Rob Ford returned to the mayoral debate circuit on Tuesday with the same talking points he deployed successfully before his two-month leave of absence. His rivals were better prepared this time.

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Ford, making his first debate appearance since he entered rehab for substance abuse in May, was greeted by a supportive crowd and friendly questions at a Pentecostal church in Scarborough. Speaking forcefully — though often untruthfully — he hammered as usual on his fiscal successes, repeating the statements about “efficiencies” and expenses that helped him run roughshod over his four opponents at their first clash in March.

Those opponents, notably John Tory, were armed with sharper rejoinders.

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Ford touted himself as a leader who watches every tax dollar, and he attacked Tory for voting for a pay hike for MPPs when he was leader of the provincial Progressive Conservatives. Tory responded by pointing to the over-budget renovations of Union Station and Nathan Phillips Square.

“Project after project after project, on your watch, when you’re the mayor,” he said. “We know what you were doing — it wasn’t managing the taxpayers’ money!”

Both Olivia Chow and Tory jumped on Ford’s contention that the city is “booming.”

Chow responded: “Mr. Ford, your record is clear: one out of five young people cannot find a job. How is it that Scarborough is booming?” Tory, also noting the high rate of youth unemployment, accused Ford of being “a complacent non-leader.”

Chow and Tory each unveiled a new attack line about Ford’s penchant for dishonesty. Tory said Ford has a “nagging allergy to the truth.” Chow, making the most direct reference to Ford’s scandals, told him that he “can’t stick to the truth” even when he is “clean and sober.” The crowd booed — but laughed raucously when Ford said he would take another “crack” at eliminating the land transfer tax.

The debate venue presented ideal conditions for Ford. It was held in the part of the city where he is most popular, and he is relatively strong among black voters and social conservatives. Ford received vigorous applause, and questions from the audience focused on topics in his wheelhouse: the land transfer tax, council expenses, budget reductions, and Toronto Community Housing.

“I am the king of helping people at Toronto Community Housing,” Ford said, on stage at a church called Global Kingdom Ministries.

He also declared himself “the subway mayor,” falsely claiming that the Scarborough subway extension is already being built. He alleged that all of the other candidates secretly favour light rail and transit taxes despite their claimed opposition.

He ignored a question from the moderator on how he would himself pay for his transit proposals. Tory noted that Ford has not said “a peep” on the topic.

Karen Stintz, speaking in a conversational manner, returned relentlessly to the topic of traffic congestion, which she said would be her top priority, and the theme of “trust.” Chow, she said, can be trusted only to return to the policies of former mayor David Miller; Tory, she said, cannot be trusted when he says where he stands on an issue.

Stintz’s attempts at a line of semi-rhetorical “who do you trust” questions fell flat: each time, people in the crowd shouted, “Rob Ford!”

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Both Stintz and Chow said Tory cannot be an effective mayor with no experience in municipal politics. Tory responded that people are seeking only experience “getting things done.” He too received a response of “Rob Ford!” when he asked, in his closing statement, which candidate has shown the ability to deliver results.

David Soknacki said he is the only candidate who is speaking about taking a second look at the police budget. He also pleaded with the crowd to appreciate the merits of his proposal to build the Scarborough light rail line he and Chow favour over the more expensive subway preferred by Ford, Stintz and Tory.

“For heaven’s sakes,” Soknacki said, there would be a light rail stop right across from the church.

“It’s completely paid for, ladies and gentlemen,” he said. “And what you could do: you could take that money — in addition to having the LRT — and you could put it either in your pockets or you could put it in transit elsewhere in the city.” Light rail, he said, is both cheaper and better for Scarborough.

Chow continued to make an appeal based on her biography, beginning several of her answers with references to her own life. She said she knows “how soul-destroying it is” to live in a household where parents can’t find work. When Ford and Tory attacked her over her expense spending, she said, “I’m not a millionaire like both of you.”

Chow slipped briefly in touting the light rail plan, calling it an “above-ground subway.” Back on track, she said the subway would include four fewer stops than the light rail line and require a 30-year property tax levy “that you do not need to have.” She also pitched her proposal to improve rush-hour bus service, which is targeted at bus-dependent voters in the suburbs.

The candidates sparred about just what choosing light rail would mean. Tory said Chow would “start her term in office by ripping up the agreement” on the subway. Chow and Soknacki, though, pointed out that the only formal intergovernmental agreement in place is the master agreement to build light rail. Though the federal and provincial governments have verbally committed to fund the subway, there is not yet an official agreement.

Tory promoted his “SmartTrack” proposal for a 53-kilometre surface rail line, which he says would be a “surface subway.” Ford said that is an oxymoron. Chow, again avoiding substantive criticism on the issue, said only that SmartTrack is actually a provincial proposal.

In her closing pitch, she declared Ford a “terrible role model for our children”; in her opening statement, she asked the audience to join her in “firing him” over his disrespect for “diversity” and his divergence from the city’s values.

The debate was organized by the Canadian Tamil Congress. The proceedings were raucous even before the debate began.

Supporters of Ford and Chow, and anti-Ford protesters, chanted and shouted on the sidewalk outside the church on Markham Road. John Furr, organizer of the “shirtless horde” anti-Ford protest group — whose members are now wearing shirts — went nose-to-nose with a Ford supporter.

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