The dangers of Brad Bradford’s Toronto

Alex BozikovicArchitecture Critic Published October 23, 2026Updated 1 hour ago Open this photo in gallery: Bradford‘s campaign of darkness reflects poorly on the city and on him, writes Bozikovic. Chris Young/The Canadian Press Comments Save for laterPlease log in to bookmark this story. Log InCreate an account Brad Bradford is scared of Toronto, and he thinks you should be too. That is the unmistakable theme of the campaign from the outgoing city councillor as he challenges Mayor Olivia Chow. His campaign rhetoric has painted a consistent picture of a dirty and dangerous Toronto filled with disorder. And the implied lesson is clear. In these dark times, only one man – accompanied by the 1,000 police officers he’s pledged to hire – can save us. That is a standard challenger’s narrative. But in Toronto of 2026, it has a problem: it is not true. During the three years of Ms. Chow’s mayoralty, the City of Toronto has become a significantly safer place, and is one Canada’s safest cities. Murders, shootings and violent crime are all down substantially. Last year’s homicide total was the lowest in 50 years. Car thefts, which spiked after the height of the pandemic, are down dramatically in the past three years. An objective observer can only come to one conclusion: The bike-riding NDPer has been a law-and-order mayor. She has also given the police department everything on its wish list. In a strange turn of events, she even earned the enthusiastic endorsement of the Toronto Police Association, the labour organization which represents more than 8,700 police and civilian members of the police service. How then has public safety become such a central focus of the municipal conversation? An election debate over public disorder frays nerves in Toronto’s Gay Village When we talk about public safety today, what we are mostly talking about is “public disorder.” That euphemism refers to the presence of unhoused people. When an executive driving downtown sees a tent from their car, that is disorder. When she sees someone nodding off on the subway, that too, is public disorder. When a provocateur on Instagram yells with disgust about the people he is stepping over on the sidewalk – disorder. Those visible problems are driven, in large part, a generation of cutbacks to mental health services. These larger issues predate Ms. Chow’s mayoralty and are mainly out of the city’s control. That said, dealing with homelessness is the city’s task and the situation has improved significantly on her watch.