Brad Bradford vows to rename Sankofa Square if elected Toronto's mayor
· Toronto Sun
See more Toronto Sun on Google — save as a Preferred Source
The first shot in the upcoming battle for a dilapidated section of the city rang out loud and clear.
Visit michezonews.co.za for more information.
On Monday morning, Toronto mayoral candidate Brad Bradford proposed renaming Sankofa Square in favour of “Toronto Square.”
“For a generation, this was the epicentre of the city, this was the Canadian version of Times Square (in New York City), but today it is a very different experience as it is dirty, it is unsafe, there is open drug use in the middle of the day and tourists are avoiding it,” Bradford told the Toronto Sun.
The Beaches-East York councillor said the square is one of the busiest and most prominent intersections in the entire country as “100,000 people move through it every day,” but a dangerous and unsavoury element has appeared in the heart of the city.
“It is not somewhere I would want to take my kids,” Bradford said.
Residents ‘conditioned’ to accept this
Bradford also called out the mayor for the current state of the square.
“Mayor (Olivia) Chow has conditioned us to accept this,” he said. “We have been told this is how it is, but I don’t accept that.”
If elected mayor in October, Bradford said he would ensure the site is cleaned and maintained to acceptable standards, establish a police substation, direct people to outreach and mental-health support, bring back the cultural and musical vibrancy it once had and tell the stories of Toronto and Canada.
“We will restore the vibrancy and prominence that used to be the hallmark of the civic gathering space,” Bradford said. “(I want to bring it) back to life with commerce, culture, food, retail and music. A calendar that fills the square with families instead of leaving it empty.”
Bradford was among 19 of the 21 councillors who voted in favour of renaming the square, but said he has since changed his stance due to its disheveled state and some disingenuous tactics before the name change last year.
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
‘Sold a bill of false goods’
“We were sold a bill of false goods and that is why I have taken steps in the month and years afterwards to fix this and that is why, as mayor, we will fix it, make it safe and we will make it clean and restore it to the prominence and vibrancy that it ought to be,” he said.
During the renaming process in 2023, council faced scrutiny over a lack of consultation on the name change. Two members of the board that ran the square resigned at about the time.
“If you followed the announcement at the time, Mayor Chow walked it onto the floor of council that day, didn’t give anyone a heads up and told everybody that she had worked with the community, that she has worked with the Yonge-Dundas board and the BIA and everyone was on board. But she misled council and she misled Torontonians because in the days that followed, half of the board resigned because she hadn’t worked with them.”
Lastly, he said he wants to accomplish his list with no cost to the taxpayer through a yet-to-be-determined corporate sponsor. He said the sponsorship idea was discussed and apparently ready to move forward.
“Partnership and corporate sponsorship moved away once the intersection of Yonge and Dundas and Sankofa Square moved in the direction it has,” he said. “There was corporate sponsorship lined up and then that came off the table when the mayor took us in this direction.”