Lawyer Saron Gebresellassi takes Tory, Keesmaat to task in first broadcast mayoral debate

Thestar.com
September 26, 2018
Jennifer Pagliaro

The two top mayoral contenders were held to task by a third challenger, Saron Gebresellassi, in a Tuesday night debate.

Dominating speaking time at a pre-dinner-hour Global News debate --the first broadcast debate of the campaign --Gebresellassi pushed both incumbent John Tory and former chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat on their stance on housing, transit and gun violence.

Gebresellassi, a practicing lawyer and community activist, insisted both Tory and Keesmaat cut the “mumbo jumbo” and state whether they support providing free transit (Tory questioned how it could be paid for, Keesmaat was noncommittal, saying it is a “dream”); set a better standard for what is considered “affordable” housing; and commit to reprioritizing funds to hire more police officers.

“How about reversing your position on 200 police officers and actually think, let’s hire more young people in the city of Toronto,” she said directly to Tory. She has proposed spending that money instead on youth employment. “You’re not going to solve crime by hiring more police. Has that been effective in the past? I don’t think so. And so, if we actually want to tackle crime, we’ve got to make the city more affordable.”

Gebresellassi also noted ongoing police brutality, including the shooting death of mentally-ill man Andrew Loku, and escalating tensions between police and migrant communities.

Tory, in response, recommitted to hiring 200 more officers, saying it shouldn’t be an either-or choice.

“I am saying we need to support the police with manpower and technology and we need to make investments” in the community, Tory said.

Keesmaat said economic opportunities for youth are greatly needed and acknowledged ongoing tensions between racialized communities and the police.

“We need to address that by working collaboratively with communities,” she said. “A top down approach is not going to work, it hasn’t worked.”

Keesmaat accused Tory of “throwing” new money and officers at a problem without a strategy to create strong neighbourhoods.

Sarah Climenhaga, an environmental activist, was the candidate least heard from during Tuesday’s debate. Afterwards, she told reporters she was trying to present herself as someone who wouldn’t resort to “attacks.”

During the debate she challenged the knee-jerk reaction to a recent uptick in violence.

“I think we need to avoid inflammatory discussions around crime,” she said, noting communities she has spoken with aren’t demanding more police officers. “When we react to headlines instead of being proactive we don’t end up with good solutions.”

Tuesday’s debate was the second of three planned this week following an arts-focused debate on Monday.

Top candidates were invited to a transit-focused debate in Scarborough on Wednesday, but Tory has declined to attend citing a scheduling conflict with a fundraising event. Tory’s campaign has pushed for other candidates to be included in debates, apart from top challenger Keesmaat, citing diversity concerns. The Wednesday debate, hosted by the TTCriders advocacy group, also includes Climenhaga and Gebresellassi.