A Friday mayoral debate on priority neighbourhoods appears to be going ahead as scheduled after fringe candidate Ari Goldkind was disinvited Thursday — sparking a series of exchanges among the other candidates — before he was ultimately reinvited and agreed to participate.
Organizers of the debate, hosted by Inner City Union, initially informed Mr. Goldkind that he was no longer invited "due to the intention of the ICU to have the leading candidates attend, combined with various requests from their campaign offices."
Upon learning of the snub, fellow candidate John Tory declared he would not participate either, as suspicions immediately focussed on whether pressure from Doug Ford had let led to Mr. Goldkind's exclusion.
Mr. Goldkind said he was told by debate organizers that Olivia Chow "backed Doug's move" and that she preferred to debate Mr. Ford over Mr. Goldkind. Ms. Chow's camp did not immediately respond to request for comment, but later in the evening said she planned to attend.
"As much as Mr. Tory and I disagree on almost every policy, I appreciate what he's done and his support for the democratic process," Mr. Goldkind said. "If Doug is going to act this way unelected, how unfortunate the affairs of this city will look if he is elected."
In a statement, Mr. Tory said he was "disappointed to learn this evening that due to the strong-arm tactics of the Ford campaign, Ari Goldkind was disinvited from tomorrow's debate. I am very disappointed in Doug Ford's behaviour. Doug Ford does not get to dictate the rules and disinvite confirmed candidates from debates."
For his part, Mr. Ford's campaign released a statement accusing Mr. Tory of "playing games" and "making excuses to avoid having to face his leading competitors and answer for his record." The Ford statement makes no mention of Mr. Goldkind.
Late Thursday, Chow spokesman Jamey Heath said Ms. Chow still plans to attend Friday's debate. "All we said is we wanted Doug there too. If Goldkind is there, fine. We debated him and Tory last night," he wrote in an email.
Inner City Union debate organizer Antonius Clarke told the National Post he was hopeful the debate could still be held with Mr. Goldkind and the three front-runner candidates in attendance.
"We're asking Ari Goldkind to please reconsider our invitation contingent on Doug Ford rethinking his statement, and John Tory rethinking his statements," he said. "I trust that the political candidates are going to put their best qualities forward."
Mr. Goldkind agreed to rejoin the debate and Mr. Tory followed suit.
National Post
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