Blake Acton doesn’t hold back when asked why he’s running to be mayor.
The 30-year Toronto police veteran, investor and father let’s it rip when asked the simple question: Why are you running?
“I’m fed up with this city. I’m fed up with the way it’s been run, it’s been riddled with crime and garbage. The streets and parks are just filled with garbage and crime and that’s why I decided to run,” Acton said Friday.
He professes time and again that he’s not a politician but that he sees a city in need of a course correction, and rather than leave town, he’d rather stay and fight.
“I can move out of this city but I don’t want to move, I want to stay in the city and I want to fight for what’s right for the city because I’m not the only one who feels this way,” Acton said.
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The retired cop officially launches his campaign to replace John Tory as mayor of Toronto on Saturday at 11 a.m. with an event at Nathan Phillips Square.
Acton knows he has an uphill battle against the two-term incumbent now seeking a third term, but he believes enough people want change.
“Crime is up, there’s more homeless in our city and increased gridlock. I mean, there’s a number of reasons, so I feel that our current mayor is making some poor choices and decisions and as a taxpayer, I’m tired of it,” Acton said.
Tory is running to deal with what he calls “unfinished business” after having the last two years or more derailed by the pandemic.
Acton thinks Tory has had his chance and doesn’t deserve a third term.
“I think it’s time for new leadership and that’s me,” Acton said.
He started with a barebones campaign and is slowly building a team, hoping for grassroots support on issues ranging from bike lanes, to the cleanliness of the streets, from homelessness to crime.
“Yes absolutely,” Acton said, when asked if he believes in the broken window theory of dealing with crime.
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That theory says that if you allow a broken window to pass by and not be dealt with, that crime will only increase, something Acton thinks has happened under Tory’s watch.
As for the gun crime plaguing city streets, he thinks Tory is on the wrong track in pushing to ban guns from legal, licensed gun owners rather than focusing on those who don’t follow the law.
“There’s no secret of where the guns are coming from, they’re illegal guns and they’re guns of crime,” Acton said.
“The citizens that are taking the course, locking up their guns, going to gun clubs, and legally using their guns for sport are not the problem.”
While Acton agrees with Tory on the need for bail reform and calls for the federal and provincial governments to do more to deal with illegal guns, he thinks it’s a waste of time to focus on legal gun owners.
Another area where he disagrees with Tory is on the proliferation of bike lanes.
“It’s almost like a war on cars,” Acton said of the current city policy.
He doesn’t call for an end to all bike lanes but says the current city policy doesn’t make sense and puts too much emphasis on cyclists rather than drivers.
“We have to strategically put them where it won’t hinder the drivers in Toronto,” Acton said.
Compared to John Tory, Blake Acton’s name recognition is negligible.
However, he’s talking about issues that will resonate with voters who may have backed Tory in the past but now believe he’s abandoned them to curry favour with the NDP. That may not be how Tory sees it, but it is how voters see it and it is what Acton is counting on.
“We need change, and we don’t need to continue on the path that we’re on right now,” Acton said.
We’ll find out in October if voters agree.
On Twitter: @brianlilley
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