Good Morning Broadview Danforth BIA Members,
I received the press release listed below and wanted to flag it for all of you. As far as I know, this is the only candidates' debate taking place in our riding. It's an interesting format. If you wish to attend in person, you can buy tickets for the show that takes place just prior to the debate. However, you can watch the debate as it will be live-streamed following the show. The debate will start around 9:45pm on Saturday, Oct. 24. Here's the link for the live stream:
Debate: Saturday October 24, 9:45pm approx.: https://youtube.com/live/4Pmg1GrWHCM
And here's the release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 13, 2026
Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth candidates to have late night debate at the theatre — following a documentary play about the city’s shelter system
TORONTO, Oct, 13, 2026 — Candidates for Ward 14 Toronto–Danforth will face each other at Crow’s Cabaret (a new performance space from the award-winning Crow's Theatre at 1210 Dundas St. E) on Saturday, October 24, two days before the municipal election — in a debate staged immediately after a solo documentary play about Toronto’s shelter system during and after the pandemic. The venue is small, but the debate is being live streamed and posted online. The debate will be moderated by political journalist and author John Lorinc.
The debate caps a three-night preview run of You Should Have Stayed Home Too, written and performed by Tommy Taylor, a playwright who spent more than a decade working overnight shifts in shelters, drop-ins and overdose prevention sites in Toronto and Hamilton. Crow’s Cabaret sits in Ward 14, a short walk from where the keepSIX consumption site operated until the province closed it.
Confirmed to debate: Dianne Saxe, Sara Ehrhardt, Caryma Sa’d, Susan Chapelle and Denise Walcott. Currently, Mary Fragedakis is still considering the debate. Candidates have an opportunity to deliver an opening statement about the issues explored in the show: homelessness, harm reduction, housing, encampments and shelters. They will then take turns answering questions from Lorinc, and if time allows, audience questions close the night. The debate will start at approximately 9:45pm, a later debate than most, as it follows after Taylor's show.
“The audience will have just spent 75 minutes inside the housing and drug crisis as it’s actually lived in this city,” said Taylor. “That’s a room that’s informed and not interested in talking points. Whoever wins this seat inherits the problem the play is about." About the limited amount of space and need for the live stream, he added "I heard there was no candidates debate taking place in Ward 14, so I am offering what little I can for that to take place, with only room for 6 candidates, a seating for audience members of the show. I really hope residents can tune into the live stream." The debate is not hosted or affiliated Crow's Theatre itself, but with Taylor's show in the new Cabaret space.
Taylor has been a shelter worker, Manager of the Toronto Drop-In Network, and is known by his earlier ward-winning play, You Should Have Stayed Home, about his unlawful arrest and detention at the 2010 Toronto G20. The new work is built around the recovered songs of his late aunt, Vikky Taylor, a songwriter (and best friend to Joni Mitchell) at the centre of Toronto’s 1960s Yorkville folk scene, with musical creation by JUNO-nominated artist Abigail Lapell. Dramaturgy by Karen Ancheta and Anand Rajaram.
Each of the three Toronto nights pairs the performance with a panel:
Thursday, October 22 — Addiction and harm reduction. With Angela Robertson, CEO of Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre, and Jolene Eeuwes of T-DOT, Unity Health Toronto and Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction.
Friday, October 23 — Housing and homelessness. With Lorraine Lam, Sanctuary Toronto, Melanie Joy from the Toronto Drop-In Network, moderated by journalist Joanna Lavoie.
Saturday, October 24 — Ward 14 candidates’ debate. Moderated by John Lorinc
The work runs earlier in Hamilton, at the Theatre Aquarius Studio on October 16 and 17, with panels on frontline labour and on harm reduction and housing.
Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth candidates to have late night debate at the theatre — following a documentary play about the city’s shelter system
TORONTO, Oct, 13, 2026 — Candidates for Ward 14 Toronto–Danforth will face each other at Crow’s Cabaret (a new performance space from the award-winning Crow's Theatre at 1210 Dundas St. E) on Saturday, October 24, two days before the municipal election — in a debate staged immediately after a solo documentary play about Toronto’s shelter system during and after the pandemic. The venue is small, but the debate is being live streamed and posted online. The debate will be moderated by political journalist and author John Lorinc.
The debate caps a three-night preview run of You Should Have Stayed Home Too, written and performed by Tommy Taylor, a playwright who spent more than a decade working overnight shifts in shelters, drop-ins and overdose prevention sites in Toronto and Hamilton. Crow’s Cabaret sits in Ward 14, a short walk from where the keepSIX consumption site operated until the province closed it.
Confirmed to debate: Dianne Saxe, Sara Ehrhardt, Caryma Sa’d, Susan Chapelle and Denise Walcott. Currently, Mary Fragedakis is still considering the debate. Candidates have an opportunity to deliver an opening statement about the issues explored in the show: homelessness, harm reduction, housing, encampments and shelters. They will then take turns answering questions from Lorinc, and if time allows, audience questions close the night. The debate will start at approximately 9:45pm, a later debate than most, as it follows after Taylor's show.
“The audience will have just spent 75 minutes inside the housing and drug crisis as it’s actually lived in this city,” said Taylor. “That’s a room that’s informed and not interested in talking points. Whoever wins this seat inherits the problem the play is about." About the limited amount of space and need for the live stream, he added "I heard there was no candidates debate taking place in Ward 14, so I am offering what little I can for that to take place, with only room for 6 candidates, a seating for audience members of the show. I really hope residents can tune into the live stream." The debate is not hosted or affiliated Crow's Theatre itself, but with Taylor's show in the new Cabaret space.
Taylor has been a shelter worker, Manager of the Toronto Drop-In Network, and is known by his earlier ward-winning play, You Should Have Stayed Home, about his unlawful arrest and detention at the 2010 Toronto G20. The new work is built around the recovered songs of his late aunt, Vikky Taylor, a songwriter (and best friend to Joni Mitchell) at the centre of Toronto’s 1960s Yorkville folk scene, with musical creation by JUNO-nominated artist Abigail Lapell. Dramaturgy by Karen Ancheta and Anand Rajaram.
Each of the three Toronto nights pairs the performance with a panel:
Thursday, October 22 — Addiction and harm reduction. With Angela Robertson, CEO of Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre, and Jolene Eeuwes of T-DOT, Unity Health Toronto and Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction.
Friday, October 23 — Housing and homelessness. With Lorraine Lam, Sanctuary Toronto, Melanie Joy from the Toronto Drop-In Network, moderated by journalist Joanna Lavoie.
Saturday, October 24 — Ward 14 candidates’ debate. Moderated by John Lorinc
The work runs earlier in Hamilton, at the Theatre Aquarius Studio on October 16 and 17, with panels on frontline labour and on harm reduction and housing.
LISTINGS
You Should Have Stayed Home Too — a workshop preview
Crow’s Cabaret, 1210 Dundas St E. October 22–24, 2026, [TIME]
Debate: Saturday October 24, 9:45pm approx.: https://youtube.com/live/4Pmg1GrWHCM?feature=share
Tickets: https://www.crowstheatre.com/shows-events/you-should-have-stayed-home-too
Content note: overdose and drug use, death, homelessness, police violence, pandemic. Includes audience participation and a naloxone demonstration.