It was appropriately apocalyptic that Toronto’s climate-focused mayoral debate was canceled on Monday, the first time I’ve seen the Weather Network describe the day’s forecast as “smoky.” Whatever the “scheduling conflict” was that killed the event, it saved me from straining to hear politicians talk about the need to “balance environment with economy” over my own screeching that climate change is already expensive. Ask restaurant owners whose patios sat empty because nobody could breathe outside.

As the week went on, the skies remained hazy and the Toronto District School Board canceled outdoor recess. There’s no debate: climate change is happening here and now. Toronto needs a mayor willing to make courageous decisions and to communicate them clearly, someone who will fight for the people of this city as the risk of floods, smoke, heat and unreliable energy keeps rising.

As of the latest polls, Olivia Chow has a significant lead, with Mark Saunders, Ana Bailão, and Josh Matlow all hovering about 20 points below her. But the race isn’t over yet, and many of the candidates no longer getting headlines have good ideas to help Toronto rise above its ever-growing list of problems.

The most impressive environmental platform—I’ll tell you whose it is in a bit—focuses on immediate and near-future mitigation, not cutting our carbon footprint. Everyone needs to reduce greenhouse gasses, because it’s the right thing to do and because threats to food security and energy supply make this a good time to learn to live with less. But the reality is that meaningful reductions require systemic change on the national and international level. Citizens and mayors need to push for that, but we can’t make it happen by buying bamboo toothbrushes (I still do that, though). Local government’s main climate concern is coping with the immediate effects of the crisis, and it’s with that in mind I evaluated promises and platforms.

Let’s cross off, immediately, the deniers posing as delayers, namely Saunders. He doesn’t have a climate plan because he doesn’t have any plan. His website is a request, not an offer, asking for your support without saying what it will get you. The former police chief’s entire pitch is that he’ll keep us safe—a bold claim from someone who denied the existence of a serial killer targeting queer men.

Environmentally speaking, Saunders is not a serious person. Droning on that bikes cause gridlock is tired and untrue, and highlights another way he neglected Torontonians: failing to protect us from the hazards of cars when his force stopped enforcing traffic laws as pedestrian deaths spiked. When asked by Streets of Toronto whether the city’s climate plan was bold enough, he said yes, adding that “we can continue finding a balance between climate initiatives and other priorities.”

Balancing environment with economy? Excuse my screaming. You might not be able to hear me over the sports and theatre communities, as they watch other cities cancel outdoor performances and games because of poor air quality and wonder how long they have before that happens here.

Bailão is less hubristic, but her climate cred isn’t much better. Her traffic alleviation suggestions are decent. Fines for drivers that block intersections? Finally, thank you. But they’re far from daring. Her nod to food security is similar: I’m glad that she named the problem, but not especially excited that one of her fixes is more rooftop gardens. Protecting the farmland we need will require wide-ranging cooperation throughout the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, and the candidate specifically promising to build relationships to safeguard the Greenbelt is Josh Matlow.

Overall, the midtown councillor has a much better plan and record than his competitors currently fighting for second place. As reported by the Globe and Mail, he’s called for a maximum temperature for rental units, and done outreach to help tower residents protect themselves during heat waves.

Matlow knows we need money to deal with our climate needs, and has a proposal to get it: raising $200 million for climate initiatives by instituting a levy on commercial parking lots, which he would use to make the TTC functional, as well as to retrofit buildings to be more energy efficient and increase electric vehicle infrastructure. The levy could also, he says, encourage climate-friendly behaviour by businesses, which might forego paved space in favour of surfaces that absorb rain, and perhaps get people out of their cars. All in all, it’s a fair plan, if not quite as focused on near-term resilience as it could be.