Olivia Chow officially took office as mayor of Toronto on Wednesday during a swearing-in ceremony at city hall, becoming the first person of colour to lead Canada’s most populous city.
On Wednesday morning, Chow was seen riding her bicycle to Toronto City Hall alongside a large group of cyclists.
“I feel so blessed to be able to come to work, on my first day of being the mayor of this great city of ours, with hundreds of cyclists,” Chow said outside city hall through a megaphone surrounded by Torontonians ringing their bicycle bells.
“It’s a very happy day,” Chow told reporters. “What I love most is people stop on the street and say ‘congratulations’ and then the next line is ‘I am here to help.’ I thought wow, I’m here to help,” Chow continued.
“A lot of residents feel that Olivia Chow is a mayor who can do a whole lot and they look forward to working with me and they are pledging to help the city so that we can improve our services and make the city more caring, safe and affordable. That was so encouraging to hear that,” she said.
Chow made her declaration of office at city hall at 11 a.m., vaulting a progressive into Toronto’s top job for the first time in over a decade. She is Toronto’s 66th mayor.
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“I will truly, faithfully and impartially exercise this office to the best of my knowledge and ability,” Chow said, repeating after city clerk John D. Elvidge for her declaration.
The ceremony was emceed by actor Jean Yoon and featured Indigenous teachings, a musical performance and a reading by the poet laureate.
Following the declaration, Chow took to the podium inside city hall’s council chambers to give a speech where she was loudly applauded and cheered.
“My friends, today’s a day for renewal,” Chow said. “In the face of our shared challenges, the message was loud and clear: people want change.”
“People sent a clear message that change is not only possible, it’s absolutely necessary,” Chow continued- in her speech. “We can and must start by tackling the housing crisis. That’s what the people demand because the suffering is real.”
Also in attendance during the ceremony were four former Toronto mayors, several city councillors and some NDP politicians. Toronto’s most recent former mayor John Tory was not in attendance.
The 66-year-old Chow, a former NDP MP and longtime city councillor, won last month’s byelection to replace Tory, sealing her political comeback after she came a distant third in the 2014 mayoral election.
She campaigned on a platform to build what she called a more caring and affordable city, pledging to get local government back into the business of building social housing and to spend millions to acquire and preserve affordable units.
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Chow was a former TDSB trustee in 1985 for six years and became a Toronto city councillor in 1991 for more than a decade. She ran as a federal NDP candidate for Trinity-Spadina but lost both in 1997 and 2004 to a Liberal incumbent. In 2006, Chow finally won the riding and was elected as a parliamentarian in the House of Commons as an NDP MP.
After almost a decade out of the political spotlight, she takes office at a time when Toronto is facing pressing issues, including a nearly $1-billion shortfall in this year’s budget, driven in large part by decreasing transit revenues and increased shelter costs.
Chow was married to Jack Layton, who went on to be Canada’s federal NDP leader in the early 2000s. Layton passed away after a battle with cancer in 2011.
“I think Jack Layton would be very happy that I am here today to carry on his work to make sure everybody has a shelter, have a roof over their head, have safe and affordable and a secure home,” Chow said on Wednesday morning.
Chow said she pulls out Layton’s book on homelessness from time to time on recommendations for what cities, provincial and federal governments can do together to create more homes.
“I am reminded that is a responsibility I have, a responsibility all of us that have a home … Our responsibility is for those who are sleeping on the streets, that are living in shelters and in precarious housing. Our collective responsibility to make sure people have a home,” Chow said.
The city’s housing crisis and the record levels of people experiencing homelessness are set to test Chow’s term. Adding to a sense of urgency, the city has been deadlocked with the federal government over a request to provide more money to help house asylum seekers, with the city recently instituting a policy of turning away those applicants from at-capacity shelters towards federal programs.
A city staff report indicates there’s enough COVID-19 reserve funds set aside to prop up this year’s budget, but without more money the backstop would be insufficient to cover next year’s projected shortfall of up to $927 million.
Chow has said she would call a special meeting of the Executive Committee in August to discuss pressing matters, including the city’s long-term financial plan.
Since the June 26 byelection, Chow has been meeting with city administration, finalizing her team and holding transition engagements with civil service and non-profits on priority issues, including housing and community crisis response.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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