'Change can come in many forms': Chow plans to listen ahead of taking office

Olivia Chow is set to take charge of a city facing dauting challenges, including an enormous budget shortfall and widespread affordability concerns, but she doesn't plan on delivering marching orders during her first round of meetings as Toronto's mayor-elect.

The 66-year-old progressive will begin her term on July 12 following two weeks of discussions with top city officials. Asked whether she would bring a specific message to those meetings, Chow said, “not yet.”

“I'm not going to assume that I know. Because I don't,” she told The Canadian Press from her transition office at city hall this week where staff were setting up operations around her.

Chow, who also became the first person of colour to be elected mayor in Toronto, said she's going to spend some time listening.

The former NDP parliamentarian and past city councillor beat out 101 other candidates to win the mayoral byelection on Monday night, a victory that marks a high point in a career that has included decades of work in Toronto politics.

Critics said her campaign was light on policy specifics, but Chow emphasized a broad message of change - pledging to make Toronto more affordable and more caring, especially to the city's most vulnerable people.

As she makes the transition from a campaign to the city's top office, there are questions about how quickly she can deliver that promised change.

“Change can come in many forms,” Chow said.

“The listening and the working together is a different way of governing. And that itself is change.”

Chow will want to quickly translate her byelection momentum into early policy wins as mayor, said Zac Spicer, an associate professor of public policy at York University.

Her campaign was headlined by a pledge to have the municipal government once again act as a developer of social housing, vowing to build 25,000 rent-controlled homes on city lands over the next eight years.

“Mayors have a window of opportunity where they can get major campaign pieces passed quickly,” Spicer said, noting councillors may give the mayor's agenda deference in the immediate aftermath of a citywide vote.

“I think her team is politically savvy enough to strike while the iron is hot.”

But Chow recognized it would not be easy to get the city back into social housing development.

“When an institution stops doing something for that long, the institutional knowledge is not there anymore,” she said.

Chow's first day in her new transition office included a phone call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The prime minister, speaking to reporters in Mississauga, Ont., on Wednesday, said he was “really excited to have a strong progressive as mayor.”

When it comes to one of the most urgent challenges facing Chow's mandate - the city's nearly $1-billion budget shortfall - Trudeau appeared to indicate there was no federal bailout in the works.

“The provinces need to step up now to support cities that are their area of jurisdiction,” he said.

Chow will also need to address public safety concerns, rising homelessness and aging municipal infrastructure.

She was quiet on the specifics of her transition plan, but hinted more details would be released soon. Her tasks over the coming days will also include meetings with city councillors, many of whom supported her competitors in the byelection.

“I want to find out more about their passions and what kind of experiences they've had. And just listen,” she said. “I think that's important to do.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2023.