Former Sun columnist Anthony Furey vows to bring 'fresh' voice to Toronto's mayoral race

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National columnist and broadcaster Anthony Furey is promising to bring a “fresh perspective” to Toronto’s mayoral campaign.

Furey, the former national Comment editor of the Toronto Sun and a current vice-president with True North Centre, announced his plans Tuesday to run in the June 26 Toronto mayoral byelection.

“While we all love our city, the one thing more and more people are saying is that Toronto feels like it’s in decline,” Furey said in a video announcing his campaign. “And, as a father committed to raising my three kids here, I want to do something about it.

“And I don’t believe that the status quo people who got us to this point are the ones that can get us out of it.”

Drug addiction is at the root of many crimes in the city, and “treatment, treatment, treatment” is the answer, he said.

“Our brothers and sisters on the street need our help,” Furey said. “And by helping them, we make our neighbourhoods safer.”

Toronto City Hall, meanwhile, is wasting money on “pet projects” that have nothing to do with the families it’s supposed to be serving, he said.

If elected, Furey said he would immediately launch a 90-day review of programs and services and boot those that aren’t needed by citizens.

“This whole push to rename Dundas St?” he said. “It is such a waste of time and money.”

The Gardiner Expressway would stay, lane closures would go, and bike lanes would be done in a sensible fashion, he said.

An outspoken critic of how many governments are run, Furey said he will bring a new perspective to the race and the city.

As mayor, Furey said he would speak for the hockey moms, the motorists stuck on Hwy 401 all day, and the small and medium-sized businesses that have taken a beating over the past few years.

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“We have to have a conversation about who really runs this city,” Furey said in a video announcing his campaign. “Because on the one hand, you’ve got the lobbyists and the big corporations who think they call the shots. And on the other, there’s the fringe activists who show up kicking and screaming and City Hall caves to their demands.

“Well, those days are over,” he said.

Members of Furey’s advisory committee include former Conservative finance minister Joe Oliver, former Scarborough Liberal MP Dan McTeague, former Ontario cabinet minister John Snobelen and Catherine Swift, former president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

aartuso@postmedia.com