REGENT PARK TV WEEKLY NEWS – (EP-55) Olivia Chow elected New Mayor of Toronto

By: Fred Alvarado - Fred is a community journalist with FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE

Welcome to RPTV Weekly News Show Episode 55 (June 30th to July 7th).

In this weekly news show hosted by RPTV reporters Fred Alvarado, Kedar Ahmed, Gabriel Meissner, Jabin Haque, and Victoria Nanetti, we present news that impacts on Toronto's Regent Park and the surrounding areas.

Episode 55 features segments on:
 
* Olivia Chow elected New Mayor of Toronto, out of 102 Candidates — marking a shift in the city's politics (01:56 min);
* Regent Park residents speak out about results of the 2023 By-Election for Mayor (07:01 min);
* RPNA community members discuss their rezoning perspectives before Toronto and East York Community Council Meeting (14:23 min);
* Toronto and East York Community Council recommends approval of the application to amend the Zoning By-law for Phases 4 and 5 of the Regent Park revitalization and Rental Housing Demolition Applications at the June 22nd meeting (16:59 min);
* Regent Park community members speak at the Toronto and East York Community Council Meeting on June 22nd, 2023 (18:52 min);
* The Toronto We Want—Civic Action Leadership Panel event on June 22nd (22:40 min);
* Street Haven celebrates annual Pride BBQ on June 30th (23:57 min);
* Regent Park Muslim community celebrates Eid al-Adha at Daniels Spectrum on June 28th (27:46 min);
* Sunrise Ceremony on National Indigenous Peoples Day honours First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples (31:40 min);
* One person arrested after stabbing at Allan Gardens on June 24th (33:59 min);
* Events in Regent Park Community (34:26 min).

This week’s lead Story:

Olivia Chow elected New Mayor of Toronto, out of 102 Candidates — marking a shift in the city's politics.

Olivia Chow, a former NDP parliamentarian and past city councillor, has been elected the new mayor of Toronto. Voters elected a progressive mayor and the first woman of colour to lead Canada’s most populous city, ending more than a decade of conservative rule at city hall.

Her win marks the second time Toronto residents have selected a mayor since October, after former mayor John Tory resigned just a few months into his third term following his admission to an affair with a staffer.

Olivia Chow ran on a platform vowing to “build a Toronto that’s caring, affordable and safe,” and she emerged with the most votes of the 102 mayoral candidates on the ballot, a record for Toronto, and one that underscores the public’s discontent with the city’s direction.

Ms. Chow, who was leading in the polls through the campaign, won with 37.17 percent of the vote. Her nearest challenger, Ana Bailão, who had been endorsed by the city’s largest newspaper, The Toronto Star, and former Mayor, John Tory, received about 32 percent of the vote.

Despite saying just days earlier that Chow as mayor would be an “unmitigated disaster,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford congratulated the new mayor in a statement Monday night.

“As I’ve always said, I will work with anyone ready to work with our government to better our city and province,” Ford said. “There’s nothing we can’t achieve when we work together.”

Ms. Chow will now seek to unite councillors around her platform, which was headlined by promises to build and purchase more affordable housing and expand crisis response teams citywide.

Building more affordable housing, Chow says, is the best way to tackle multiple problems in the city, from homelessness to encampments.

While some of her opponents framed crime and safety as the top issues the city faces, she continued to talk about affordability, protections for renters and helping others who are struggling.

She says the situation is the result of a decade of building no affordable housing.

Chow has made no secret over the years that she favours policies which help lift up those who are most disadvantaged.

Mayor-elect Olivia Chow delivered her victory speech to a packed house in downtown Toronto’s west end following election day’s result.

Ms. Chow, 66, will be responsible for reversing the city’s course and restoring the image of the office in one of its most difficult moments.

Born in Hong Kong, Chow moved to Toronto in 1970 when she was 13 years old. She studied fine art and sculpting at OCAD as well as religion and philosophy at UofT, before eventually going on to become an activist and a politician. She was first elected to be a Toronto school board trustee in 1985 before serving a 13-year term on city council and then an eight-year term as an New Democrat parliamentarian alongside her late husband and former federal NDP leader Jack Layton.