Olivia Chow becomes the first person of color to be elected the Mayor of Toronto, Canada. Her win ends 13 years of Right-wing rule at the Toronto City Hall as she becomes both the first woman as well as the first minority person to win in the post-amalgamation era.
Source: CTV News Toronto
Chow Becomes Mayor Amongst 102 Candidates
The Mayor-elect has secured 37.2% votes to become the winner out of an incredibly crowded 102 candidates. With a turn-out of over 96%, the 66-year-old Hong Kong-born politician won by a slender margin. Ana Bailão came in a close 2nd with 32.5% votes.
The mayoral election was held when former mayor, John Tory stepped down in February after reports became rife that he had an affair with a 31-year-old staffer. Only a few months before, Mr. Tory, 68, comfortably won the election with more than 60% votes to start his third term.
Mr. Tory’s last-minute endorsement of Ana Bailão resulted in a close-fought victory for Ms. Chow. Her win, however, is speculated to cause future clashes with the conservative premier, Mr Ford, who predicted that she would be “an unmitigated disaster,” earlier in the month.
Chow’s victory marked the end of her 9-year-long wait to win the election. She had earlier lost to Mr. Tory in 2014. The former mayor congratulated Ms. Chow on her victory and assured his assistance to help her succeed.
New Promises for Toronto
Source: Reuters
Ms. Chow, whose political career ranges for over 3 decades, addressed fans after her win, calling the city “a place of hope, a city of second chances,” as per reports. She promised to make Toronto more inclusive, affordable, and safe.
She has promised to build a busway, replacing the decommissioned Scarborough RT. She claimed that the $60 million project would be funded by replacing the Gardiner Expressway with a boulevard between Cherry Street and Don Valley Parkway instead of rebuilding the entire road.
A plan that set Chow apart from her competitors is her intention to hike Toronto’s vacant home tax from 1% to 3%. She promises that the taxes collected would be dedicated to building affordable housing. She pledges to build 25,000 houses in the next 8 years. She has promised to spend $14.6 million as rent substitutes to help 1,000 homeless people find a place.
One of the key campaigning points of Ms. Chow was her plan to redevelop Ontario Place along the waterfront as well as the relocation of the Ontario Science Centre.
Property tax is expected to be raised considerably, the money collected from which is claimed to be used in the improvement of Toronto, and reducing the waiting time on 911 calls.
Ms. Chow vows to make Toronto streets more entertaining during the summer by improving upon the CafeTo program that would attract businesses. She is also reported to extend financial support to businesses in order for them to participate and help execute the program. She has also claimed to increase weekday hours so that the public libraries in Toronto can be open seven days a week.
