Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford take Ed Keenan's questions at TMU
The Toronto Star's full recording of the mayoral debate it co-hosted is drawing a crowd, and a second video of the two candidates talking to reporters afterward is not far behind.
Toronto Star
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 35,224 views a day, 76 times a normal first day on this channel (462).
Toronto Mayoral Debate: Olivia Chow vs. Brad Bradford | Full Video
The Toronto Star's full recording of the mayoral debate between Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford gathered about 31,000 views in its first 18 hours. For the paper's longer videos, a first day usually ends in the hundreds.
The debate was held at the Student Learning Centre of Toronto Metropolitan University. The Star co-hosted it with United Way Greater Toronto and the university, and Star columnist Ed Keenan moderated. Chow won the 2023 by-election that made her mayor. Bradford has represented Beaches-East York on city council, so both candidates came in with a City Hall record to defend.
The comment section is the clearest change. A longer video here usually draws about one comment on its first day. This one passed 170 within hours. Housing comes up again and again, especially homes that get built but still cost too much. One widely liked comment raises youth unemployment, and others ask for jobs and lower grocery prices ahead of new free services. Roads, weekend construction and noisy street fairs all get a mention. Some viewers ask why so many of the questions came from students. A smaller thread just wants to know what the stool on stage was about.
The debate sits inside a run of election coverage on the channel. The candidates' remarks to the media after the debate are also drawing a strong audience. Before the debate, Keenan sat down with City Hall bureau chief Ben Spurr for a "Beyond the Headline" explainer on the race. The paper also filmed "Public Trust", Paul Ramírez Jonas's Nuit Blanche installation at the Bentway, where participants put their own public promises on a marquee beside headlines from politicians and companies.
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- Channel
- Toronto Star
- Subscribers
- 148,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 286,615
- Channel views, pace per day
- 41,161 (on a normal day: 37,482)
- Video published
- October 7, 2026
- Video views so far
- 30,726 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 35,224
The numbers
A full-length debate recording rarely starts like this on the Star's channel, and its comments moved even faster than its views.
💡 Test your knowledge
Toronto Metropolitan University, where the debate was held, was known by which name until 2022?
The university dropped the Ryerson name and became Toronto Metropolitan University in 2022.
