Top five mayoral candidates meet for first debate in Toronto

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TORONTO (NEWS1130) – The top five candidates clashed on the biggest issues facing the city in the first televised debate of the 2014 mayoral election.

Rob Ford may currently command the coveted seat at city hall, but he was expected to be in the hot seat when the debate got underway in the CityNews studio on Wednesday.

The ‘hot seat’ turned out to be lukewarm when his rivals chose to focus on his politics, rather than his personal issues, giving the mayor a pass despite the heavy artillery at their disposal.

Ford is currently at the epicenter of an ongoing police investigation and has admitted to smoking cocaine, but it was subway tracks, not crack, that dominated much of the early debate.

The open debate period on transit quickly degraded into a shouting match.

Olivia Chow and John Tory may have alluded to Ford’s issues, but it took CityNews political specialist Cynthia Mulligan to utter the word “crack.”

Mulligan asked Ford how he could be trusted after admitting to smoking crack cocaine and being investigated by police in relation to the video that allegedly shows him smoking the drug.

“People have heard the story. It’s rewind, rewind, rewind,” he responded. “People can go to sleep at night knowing that their tax money is being watched. I have a proven track record of success watching peoples’ money.”

680News political specialist John Stall awarded Ford the ‘first star’ of the debate, saying he “performed above expectations.”

“I’m not saying he’s going to win the election,” Stall said. “I’m just saying tonight’s debate goes to Rob Ford for the way he handled it in terms of body language and defending and deflecting against pretty much a weak offense on their [his opponents] side.”

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