Olivia Chow, Brad Bradford make final pitch to voters in Toronto mayoral campaign

On the final day of the Toronto mayoral campaign, Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford made their final pitches to get voters to mark their name on the ballot come Monday. As the campaign winds down, it’s a lot closer than anybody would have expected. A little over four weeks ago, Chow held a double-digit lead but recent polling suggests it could be a coin-flip between the two front runners.

Chow began the final day of campaigning at Polson Pier with a picturesque backdrop of the city skyline, surrounded by many members of the Ontario NDP caucus, perhaps an overt nod to the fact Bradford has repeatedly labelled her as the “NDP Mayor.” “In this uncertain time, we have to take a Team Canada approach. I have been so clear that we are stronger together; it doesn’t matter which party, which level of government, when we are facing a trade war we have to come together,” said Chow. “Naming parties, being divisive is exactly not the kind of mayor that I believe we need in this city.” Related: Advance voter turnout in Toronto municipal election highest since 2010 Bradford had his own Ontario MPP endorsement on Sunday, Liberal Stephanie Smythe, who joined him at the beginning of the day where he talked about the campaign he has put forward, along with some of his promises.

“It is neck-and-neck, it’s way tighter than anybody would have ever anticipated. This is a challenger campaign that is offering something that the city has never seen before,” he said, adding his campaign has put forward real and tangible change. “Mayor Chow’s campaign is out of ideas, doesn’t have a vision, it’s out of gas and it’s almost out of time.

We’re proposing very concrete things for folks – property tax relief, a freeze in the first year of our budget after a 20 per cent tax hike under NDP Olivia Chow, we can’t afford that anymore. We’re offering to eliminate the municipal land transfer tax – for the average price of a home in Toronto that’s a savings of $18,000.” Victory in Toronto’s mayoral race will come down to which candidates base comes out to vote. Olivia Chow is betting on tenants and progressive voters while Brad Bradford is hoping that homeowners and those that are not happy with the direction Toronto’s heading in will come out and vote for him.

The polls open in Toronto at 10 a.m. on Monday morning and voters have until 8 p.m. Mayoral candidates make last-minute appeals as race heads for finish line