Baking Cookies with Karen Stintz: Mayoral candidate takes aim at traffic congestion

Toronto mayoral candidate Karen Stintz appears ready to take on any challenge, whether it is defending her position on the campaign trail, knocking on doors to rally support or baking cookies on a busy weekday morning.

Stintz joined Yahoo Canada News recently to make a batch of cookies. She handled the appointed task like a professional. The result was a collection of bakery-grade cookies, properly proportioned and baked to perfection.

"No half-baked cookies, no half-baked policies, no half-baked ideas," Stintz says, beaming with satisfaction at the impromptu wordplay.

Stintz is the fourth Toronto mayoral candidate to join Yahoo Canada in the kitchen and share her thoughts on the ongoing campaign. The veteran city councillor has experience running for political office, but this is her first bid for mayor.

"Running a campaign is a lot like running a small business. You've got to get your product out there, your communication, your marketing. You've got stakeholders, your board of directors. You've got to get your investors and meet payroll. And then I have one day to be profitable," Stintz said. "I have to cash in on October 27, and either way I am out of business."

It is that business-like mindset that Stintz is relying on in the campaign to be Toronto’s next mayor. The right-leaning councillor has 11 years of experience on council. When left-leaning David Miller was mayor, she was among the leaders of a collective of conservative councillors who tasked themselves with keeping him in check.

When Ford was elected, she was chosen to be the chair of the Toronto Transit Commission, a high-profile position usually given to a top mayoral ally. Stintz has said during this campaign that she supports what Ford was elected to do, though clearly not the performance itself.

"Rob got elected because city hall was seen to be out of touch … Rob came in and said he was going to clean up city hall. And he did things I agree with," Stintz said, noting the privatization of garbage collection and his attention to cutting down on city waste.

"Rob Ford lost his way. And the city has been suffering from that, and that's why I said I wanted to run for mayor before any of the other candidates could make up their minds."

Ford has stepped away from his re-election campaign for the past month to seek treatment for alcohol abuse. Stintz has used that window to make open overtures to those who supported Ford’s conservative agenda, and taken direct shots at John Tory, who sits second in the polls and shares the same “electoral space” as her. Stintz herself sits with single-digit support in recent polls, well behind Olivia Chow, Tory, and Ford. But she says when it comes to political campaigns, anything can happen.

"With the last couple debates that we have had, people are seeing there is a clear distinction between myself and some of the other candidates. That's helping people consider me as a viable option," she said.

"It's a noisy race, it will always be a noisy race, but we've been making some traction. And my poll numbers can only go one way, and that's up."

As we talked, Stintz rolled out several rows of cookies with expert hands. Small portions; perfect circles. Three rows of cookies, each one with a seemingly equal number of chocolate chips, Skor pieces and nuts.

"I usually make chocolate chip cookies, and my only secret is to add lots of chocolate," she said with a laugh.

As the parent of two children, Stintz is familiar with the kitchen. She’s also familiar with the struggle to balance work and life. On that front, she says she’s no different from the countless parents she has met during the campaign.

When asked what those people ask her about, she says the number one issue people raise with her is congestion and transit, adding that nothing can ruin your day quicker than traffic.

"Your time is the most important thing you have. What I want to do is make sure you spend that time the way you want to – with your family. I want to make sure you get to work faster, get home sooner ... and I want to make sure you spend time doing the things you want to do," she said.

Like many of her competitors, Stintz has made transit they key plank in her campaign.

When it comes to roads, she suggests implementing a “transportation czar” position that would ensure various construction projects don't overlap and create too many unavoidable traffic bottlenecks.

She also promises to freeze transit fares for the first year of her mayoralty, to give riders a break.

Her plan includes details on how to fully fund her vision for improving transit and ending congestion. Part of that plan would be to sell 51 per cent of the city’s shares in Toronto Hydro for about $500 million, and dedicate the approximately $700 million collected annually from Green P parking lots to build transit.

When it comes to building up the transit system, Stintz says the next step is to build a Yonge Street Relief subway line. As for the hotly-debated Scarborough subway plan, she says she is completely on board.

"I know the debates that we have had, and I know that not everyone agrees with the solution, but I think that what everyone will agree with is that we don't want to talk about it anymore," she said. "We have a plan and we need to get shovels in the ground and get transit built."

Stintz is also relying on her experience on city council to position herself as the "experienced" candidate. When asked about Chow and Tory, Stintz said the problem is that they have had their focus elsewhere for the past several years – Chow in Ottawa and Tory in the private sector. As for Mayor Rob Ford?

"The good news about Rob Ford is that he has people engaged in politics in a way they may not have ever been in their entire lives," Stintz said.

"The bad news is he might come back."

Ford is expected to return from a self-imposed hiatus from politics at the end of the month.

More:

Baking cookies with Olivia Chow: Ford's antics won't distract from transit woes

Baking cookies with John Tory: Tory steps out of his comfort zone

Baking cookies with David Soknacki: Policy over the 'politics of celebrity'

Ford sought treatment for alcohol addiction after reports emerged about the alleged recent use of drugs and an audio recording was released of Ford making sexist and offensive comments during a drunken night at a bar. Some of those comments were in direct reference to Stintz, who says Ford has never apologized to her for the comments he made.

"I don't predict Rob Ford anymore,” Stintz said. “Truth is stranger than fiction in this case. But I would expect Rob would offer some kind of apology to the city for the last time, the last few months and years that he has not been as dedicated and focused to his job as mayor. He will try to convince the city that he is reformed and on the path to redemption. He is going to have to hope that people will believe him this time."

As the cookies come out of the oven and are doled out onto a plate, Stintz says she is focused on her own campaign. She’ll take every opportunity she can to talk about her priorities for the city; those priorities start with clearing city streets. Congestion costs the city $11 billion per year, she said. It’s something we can no longer afford.

"Whether you are on transit, or whether you are in a car or on a bike, nothing can ruin your day more than traffic," Stintz says.

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