Early in the race to replace John Tory as mayor of Toronto, a collection of anonymous Twitter accounts and websites appeared attacking two specific candidates who were expected to run.
The social-media posts and websites, which targeted former city councillor Ana Bailão and current councillor Brad Bradford with the slogans, “Bailão broke it” and “Bradford facts,” were quickly the subject of complaints to Toronto election officials to ensure they weren’t violating rules or affiliated with candidate campaigns. With no official contact or information about who was behind the accounts, the city’s social media team was left to tweet at the groups asking to talk to someone involved about campaign advertising rules.
The people behind the social media accounts and websites have since registered with the city under the name Toronto Citizens Collective. As of Monday, the group is among five parties – three corporations and two individuals – registered as official third-party advertisers hoping to influence the result of the June 26 by-election. The group also produced a video spoofing Mr. Bradford’s campaign with fake narration and distributed posters.
Another social media account targeting candidate Mark Saunders, but not tied to a website, isn’t affiliated with the group.
Toronto Citizens Collective organizer Britt Caron said in an interview the group is made up of residents who have been represented by Ms. Bailão or Mr. Bradford in their councillor roles, and who didn’t support many of their decisions on issues such as transit and housing. The group is seeking a more progressive voice for the mayor’s chair, she said, rather than those two candidates – who supported the direction of Mr. Tory during his tenure as mayor, aligning with him on most votes.
Any person or group who spends money on advertising to promote or oppose a specific candidate during the campaign must register as a third-party advertiser, and are subject to donation and spending limits. These rules were brought in by the Ontario government in 2016 to regulate third-party advertising as governments across Canada tightened campaign finance rules and regulated outside groups, often referred to as political action committees, or PACs.
Toronto’s elections team said it’s responsible for notifying and educating parties who appear to be engaging in third-party advertising to ensure they aren’t breaking the rules.
Ms. Caron said her group had stopped raising and spending money when the campaign officially launched on April 3 and finance rules took effect. But the group eventually decided to continue advertising during the by-election campaign and registered with the city, which means it must submit financial statements disclosing their donors and contribution amounts by September.
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“Candidates have a lot of money backing them. That money comes with an agenda. We wanted to make sure our agenda, which is for a progressive, affordable, just city, could also have a platform,” Ms. Caron said.
She added that Toronto Citizens Collective doesn’t intend to specifically promote a candidate through its campaign, though its policy interests may align with certain candidates more than others.
“We’re a progressive group of people who aren’t happy with the past 12 years of austerity we’ve been living under,” she said. “We’re hoping for a mayor who is going to make big, bold decisions and not ride on the status quo.”
Ms. Bailão didn’t take issue with the campaign against her, saying in a statement to The Globe and Mail that it is another way residents are getting engaged, which is “essential to our democracy.”
In contrast with the attack-style advertising from the Toronto Citizens Collective, third-party advertiser Progress Toronto has focused its campaign on promoting candidate Olivia Chow. The advocacy group has registered as an advertiser in every election since it formed in 2018 with the goal of getting progressive candidates elected, acting executive director Saman Tabasinejad said.
The group decided to put their support behind Ms. Chow after conducting public consultation that demonstrated the most support for her campaign, as well as reviewing responses to a questionnaire sent out to candidates to gauge their positions on certain policy questions. Progress Toronto isn’t publicly releasing the questionnaire results, but said 13 candidates responded.
“Our goal is to solidify the progressive vote around Olivia. She can bring the change we all need in the city,” Ms. Tabasinejad said.
She added that Progress Toronto’s executive director, Michal Hay, who has taken a leave of absence from the group to manage Ms. Chow’s campaign, wasn’t involved in the endorsement process.
Provincial legislation has capped spending for third-party advertisers, which is a limit of $25,000 in Toronto. Donors, who could range from individuals to unions, can contribute up to $1,200 to a specific group and no more than $5,000 in total.
This differs from the rules in some other provinces, where spending limits for third-party advertisers are much higher or don’t exist at all – as in Alberta – though there are limits for how much donors can contribute to advertisers.