Olivia Chow widening lead with just weeks left in Toronto mayoral race: poll

The latest poll in Toronto's mayoral race suggests that Olivia Chow continues to widen her lead over the other candidates with just three weeks left in the campaign.

The latest poll from Liaison Strategies puts Chow at 35 per cent support among decided voters, up five points from the firm’s last poll a week ago.

Support for Mark Saunders (14 per cent) and Josh Matlow (11 per cent) remained unchanged from last week, while Mitzie Hunter slid three points to 11 per cent, Ana Bailao slid one point to nine per cent and Brad Bradford slipped down three points to seven per cent support.

Aside from Chow, the only candidate to see a gain was Anthony Furey, who went up three points to six per cent support.

The poll indicates that a high-profile debate last week, which saw most of the candidates attack Chow over her tax policy, did little to improve their fortunes.

Another debate was set to take place at OCAD University a day later, but was cancelled due to the threat of violence by an armed suspect who was later apprehended.

The number of undecided voters was also down compared to last week with 21 per cent now saying they are undecided compared to 27 per cent a week ago.

Candidates began to roll out their signs over the weekend, bringing a heightened sense of awareness to the campaign as it enters its final weeks.

Advance voting is set to begin on June 8 and will run through June 13.

Another poll released Monday also showed Chow widening her lead, putting her as high as 38 per cent support among decided voters.

The Liaison poll surveyed 1,287 Toronto voters by phone over June 3-4. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.73 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.