Transit a hot topic in heated Ward 2 debate

By News Staff

Candidates vying to win the late Rob Ford’s vacant seat on Toronto city council faced off in a heated debate on Tuesday night, forcing CityNews’ reporter Cynthia Mulligan to lay down the law as moderator.

“I’m going to ask you to stop now. Mr. Clarke! Mr. Clarke! You said you respected me as a moderator and I demand that you start respecting me as a moderator,” Mulligan said to candidate Kevin Clarke.

“That’s enough. That’s enough. Be quiet.”

The exchange came when Clarke, one of 12 candidates in Ward 2, interrupted and then slammed fellow candidate Michael Ford. Ford is Rob Ford’s nephew.

Clarke accused Ford of  “dodging” the debate.

Ward 2 encompasses Etobicoke North but discussion turned to the Scarborough subway. Currently, city council is once again debating whether light-rail transit or a subway is better for the region, and candidates at Tuesday’s debate weighed in.

Mulligan asked for a show of hands for who supported the subway. Ford and Clarke both raised their hands.

“When we talk about transit we need to be responsible. We need to be focusing on investing in the future, 50 years out,” Ford said.


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Another candidate at the debate accused Ford, currently a school trustee, of running on his last name. Ford’s father is Ennio Stirpe but he uses his mother Kathy’s last name.

The ward has been held by the Ford family since 2000.

Rob Ford was first elected to Ward 2 in 2000 and held the position until 2010, when he successfully ran for mayor. His brother, Doug Ford, ran and won in Ward 2. In 2014, Rob Ford said he would not run for mayor and instead successfully ran again in Ward 2, a position he held until his death.

Voters go to the polls on July 25.

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