The politician | Olivia Chow
When John Tory stepped down as mayor earlier this year, it was unclear what was next for our city. A decade of conservative leadership made Torontonians complacent, and many thought it couldn’t get better. That is, until Olivia Chow stepped up to the plate. A longtime community advocate who had attempted entry into municipal politics years ago and partner to the late Jack Layton, no one expected Chow — but, as it quickly became clear as she shot up the polls in popularity, Toronto wanted someone like her in power. When she was elected in June, she became the first Chinese-Canadian mayor in the city and rode her bike to work, wearing a skirt printed with the Toronto skyline, on her first day in office. And she’s begun her first year in power with gusto, reversing service cuts on the TTC, convincing the federal government to provide $97 million in funding for refugees, hiking the vacant home tax, streamlining the CafeTO process… shall we go on? While Chow has been behind a few controversial decisions since then too — including agreeing to acquiesce on the Ontario Place provincial plan despite promising not to in her campaign in exchange for uploading responsibility for the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway to the provincial government — we’re feeling more hopeful for the city with Mayor Chow in power than we have in a long time.
By Kristyn Wong-Tam – Friend, Ontario NDP MPP
I met now-Mayor Olivia Chow as a student who was the first person in my family to navigate Canada’s public education system. Olivia Chow was a fixture in the Chinese Canadian community — she seemed to be at every event and taking on every role, and constantly encouraged young people like me to speak up. As a member of the queer and trans community, the word that comes to mind when I think about Olivia Chow is allyship. She stood shoulder to shoulder with queer and trans Torontonians fighting for spousal and health benefits, HIV/AIDS funding and Pride Toronto funding long before it was widely politically acceptable to do so. She survived a home with domestic violence growing up, and you can see her gut-level rejection of powerlessness in all aspects of her work. From empowering early childhood educators at the Institute for Change Leaders to joining tenant associations facing abusive corporate landlords to advocating for a new deal for Toronto with the federal and provincial governments — Olivia is the most hard-working person I have ever met. After decades of public service, I believe that being the mayor of Toronto is Olivia’s truest calling, and we’re lucky for it.
For more of Toronto’s most inspiring women of 2023, click here.
