Toronto mayoral candidate Brad Bradford announced a plan to clean up Sankofa Square, still commonly known as Yonge-Dundas Square, promising a permanent police presence and scheduled maintenance to address rampant public drug use and safety concerns.
Bradford's plan for the square
Bradford criticized the current state of the square, calling it dirty and unsafe. He stated, “It’s dirty, it’s unsafe, there’s open drug use in the middle of the afternoon. Tourists avoid it. Parents grab their kids by the hand and move quickly through the space, or even worse, they avoid it altogether.”
He proposed a police substation similar to New York City's Times Square, along with standardized cleaning and outreach for mental health and housing support. “A real outreach for mental health supports and housing for the folks who are in crisis,” Bradford said, emphasizing that the square should not be a place where people in crisis are abandoned.
Chow's response and criticism
Mayor Olivia Chow's office dismissed Bradford's plan, focusing instead on his proposal to rename the square to Toronto Square. A statement said the mayor is “focused on actions that make Toronto more affordable and safer, not renaming things.”
Bradford countered that Chow pushed through the costly renaming to Sankofa Square based on what he called false allegations about Henry Dundas. The renaming cost nearly $1 million, yet the square remains neglected, with land acknowledgements on screens but no real improvement in cleanliness or safety.
Broader city issues
Bradford argued that Chow has no plan to clean up the square or the city, and continues to support policies that contribute to the crisis, such as distributing crack and meth pipes. “A city that’s not safe is a city that’s not free,” he said. “We need to make this intersection safer and cleaner.”
