May 8, 2026
For Immediate Release

Five Ways Brad Bradford Had a Very Bad First Week

Failure to Launch: Brad Bradford's Bad Announcement Week

You might think that an integrity complaint over an alleged cash-for-access event in Concord (where lobbyist-organized donors paid $250 to $3,000 to get face time with a sitting councillor) would be the worst thing to happen to Brad Bradford in his first week on the campaign trail. You would be wrong. It only got worse from there.

1. Brad failed to land a credible endorsement

Bradford spent May 3rd at an event with MP Vince Gasparro. The result? Just some word salad about "continuing the conversation." No endorsement. Just vague vibes.

The endorsements he did collect tell you everything about the kind of mayor Bradford would be. Former MPP and current lobbyist Brad Duguid, who spent decades in politics without delivering transit for Scarborough, says Bradford would carry on his do-nothing legacy. Former councillor Case Ootes, a former Imperial Oil executive who was part of the early-2000s push to bring jets to the Island Airport, thinks Bradford will carry on Ootes' unfinished business. These are the men Bradford is proud to call supporters, and demonstrate who he would be working for if he were to become mayor.

2. Brad sent his campaign staff to crash Mayor Chow's tenant announcement, to highlight his own failure on a local file

While Mayor Chow and tenant organizers were announcing real enforcement action to help renters at 500 Dawes Road facing deplorable conditions, Bradford's campaign staffers showed up, not to support the tenants, but to hand out press releases attacking the Mayor for doing her job and tenant organizers for achieving a big win.

It's worth pausing on that. Bradford has ignored these tenants for years. His own constituents shared:

"There has been a reluctance on the part of the councillor [Bradford] to really push for concrete, far reaching solutions that will have a real impact." - Ryan Endoh, President, Dawes Road Tenants' Association

"We have tried for years to meet with Brad Bradford. He has categorically refused to talk to anybody from ACORN." - Christena Abbott, Co-Chair, ACORN East York

Bradford only showed up at 500 Dawes to use the community as a backdrop for a political stunt.

3. Brad complained about a patio permit failure in his own ward

After eight years at City Hall, Bradford took to social media to complain about a permit issue in the ward he represents, is responsible for, and that he has been paid to serve since 2018. The replies were not kind. Global News Chief Meteorologist Anthony Farnell put it plainly:

"Brad. You have been working for city hall for 8 years. Make it work!!!"

When the weather guy has to remind you to do your job, the week has not gone well.

4. Brad’s number one message? Complaining that Mayor Chow is doing her job

This was Bradford's consistent message across seven straight days: how dare Mayor Chow announce things, take action for tenants, and do the work of the mayor's office. Bradford seems to believe the city should stand still while he campaigns. That's not a platform—it's a complaint. Torontonians don't need a mayor who complains. They need one who delivers.

5. Three years of shadow-campaigning for mayor and nothing to show for it

Bradford has been running for mayor for the better part of three years. He skipped out on serving his constituents, shifted to the right to advocate and vote against  TTC funding and rent control—all to build towards this moment. And what did he launch with? No bold ideas. No packed room of supporters. No vision for the city. Just a slow drip of meetings with right-wing politicians responsible for decades of Toronto's decline and wall-to-wall complaining that Olivia Chow would dare to continue her job as mayor.

Bradford's political opportunism hasn't just let down his friends in Concord, it has let down the people of Ward 19. 

That's Brad Bradford's failure of a first week. Toronto deserves better and Progress Toronto is organizing to make sure we get it.

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Contact
Saman Tabasinejad
Executive Director
saman@progresstoronto.ca

Read full Integrity Commissioner Complaint here.

Interested in keeping Bradford and other conservatives out of City Hall? Add your name here.