Former NDP MP Olivia Chow considering Toronto mayoral run

Mar 27, 2023 | Headlines

NDP MP Olivia Chow has signalled her interest in becoming mayor of Toronto, a Star report said Monday.

Chow came third when she ran for mayor in 2014, losing to John Tory.

She was born in Hong Kong and moved to Toronto with her parents when she was thirteen. In 1991, Chow became the first Asian-born woman elected as a city councilor. She was re-elected to city council five times, serving for 14 years.

Chow was later elected a member of Parliament and is also the best selling author of “Olivia Chow: My Journey” which was published in 2014.

Chow married Jack Layton in 1988, who became leader of the federal New Democratic Party and was Canada’s Leader of the Opposition in Parliament before he died of cancer in 2011.

The mayoral byelection on June 26 is already shaping up to be the most wide-open competition for the city’s top job in years. Candidates of all political stripes have said they intend to run, or are considering running.

The race was triggered in January when John Tory, who had won re-election to a third term last fall but resigned early this year after admitting to having a relationship with an employee in his office.

The list of candidates Chow would possibly run against includes:

  • Former Toronto councillor Ana Bailão
  • Toronto councillor Josh Matlow
  • Urban strategist Gil Penalosa
  • Former Toronto police chief Mark Saunders
  • Former Toronto councillour Giorgio Mammoliti.

Ontario Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter has also said she is preparing for a run at the mayor’s job.

Bailão is a former city councillor for Davenport, a position that she held for 12 years. She served as one of Tory’s ceremonial deputy mayors and was his point person on the housing file.

Mammoliti is the former representative of Ward 7 York West. He held the job from 2000 to 2018. He also proposed some controversial measures such as arming bylaw officers.

Matlow, who represents Ward 12 St. Paul’s, won more votes in the 2022 election than any other councillor in the city, and has been in municipal office since 2010.

Penalosa finished the 2022 race for mayor with just under 18 per cent of the vote, having focussed his race for mayor on issues such as safe streets and urban planning.

Saunders, the city’s first and only Black police chief to date, served in the role from 2015 to 2020. His career was also marked by some controversies: he was accused of downplaying concerns of the LGBTQ+ community in Toronto, besides facing criticism bout the way police handled missing persons’ cases.

Hunter is the current MPP for Scarborough-Guildwood. Prior to this post, she served as the Minister of Education and the Associate Minister of Finance, responsible for pension reform. Were she to run she would have to resign her seat as an MPP which would ultimately trigger a by-election to replace her.

Candidates have until May 12 to apply to enter the race which will be the biggest by-election in Canadian history.