“I will hire more police. Olivia Chow will defund and de-arm police. The choice is clear." — Mark Saunders

Toronto – Mark Saunders, candidate for Mayor, today announced he will hire 400 Toronto police officers if elected. Together with his plan to hire 200 TTC Special Constables, Saunders will bring an additional 600 uniformed officers to Toronto’s neighbourhoods and transit system.

“Toronto has a crime crisis and it’s getting worse,” said Saunders. “Having come up through the ranks to lead Canada’s largest municipal police force, I’m the only candidate with the practical expertise to deal with this crisis.”

“We cannot turn Toronto around until everyone is safe to walk our streets, ride the TTC, or play in our parks. These are fundamental human rights,” said Saunders. “By deploying 400 additional police officers, we’ll halt and reverse the rising tide of violence in Toronto.”

And today, we learned that the individual who made threats against the Mayoral candidates has made bail. We need a Mayor who will work with provincial and federal partners to keep our communities safe.

Saunders took aim at rival Olivia Chow’s anti-police record.

“As a long-time NDP politician, Olivia Chow has a deep hostility toward police, taking every opportunity to cut their budgets and make it harder for them to do their job. She’s done it before and she’ll do it again,” said Saunders. “She has no plan to stop the crime and disorder in the city. In fact, she’ll make it worse by cutting the police budget.”

“Only one of two people will be elected Mayor on June 26: Olivia Chow or myself,” said Saunders. “That’s the choice. I’ll fund the police. Olivia Chow will defund the police.”