Former councillor Ana Bailao confirms she’s eyeing a run for Toronto mayor

Thestar.com
Feb. 28, 2023

Ana Bailao says she’s “strongly” considering a run for Toronto mayor and if she does and wins, she’ll work on solving a headache that has plagued subway users.

In her first public comments confirming interest in what could be a crowded race to replace John Tory in a June 26 byelection, the city councillor from 2010 to 2022 told the Star she is listening to family, friends and others urging her to run.

City council’s former housing advocate, who recently started working for developer Dream Unlimited, said alleviating Toronto’s affordable housing crisis would be central to her campaign, as would working across political divides.

“I believe I had a transformative impact,” on Toronto efforts to expand affordable housing options, Bailao said, noting programs to entice developers to build on underused city land, and the legalization of garden suites and laneway housing.

“Now I want to continue to give back -- to bring council together and to bring the city together to address the issues we are all facing.”

But pressed for potential campaign pledges, the former Davenport councillor, who was a strong ally of Tory, took aim at most Torontonians’ ongoing inability to use their mobile phones while riding the city’s subway system.

Calling it a convenience and safety issue, she said cellular providers Rogers, Telus and Bell have a “duty” to work with both the city and the company that built a subway cell network which the major firms have long refused to use.

“If I was to run, that would be absolutely my expectation, my position, working towards that,” Bailão said, noting the recent random attacks on TTC customers and also a new GO Transit service that lets users in peril ask for help by text.

Toronto’s subway stations and tunnels in the downtown U (the stretch of Line 1 between Spadina and Bloor-Yonge stations) are outfitted with cellular service and data.

BAI Communications Inc. confirmed Monday that Freedom Mobile remains the only firm to sign a contract with BAI so its customers can use the network.

Bell said its position is unchanged, that the telecom would prefer to build its own 5G infrastructure on the TTC. Rogers, too, confirmed it has no plans to sign a deal with BAI. Telus had not responded by publication time.

Bailao, a Liberal, is being advised by strategists Tom Allison and Nick Kouvalis -- the former a veteran Liberal backroomer and the latter an outspoken Conservative, both of whom worked on successful Tory mayoral campaigns.

If, as expected, she runs for mayor with housing as a campaign cornerstone, she could have competition from Beaches--East York city councillor Brad Bradford, the housing committee chair who is also exploring a potential mayoral campaign.

Dennis Matthews, a conservative political advertising whiz, recently told the Star his friend Bradford has “a record talking about housing and affordability in a thoughtful way that’s obviously matching the moment in terms of the crisis this city is facing on these exact issues.”

Bradford is expected Tuesday to reveal a team of campaign advisers that includes a mix of prominent Liberals and Conservatives including former councillor Karen Stintz, Navigator communications chair Jaime Watt and Rubicon strategy chief executive Kory Teneycke, plus broadcaster Stephanie Smyth.

Urbanist Gil Penalosa, who came second to Tory in last October’s election, and policy analyst Chloe Brown, who came third, have said they will both run again.

Mark Saunders, the former Toronto police chief who ran unsuccessfully for the Ontario Progressive Conservatives last summer, is also exploring a mayoral bid.

Progressives are urging former city councillor Mike Layton to run. Parkdale--High Park NDP MPP Bhutila Karpoche is also talking to potential mayoral supporters.

A reporter asked Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter at Queen’s Park on Monday if she will run for mayor.

The Scarborough-Guildwood representative said wherever she goes in Toronto, people are approaching and urging her to launch a mayoral bid. “I’m considering it and I’ll be updating everyone on that very soon,” Hunter said.

Tory, 68, resigned Feb. 17 after a Star investigation revealed an improper relationship with a junior staff member in his office. Tory, who is married, said it began during the pandemic and ended earlier this year by mutual agreement.

City council is expected to declare Tory’s seat vacant on March 29. People will have from April 3 to May 12 to register as a mayoral candidate for the term that ends in the fall of 2026.