Coun. Stephen Holyday, who was considering running for mayor of Toronto, on Thursday threw his support behind the mayoral campaign of former police chief Mark Saunders.
Coun. Stephen Holyday, who was considering running for mayor of Toronto, on Thursday threw his support behind the mayoral campaign of former police chief Mark Saunders.
Mark Saunders鈥檚 mayoral bid has won the blessing of a popular Etobicoke councillor.
Coun. Stephen Holyday (Ward 2, Etobicoke Centre) announced Thursday he is endorsing the former police chief鈥檚 run for 海角社区官网mayor.
At a press conference at an Etobicoke bar, Holyday said he believes Saunders would restore 鈥減racticality鈥 to municipal government by taking a pragmatic approach to the cash-strapped city鈥檚 finances and stopping what the councillor described as the ideologically driven expansion of bike lanes.
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Holyday, a conservative who has opposed tax increases and supported increasing the police budget, was elected to a third term last fall with 72.3 per cent of the vote. He had told reporters he was considering running for mayor himself, but his decision to stay out of the race and instead get behind Saunders helps solidify the ex-top cop as the leading right-wing candidate in a crowded field.
Holyday entering the byelection would have risked splitting the conservative vote in Etobicoke, which would have hurt Saunders. His campaign sees capturing the suburban vote as his clearest path to victory.
鈥淢ark has a life career in public service,鈥 said Holyday on Thursday. 鈥淗e鈥檚 been a police officer all over the city, he鈥檚 a family man, he鈥檚 a Torontonian. He understands the people, he understands the pressures that they face every day with things like congestion, which is created when you remove two travel lanes on a street like Bloor Street.鈥
Saunders has made opposition to cycling infrastructure a theme of his campaign, and vowed to cancel the planned extension of bike lanes on Bloor Street West from Prince Edward Drive to Six Points Plaza if he wins the June 26 byelection.
鈥淒owntown politicians are ramming these bike lanes onto streets that don鈥檛 make sense to the communities, they refuse to listen to communities about what鈥檚 best for the communities and their neighbourhoods,鈥 said Saunders.
鈥淚 think it needs to be said that adding bike lanes to our busiest streets is not the solution. It won鈥檛 help.鈥
Proponents of bike lanes say they are an important safety measure that protect riders, encourage sustainable transportation, and have minimal impacts on car travel times. Last year in Toronto, three cyclists were killed and 34 were seriously injured, according to police data.
Ben Spurr is the Star's city hall bureau chief, based in
Toronto. Reach him by email at bspurr@thestar.ca or follow him on
Twitter: .
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