Tom Clark

Toronto Gets an Unexpected New Mayor
June 2023

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Since I retired, Toronto and its mayors have caught my attention. I have argued that electing a candidate is like hiring an employee. One looks at the experience for the job, and the track record of the individual. So our latest mayor passed my test – she at least got to an employment interview.

On June 26th a by-election was held for Mayor of Toronto. There were 102 candidates, multiple public meetings of candidates who chose to appear. Olivia Chow, former councillor, then NDP member of parliament and a previous contender for Mayor won. Party politics almost emerged. The runner up, had been a deputy mayor with him, was belatedly endorsed by outgoing conservative mayor John Tory. She was also endorsed by conservative members of council. The conservative premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, proclaimed a few days before election day in a news broadcast that Olivia Chow would be a disaster as mayor. Olivia Chow, wife of the late Jack Layton, former leader of the federal NDP, was always labelled NDP in the media.

The victory of the NDP in the by-election is welcome coming after actions by two provincial Conservative governments to lower representation levels in Toronto – that works against the type of in-person campaigns that the NDP does. So for me these government moves raised questions of favouring the interests of provincial conservatives.

The first was in the mid 1990s. The Harris Provincial Government made budget cuts in programs. The province was going through structural adjustments to Canada’s joining the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA. Harris ostensibly cut costs by consolidating the separate cities around Toronto, previously coordinated as Metro Toronto, into one big City of Toronto. Representation levels fell. Mel Lastman, conservative and mayor from the former North York, became the first overall Toronto mayor. He was succeeded by David Miller who was NDP. I worked on Miller’s campaign because he had been active as a councillor in supporting the annual April 4 refugee rights day in the city. He was succeeded by Rob Ford, a populist and conservative who became associated with then conservative prime minister Stephen Harper. Rob Ford was unsuitable for the job in many ways. He took a leave of absence for treatment of drug abuse, returned, but then took ill during a re-election campaign and died from a cancer.

Rob Ford was followed in 2014 by John Tory, a Conservative, who had briefly been leader of the provincial conservatives in their opposition years. At the time John Tory sought election as mayor for a second term in fall 2018, the recently elected Conservative government of Ontario led by Rob Ford’s brother, Doug, changed the City of Toronto election arrangements just two months before the election so as to more or less halve the number of representatives for the City of Toronto. Four surviving former mayors pointed out: “I think all of us agree that this is such significant interference by provincial government in the middle of an election, to arbitrarily change boundaries — boundaries that were set after a year-long consultation and engagement process with the voters of Toronto — and arbitrary in the sense that there was no consultation, there were no committee hearings”. There was no justification as far as I could see.

Democracy as a whole has benefitted from the personal relationships possible between representatives and voters at the municipal level because there were fewer voters per representative than at the two other levels of government. That possibility of personal relationships has now been diluted twice.

Mayor Tory was handily re-elected in October 2022 for a third term having led the City of Toronto rather well during the Covid 19 pandemic. Then in February 2023, he announced his resignation and a by-election for mayor. He had been having an affair with a staffer. He resigned at a difficult time for the city – much of it resulting from the re-emergence of the city after the Covid 19 pandemic. Then the by-election gave us Mayor Olivia Chow.

The issues facing the city are serious: a housing shortage with a wider rental housing shortage and rising rents; a deficit from maintaining transportation during the Covid period; homelessness and tent cities in parks; fears generally, and fears on public transportation of people with mental health issues and the homeless; movement, with construction on major roads and cars versus bicycle lanes; refurbishing all of Gardiner expressway that had been pushed through; and, dealing with the premier, Doug Ford.

Chow pledged building “an affordable, safe and caring city, where everyone belongs” offering a strong practical progressive agenda:

Housing

Create the Secure Affordable Homes Fund with a $100 million annual investment to stop renovictions by helping purchase, repair and transfer affordable rental apartment buildings to not-for-profit, community, and Indigenous housing providers. (i.e. land trusts.)
Build 25,000 rent-controlled homes on city-owned land with at least 2,500 rent-geared-to-income units.
Double the reach of Toronto’s Rent Bank.
Strengthen the RentSafeTO and the Tenant Support Program to help tenants organize to fight evictions and above-guideline rent increases.
Work on anti-renoviction bylaws.
Increase the Municipal Land Transfer Tax on luxury homes.

Transit

A dedicated bus rapid transit line along the Scarborough RT corridor.
Gardiner East to become at-grade from Cherry Street to the DVP to save millions of dollars and open 5.4 acres for around 8,000 housing units.
Cell service for everyone on the TTC
Workers at TTC stations to return to being eyes and ears of the system.

Mental Health and Community Safety

Make the Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS) city-wide.
Improve wait times for 911 by an Emergency Response Transformation Team.

Tax and Strong Mayor Powers

Modest property tax increase after examining service priorities and projected rate of inflation.
Chow vowed not to use the powers.

Chow came to Canada at 13 with immigrant parents from Hong Kong. She entered politics in 1985 as a school trustee, spent 13 years as a councillor, then followed that by 8 years as a federal NDP MP. She previously ran for mayor in 2014 but finished third after John Tory and Doug Ford. This is an impressive track record of political experience, so she may have qualified for a job applicant interview. And voters chose her – from the almost 40% of Torontonians who voted. May it help Toronto.

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Toronto Gets an Unexpected New Mayor June 2023 Click square for index Since I retired, Toronto and its mayors have caught my attention. I have argued that electing a candidate is like hiring an employee. One looks at the experience for the job, and the track record of the individual. So our latest mayor passed my test – she at least got to an employment interview. On June 26th a by-election was held for Mayor of Toronto. There were 102 candidates, multiple public meetings of candidates who chose to appear. Olivia Chow, former councillor, then NDP member of parliament and a previous contender for Mayor won. Party politics almost emerged. The runner up, had been a deputy mayor with him, was belatedly endorsed by outgoing conservative mayor John Tory. She was also endorsed by conservative members of council. The conservative premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, proclaimed a few days before election day in a news broadcast that Olivia Chow would be a disaster as mayor. Olivia Chow, wife of the late Jack Layton, former leader of the federal NDP, was always labelled NDP in the media. The victory of the NDP in the by-election is welcome coming after actions by two provincial Conservative governments to lower representation levels in Toronto – that works against the type of in-person campaigns that the NDP does. So for me these government moves raised questions of favouring the interests of provincial conservatives. The first was in the mid 1990s. The Harris Provincial Government made budget cuts in programs. The province was going through structural adjustments to Canada’s joining the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA. Harris ostensibly cut costs by consolidating the separate cities around Toronto, previously coordinated as Metro Toronto, into one big City of Toronto. Representation levels fell. Mel Lastman, conservative and mayor from the former North York, became the first overall Toronto mayor. He was succeeded by David Miller who was NDP. I worked on Miller’s campaign because he had been active as a councillor in supporting the annual April 4 refugee rights day in the city. He was succeeded by Rob Ford, a populist and conservative who became associated with then conservative prime minister Stephen Harper. Rob Ford was unsuitable for the job in many ways. He took a leave of absence for treatment of drug abuse, returned, but then took ill during a re-election campaign and died from a cancer. Rob Ford was followed in 2014 by John Tory, a Conservative, who had briefly been leader of the provincial conservatives in their opposition years. At the time John Tory sought election as mayor for a second term in fall 2018, the recently elected Conservative government of Ontario led by Rob Ford’s brother, Doug, changed the City of Toronto election arrangements just two months before the election so as to more or less halve the number of representatives for the City of Toronto. Four surviving former mayors pointed out: “I think all of us agree that this is such significant interference by provincial government in the middle of an election, to arbitrarily change boundaries — boundaries that were set after a year-long consultation and engagement process with the voters of Toronto — and arbitrary in the sense that there was no consultation, there were no committee hearings”. There was no justification as far as I could see. Democracy as a whole has benefitted from the personal relationships possible between representatives and voters at the municipal level because there were fewer voters per representative than at the two other levels of government. That possibility of personal relationships has now been diluted twice. Mayor Tory was handily re-elected in October 2022 for a third term having led the City of Toronto rather well during the Covid 19 pandemic. Then in February 2023, he announced his resignation and a by-election for mayor. He had been having an affair with a staffer. He resigned at a difficult time for the city – much of it resulting from the re-emergence of the city after the Covid 19 pandemic. Then the by-election gave us Mayor Olivia Chow. The issues facing the city are serious: a housing shortage with a wider rental housing shortage and rising rents; a deficit from maintaining transportation during the Covid period; homelessness and tent cities in parks; fears generally, and fears on public transportation of people with mental health issues and the homeless; movement, with construction on major roads and cars versus bicycle lanes; refurbishing all of Gardiner expressway that had been pushed through; and, dealing with the premier, Doug Ford. Chow pledged building “an affordable, safe and caring city, where everyone belongs” offering a strong practical progressive agenda: Housing Create the Secure Affordable Homes Fund with a $100 million annual investment to stop renovictions by helping purchase, repair and transfer affordable rental apartment buildings to not-for-profit, community, and Indigenous housing providers. (i.e. land trusts.) Build 25,000 rent-controlled homes on city-owned land with at least 2,500 rent-geared-to-income units. Double the reach of Toronto’s Rent Bank. Strengthen the RentSafeTO and the Tenant Support Program to help tenants organize to fight evictions and above-guideline rent increases. Work on anti-renoviction bylaws. Increase the Municipal Land Transfer Tax on luxury homes. Transit A dedicated bus rapid transit line along the Scarborough RT corridor. Gardiner East to become at-grade from Cherry Street to the DVP to save millions of dollars and open 5.4 acres for around 8,000 housing units. Cell service for everyone on the TTC Workers at TTC stations to return to being eyes and ears of the system. Mental Health and Community Safety Make the Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS) city-wide. Improve wait times for 911 by an Emergency Response Transformation Team. Tax and Strong Mayor Powers Modest property tax increase after examining service priorities and projected rate of inflation. Chow vowed not to use the powers. Chow came to Canada at 13 with immigrant parents from Hong Kong. She entered politics in 1985 as a school trustee, spent 13 years as a councillor, then followed that by 8 years as a federal NDP MP. She previously ran for mayor in 2014 but finished third after John Tory and Doug Ford. This is an impressive track record of political experience, so she may have qualified for a job applicant interview. And voters chose her – from the almost 40% of Torontonians who voted. May it help Toronto. TOP Click:
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