Much-loved by Toronto lefties, City Councillor Olivia Chow now has some dissent to face.
A group called Coalition for a Full-term Councillor has expressed concern that Chow may high-tail it to Ottawa come next federal election and leave her riding in the dust.
Chow was re-elected two weeks ago as councillor of Ward 20 Trinity-Spadina. Voted Now Magazine’s best city councillor for five years in a row, Chow presides over the eastern half of the large Trinity-Spadina riding extending from Dupont Street down to the waterfront.
Coalition member Natalia MacDonald says that it is “worrisome that one likely to win as councillor would run federally.” This would be costly for ward residents, says MacDonald, both because of a costly bi-election and the ward’s lack of representation for up to six or seven months while Chow was campaigning.
“[It’s] kind of a raw deal for the residents,” says MacDonald.
The Coalition held a demonstration outside Olivia Chow’s office last week, asking her to commit to three years if elected. “No one really addressed the issue or situation,” said MacDonald, noting that the demonstration was ignored by those in the office.
The demonstration was not so much about her issues or her politics, explained MacDonald, but about her staying for the full term if elected, “which is what one would expect from a councillor.”
Speculation about Chow running federally “could have easily been put to and end,” says MacDonald, “but when Chow was asked at both debates, she brushed it off and didn’t address the issue.”
In 1997, Chow ran federally for the NDP in the Trinity-Spadina riding, where the race heated up. Chow gathered 41 per cent of the popular vote, but lost by a small margin to Liberal candidate Tony Ianno, much to the disappointment of NDP supporters who had high hopes for the riding. Some speculate that Chow might have a better chance this time around.
Known to pedal around the Annex on her bicycle, Chow would be greatly missed in city politics, where she has figured prominently over the years.
Chow’s recent refusal to out-right deny speculation that she will run federally may be an indication that she’s hoping to reunite “Jack and Olivia,” poster-couple of the left, and join her husband, NDP leader Jack Layton, to take on the feds.
Requests for a confirmation or denial on the subject of Chow running federally by the Varsity were not returned by Chow or her office.