to feel safe. Yes, feel safe. Now, again, I got, I got four kids and, well, the youngest never goes alone, but even my 12-year-old takes the TTC by himself and, and of course, my older two kids.

kids are always on the TTC by themselves here. But as a parent, like, I want to make sure my kids are safe when they're on the TTC. Yeah. I can remember back in the day taking the young line back up at Scarborough, but we never thought twice about taking the subway. No, no, but I'd share this or have them, but definitely a real fear that I'll get rolled for my Doc Martens at the Eden Center.

Okay. It's something that he never comes. I don't know, it was a real, like, existential crisis, which is, yeah, let's go to the Eden Center and let's hope we don't get rolled for our docks. Yeah. I don't know if they're still rolling people for their docs at the Eden Center. Let me know if you've been rolled for your docs at the Eden Center here.

Okay. So now I want, if you don't mind, I'd like to get into the nuts and bolts about like a guy like you from the business world, successful business guy, who, you know, decides, hey, I can be a part of this solution by being a city counselor for War 10. So you mentioned, I think in the cold open, you mentioned an epiphany. So, like, was it like that?

Was there just a moment where you're like, oh, I could affect more change if I'm actually on city council? Like, what made you sign up? Yeah, it was kind of like that. I mean, if you told me a year ago, I'd be doing this. I probably would have thought you were crazy. But I think you're crazy. Maybe I am. Although, considering the theme of this episode, that might be a rather insensitive term.

Yeah, you're right. But I think you said it first. My bad. No. But everyone knows what I mean. Yeah, no, I think it was, you know, as I would walk to work every day and see the, see things not improving and actually getting worse. And then, you know, complaining to myself and thinking, you know, do I want to live in this? Do I want to, do I want to move?

And no, I don't want to move. I love where I live. No, yeah. I love it. Great city. And so the skills I've acquired, whether, you know, and experiences in operations and, you know, complex budgets and large teams and focusing people on results and being accountable. I think they apply to the city. I mean, the city's a $19 billion service organization at the end of the day.

Right. And the residents are like, it's customers. And I think customer experience is a part of any operational function. So, you know, why do we have to have such lack of visibility to, you know, whether it's a 3-1-1 complaint or, you know, a complaint and no response. And people feel that they're just not listened to. And I just think, you know, we're used to getting our packages tracked. We can try to see them where they're coming from all over Canada.

We can, our banking apps are all, you know, pretty deep. But when it comes down to city service, not the same. But I think there's a huge overlap between what you can do, private sector and public sector. So for the past three years, notice it's not four years. Some guy quit. I don't know if you know this, John Torrey.

But okay, so in the past three years, Olivia Chow has been mayor of Toronto. And now she's, of course, trying to be re-elected to get a full four years as mayor of Toronto. How do you feel Ian Cunningham about the John? job Olivia Chow has done these past three years? Yeah, I mean, I think you start at the national level. It's been a struggle.

And I will say, I think the city started to slide a bit 10 years ago in my own estimation. But I think the last, you know, three, four years has been exceptionally difficult. I'm not, I'm not sure we've been focused on the right things. When I see people continuing to cycle from ER back to the street. And not bicycle. And not bicycle. Yes. I'm going to change that word.

Only because I'm on the bike paths every day and it's like such a top of mind thing to me is like bike paths. So it's just funny. When you talk about cycling from here to there, I naturally just think they're pedaling a bike, but go on. It's my bad. I got to adjust my thought on that. Yeah, I mean, I think there's been some good things that happen. I think it's an extremely difficult job. I guess I judge things by how they improve and I don't think the city's improved.

Okay. So your of the opinion, there should be a change. Oh, you try to point me into a corner here. I mean, I'm going to represent Spina 4, 4, York, and I need to work with who's ever the mayor, because what's most important myself and the residence will be the file. And the number one in that file is helping people on a path to recovery. And if somebody who's ever mayor wants to help me with that,

then I'm going to be lined up behind them. But, you know, that's right. No, yeah, and I wasn't even trying to trick you there, except that we have two potential mayors at the end of this race, like, you know, logically speaking. Shout out to Chris Alexander, who's only going to make Brad Bradford's, life difficult, I believe.

So you're going to have either Olivia Chouse will keep her job or Brad Bradford will be the new mayor of the city. That's what's going to happen in, it's only a month away. Yeah, I think it's 25 days or something. Yeah, 26. Yeah, 25 in some number of hours, I think.

We can sit around it up to 26. Yeah, it's coming. Countdowns on the website there. Yeah, I saw it. I said, oh, look, it's coming soon here. So we'll get to that. But we, it's worth noting in municipal politics, it is very difficult to defeat an incumbent.

Absolutely. Very difficult. And it's worth noting the current counselor for War 10, Osma Malik, is a progressive ally of Mayor Chow. Like, I believe she's the,

there's like four deputy mayors and one of them where's the crown or whatever, and I think that's her. Am I right? Do I have the right? You absolutely got it right. Because I know the aforementioned

Amber Morley is also a deputy mayor, but there's four of them. Like, come on, that's not. quite like having a vice president or sign. So do you believe Ian, not Radar, Ian Cunningham, do you believe you can defeat

this progressive ally of Mayor Chow who is the current counselor and incumbent running again in war 10? I think, yeah, I think the counselor's had a difficult test the last number of years. And there's been a bunch of announcements made, but announcements don't necessarily translate to people in recovery,

safer streets, cleaner streets. And, you know, we've talked to a lot of people. And I think incumbents generally are successful when people don't think there's the chance to change things. What we're hearing out there is that people are ready. They want their city to be cleaner and safer. And they want to get back to basic city services done well. And a big part of it for folks in Spina, Fort York is helping people in this mental health crisis and drug addiction crisis. And we have not made progress on that in the last number of years.

So that's what I bring. I mean, I think it's more about, I'm very compassionate, but it's compassion with confidence. And I think Board 10 deserves that. So you believe you have a chance to defeat the incumbent. Yeah, we have an incredible team behind us. And from what we're hearing from people on the street, yes. Now, tell me about the day to day.

So once you decide you're going to run, I guess, whatever, whenever you went to City Hall and registered to run. July 8th. Okay. So you mentioned knocking on door. and everything. So can you just give me like a day in the life

of a city council candidate like yourself, Ian Cunningham? Like is it like like are you just meeting greets? Because your biggest, the reason the incumbents win on the municipal level

is name recognition. Right. Too many people go there to vote for mayor and then they got to vote for their city councilor. And oh, I know this name because of course they're famous for being city council.

Yeah. Counselor. Yeah. So what is the day to day as you try to make your, the residence or where you exist? and me and Cunningham, this is what I stand for, this is who I am.

That, I suppose, is your greatest challenge, which maybe is why you're here sitting in my basement today, just to get some awareness of what you believe in and that you're running, and you are a better alternative than the incumbent. Yeah, I mean, 100% right. It's about name recognition. So as you plan out a campaign

and what we've worked on is really, you know, building name recognition first, getting out there talking to people, utilizing social media in different positions and stories. The second part is the listening part, though, is because I think that we just added a section on the website, yin-Kunninghamtio.ca. Yeah, shut it out.

Yeah, on the, and you'll see it's the issues that we've talked with with people since, really August 1st, was when we started hitting the doors. And, you know, 30,000 doors. So I guess that's roughly 500 a day, but it started slow and it ramps now. Now we do pretty much 1,000 doors a day minimum.

And, you know, we're a condo heavy. So sometimes it's like you get one in five of those folks you get a conversation with. Right. Yeah, no, it's name recognition and then it's consideration. It's almost traditional marketing in a way. And so we're in that stage now where we're bringing the messages of what people heard. You see on the website, you recounted some to me as well.

And then, you know, it's about getting out the vote. I mean, turnout in Fort York, Sinai, Four York was abysnally low in 2022. I mean, the incumbent one with 8,000 votes. And the next runner up had 4,800. I mean, that's out of like 100,000 eligible. loaders. Now, that's directly tied, typically that's tied to whether there's an actual race for the mayor, uh, for the mayor. Like that's typically what brings out, like people like you and I, we vote every

time. Yes. It's a privilege. Yeah. I mean, I was excited by it. Yeah. Yeah. Like sometimes, sometimes, you know, John Tory versus whoever it's before you go, before voting day, it's a done deal. Like sometimes. Like sometimes there's those elections where there's no race at all. Like this is a done deal. But, you know, I will say, I think voter turnout should be higher in 2026, simply because there is an actual race. I mean, Brad Bradford, who texted me last night because he wanted to be at TMLX 20. What was it? I got to get my numbers right. TMLX 23.

That's what it was. Thank you. You're taking notes here. Thank you. But Brad wanted to make an appearance at TMLX 23. And he texted me his regrets. He couldn't. But apparently he's going to visit this basement before election day.

So stay tuned. for that. But there is an actual race, even though, and I said this to Ed Keenan, who comes over every quarter, it'll be the greatest political comeback in the history of the city

because last election, Brad Bradford finished, I think it was six or seventh. I can't remember, but it was a fraction of a percent of votes. He barely beat Chris Sky, who to me is like the clown candidate.

So this will be, should Brad Bradford defeat Olivia Chowell? It will be the greatest political comeback, in my opinion, in the history of this city. Just throwing that. So I think this might bring out the voters. I hope so.

I hope you're right. I don't know why we have, I know municipal, maybe less sexy than this, the most recent federal election, for example, when we would, worried would become the 51st state or something.

And then it's like, I got to get out there and vote or whatever. I don't know why so many people just sit out election day. It's such a great point because I think 80 or 90% of what we deal with in our day-to-day life is municipal government. I'm getting my garbage ready for pickup tomorrow.

Like there's, you know, bike lanes, although I heard, it's now a provincial thing, bike lanes? Is that what I heard? My Doug Ford jab is that he interferes in Toronto bike lane decisions, which I think is a little. What are your thoughts on that? The Premier interfering with the city's plans for bike lanes, for example. Yeah, I think there's a lot of things that Premier Ford could be helping with us,

like healthcare, and I think he should stop big footing us on things like bike lanes and the islands. Yeah, thank you. Leave it to the city. That's a municipal as anything in the history of the world would be bike lanes, for goodness sakes. Do you have a take on bike lanes? Yeah, actually, I ride my bike quite a bit downtown. I mean, it's as easy as way to get around.

So I think it's been too dramatized. I think it's an important part of where we have transit, where we have pedestrians, where we have deliveries, where we have business needs. So absolutely, they need to design well. And generally they are, there's cases where they're not. So big supporter of them, they need to go in the right places. And we need, you know, I wouldn't spend a nickel tearing any out. Bless your heart, Ian Cunningham. Don't spend a nickel tearing any out.

I love to hear it. I got to quickly see if I nail this. So we changed the messaging on one of my favorite sponsors of Toronto Mike. And yesterday I rolled it out for the first time with, do you remember the band? Do you have any memory of the band Faber Drive? Yeah, I do remember them. Okay, so Dave Faber is the guy for Faber. He was here yesterday.

They're playing the concert hall on Sunday, Masonic Temple there. Anyways, I blew it. I'm going to try it again. You ready? Again, I might have to rewrite this in my own lingo, but here I'm going to try it here. Okay, and be kind, okay?

Bring it. Safe, secure recycling for residents, businesses, and the environment. Recycling electronics and appliances with local, recycle my electronics programs is free, fast, and easy. Ready to recycle? Bring it. Find out what and where to recycle at recyclemyelectronics.ca.

Not bad, right? Very nice. I think I did all right on that way. And I want to speak in a municipal politics. Karen Stince wrote a book about, like she's not running, but she was a long time city councilor in the city. and she's going to chat up Nick Iieny's at the Old Mill on October 7. And tickets are free.

You got to register online. So register to check out Karen Stintz. It's like a book launch and a conversation with Nick October 7th at the old mill. And last but not least, I have a gift for you, another gift. I gave you the beer and the lasagna. But Ian, I want you to have this handy. It's like there's a measuring tape there. Beautiful.

There's a flashlight there. I love it. bottle opener level. And that is courtesy of, yeah, it does it all. It's like a jack of old tracer. Shut out. It's from Ridley funeral home. Brad Jones was over here yesterday to record a fresh episode of Life's

undertaking. And I urge people to check that out. Brad Jones from Ridley Funeral Home, they're pillars of this community. They're at 14th and Lake Shore. Okay, so we have less than a month ago. Yep. And you're knocking on lots of doors.

So how does the next month look for you? in your team as you try to unseat the incumbent in this municipal election? I mean, we've got to basically a workback schedule from right up to election day. It includes getting out the vote. It's about talking to people and seeing who's aligned and who's supportive, which we're feeling really good about and making sure, you know, we reach back out to them when they get out to vote. I mean, you'll see, you know, an intensification of social media

and back to, you know, name recognition and brand building. Can't wait to be on the streetcar stuff. and talking to people in the morning. But every day, literally every day, Mike, is, uh, I can imagine. Is, uh, you know, about six to eight hours of, of, of knocking on doors. Do you have some kind of an app tracking your steps? Um, actually I, you know, I used to wear that. I used to wear, I have my garment watch here.

Yeah. I used to have the fit band on, but I, I become obsessed with data sometimes. So I got to take it off. No, I know, I'm like that with my Strava. Yeah. But we do, you know, 25,000 steps a day or whatever. So, yeah. I've actually lost eight back.

No, I was going to say one thing about what you've got coming up is, and we talked before I press record about how amazing the weather was this September. September is sneaky and amazing month every year. As a cyclist, I can tell you. But I don't remember in September, I have no memory of like, because I use cycling as a way to get for me to be. So I got to go to this concert. I'm going to that come.

I'm going to Massey Hall. I'm going to go to GLB Brew Pub at Jarvis and Queens Creek. I'm going to these places. I'm going to use my bike. I have no memory in September of any of those rides where I said, oh crap it's rainy not that i would not rain i would bike in the rain you miss that one Wednesday no no you just nailed it i was going to bike to the c and e to see finger 11 at the ban shell right on but first i was going to bike to rennie park and watch my daughter play soccer so i actually you're

100% right there was one day there one day wed that was it everything got canceled rogers stadium got damaged and i remember the one oh and there's like a yeah other than that one day where I did cancel my ride. And that's the only day I remember in September where I had to worry about the fact that I'm going to be soaked on this ride. It was a very nice month. So hopefully the next month is great for you

as you go door to door. But I'm curious because you're on a fiercely independent podcast right now. An award-winning podcast, by the way, Ian. But like is it a struggle for somebody like you to get awareness and press coverage from the mainstream media? Like, you know, these sitting counselors, it's easy, right?

Like, you know, Metro Morning, we'll have them on to talk about this, that, and the other. And, you know, big-name candidates, there are some. I know I mentioned James Dan. One of the candidates, there's a couple of big-name candidates trying to get Bradford's spot on city council. And you got some, so you got some interesting movers and shakers that seem to be able to get on, like, I don't know, like CBC Radio or 1010 or 640 or whatever. What is it like for Ian Cunningham trying to cut through the noise and, get a voice on these mainstream media outlets. Yeah, I mean, a lot of it is just leveraging both the door-to-door contact and social media.

I mean, if I can get 60 seconds with a person, whatever part of the political spectrum they're from, I think we can gravitate and we share common values. And that's what we're running on. You know, it's when you start with, we need to provide care without judgment. Everybody can relate to that. And that's truly where I come from. I think the fact that I'm fiscally responsible and one, our dog, to actually provide more care for more people and measure that.

I mean, all about, you know, measuring the city on how it improves, right? And that's what I want to deliver. What's your website again for people who want to learn more about Ian Cunningham? Yes, Ian Cunningham,TO.ca. Please check it out. Ian Cunningham,TO.com. I wish you all the luck in the world. I know it's not easy.

I remember when Amber Morley won four years ago, she had to unseat a long time city council. I was not a big fan but his name Mark Grimes and he was here for a very long time. And I remember she did it. So I'm saying you can unseat an incumbent

in a municipal election in the city. I witnessed it firsthand four years ago. So keep on rocking in the free world. Speaking of that, you mentioned you would be a CF and Y guy. What are your jams like when you're putting on some music? Oh, I'm big top 80s. I'd Spotify.

a pure 80s, 70s playlist, 80s playlist. Seventies, eh? Okay, you want to name any artists or musicians that you would gravitate towards? I mean, I love Zeppelin and the Stone still. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And of course, Rush. So I grew up with Rush and Max Webs. Well, there you go. Max Webster's had an awful year because the keyboard has passed away. Yeah. The drummer passed away. And the songwriter,

Pai Dubois, just passed away. I didn't know that. he was like the, he was like a member. So, I mean, it's going to be, Kim Mitchell's going to be last man standing. It has been an awful year for Max Webster. I hope Kimbo keeps rocking. Well, FOTM, Kim Mitchell. He's a wild party.

And you mentioned Rush. I was at TIF, a TIF event recently to see that Neil Peart documentary. I think it's on CBC Gem now. I thought it was great. Yeah. I have not seen it yet. It's on the list. I've been busy.

Yeah, I've been busy. I've watched as many shows. And speaking to Getty Lee, the big news yesterday, I was very, very busy yesterday, but I was told Getty Lee has endorsed Brad Bradford. I was surprised to see Getty Lee come out and like endorse a mayoral candidate, but you don't want to, on the way out, you don't want to make a prediction on that. Your Cristobal is, is it functioning properly? You want to make a call on who wins this municipal, the mayoral election? Yeah, I'm back to my commitments to the residence is going on for York and I need to work with that.

Are you reading that right here? Ian's reading that statement here. He's not going to make a call on the mayoral race. But okay, good luck, man. And we're going to take a photo by Toronto Tree, and I'm going to get your lasagna. And I should say that I had in my calendar, this was a 9 o'clock. So I'm all set for 9 o'clock.

And then by 9, 10 or so, I decided, oh, he's buffeting. That's the term we use. You were going to buffy me. You were gone. Not a chance. Yeah. And then you showed me your calendar.

You had it for 10. Yeah. So you were on time for your 10. That was early. So we have to find out who, to blame for this mishap. That'll be my homework. Who do I blame for the fact that Real pleasure, Mike. I appreciate being here today. Yeah. We had a good hour chat anyway. And Jane Eastwood, so this is the funny thing is we're up against it because Jane Eastwood

making her basement Toronto Mike debut talking about God's Spell and more. That's happening soon. Oh, bring it out. Who do you think is saying subdivisions? You don't have a take on that, do you? Because then you'll get the votes. Okay. And that. That brings us to the end of our 1,9803 show. 1983. 1983.

Itobico became a city. And now it's part of Toronto. Go to tronomike.com for all your Toronto Mike needs. And much love to all who made this possible. That's Great Lakes Brewery. You got your beer? Love it. Hello to Troy.

Hey, Troy. Palma Pasta. Thank you, Palmer. They're in Mississauga, but I know Anthony there is a big Carolyn parish fan. So that's his pick for that mayoral election. Nick Aini. recycle myelectronics.ca and of course Ridley Funeral Home. See you all in an hour or so with Jane Eastwood.