The Utility Illusion: Bradford’s Water Plan is a Playbook for Avoiding Accountability

Let’s be clear: Brad Bradford’s proposal to transform Toronto Water into a public utility is not a masterstroke of fiscal efficiency. As CBC Toronto first reported, it is a calculated pivot designed to move one of the city’s most essential services out of the sight and reach of the people who actually answer to the voters.

Bradford wants to create a separate company, modeled after Toronto Hydro, to manage the city's water. On the surface, the pitch is seductive. Bradford claims this new entity would have the capacity to carry its own debt, allowing him to raise revenue for the city while slashing the average annual water bill—currently around $1,100 according to city documents—by approximately 25 per cent. He has promised that costs for households will not rise and that the corporation will remain under public control.

But follow the logic. At present, the City of Toronto operates Toronto Water under the governance of elected councillors. Bradford’s plan would shift that governance to an independent board, utilizing recent provincial legislation to move the operation away from council.

This is where the danger lies. When you move a service to an independent board, you aren't just 'streamlining'—you are outsourcing accountability. Mayor Olivia Chow has already hit the nail on the head, noting that under Bradford's plan, the city loses control and the future of water bills becomes an uncertainty. As CUPE Local 416 president Domenic Maugeri told CBC News, the risk is creating a corporation that the public simply cannot reach, despite having that control today.

Even more alarming is the financial foundation of this plan. Jon Burnside, a councillor seeking re-election in Don Valley East, warned in a statement that using debt to fund water infrastructure is a poor strategy that will ultimately cost Torontonians more in the long run. Environmentalist David Suzuki has been even more blunt, calling the plan "crazy" and warning that if profit becomes the driving force, the price of water is guaranteed to rise.

Then there is the question of how this actually gets implemented. With 15 current councillors and Mayor Chow already criticizing the plan, Bradford may find himself facing a wall of opposition. This brings us to the most chilling part of the proposal. Myer Siemiatycki, a political professor emeritus at Toronto Metropolitan University, told CBC Toronto that this situation raises the "spectre of strong mayor powers." If Bradford cannot convince council, he may rely on these powers to force his vision through, provided he can secure the support of one-third of the council.

When asked directly about using strong mayor powers to push this utility pivot, Bradford stepped around the question, telling reporters he would use the "tools" available to deliver his mandate.

We should be terrified by that ambiguity. A 'public utility' that operates independently of elected officials is a utility that can ignore the public. Bradford is promising lower bills today in exchange for the city's surrender of oversight tomorrow. It is a reckless gamble with our most basic necessity, and we cannot afford to let the city's water be managed by a board that doesn't have to answer to the voters at the ballot box.