Scott Stinson: Olivia Chow cruised to a mayoral victory by promising not to break stuff — or fix it - National Post
Olivia Chow delivers her victory speech following her re-election as Toronto mayor on Monday. Photo by Peter Power/Postmedia NewsArticle contentOlivia Chow ran a re-election campaign that in many ways was about what she wouldn’t do. Unlike her main challenger, Brad Bradford, she wouldn’t freeze property taxes. She wouldn’t undergo an aggressive spending review, and she wouldn’t introduce a public water utility.
The incumbent Toronto mayor would, instead, keep on doing what she has been doing, “moving forward” after what she admits were a tough first couple of years in the top job at City Hall. At a time when many residents had concerns over everything from affordability to crime to traffic to antisemitism, she offered incremental improvements. Vote for the status quo, basically.
That pitch, modest as it was, proved to be enough for a surprisingly easy win. The 69-year-old former city councillor and former federal NDP MP cruised to a comfortable victory in which she had support in all areas of the city.
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The power of incumbency is significant in municipal politics, and coupled with the organizational strength of the NDP electoral machine, Chow had 54 per cent support with most polls reporting Monday night. Bradford was back at 41 per cent. The incumbent led start to finish in the campaign, holding off a late surge from her closest competitor.
Coming on a night where incumbent mayors were ousted in a number of Ontario municipalities, including neighbouring Mississauga, with Carolyn Parrish (and former mayor Bonnie Crombie) losing to Councillor Alvin Tedjo, Chow’s resilience was politically impressive.
“The city of Toronto has spoken,” Chow said at an election night party. “Now that the election is over, the work of coming together begins.”
Bradford, 40, thanked his supporters at a downtown Toronto hotel, and said he wished the best for Chow, whom he congratulated over the phone.
The campaign became increasingly heated in the closing days, as polls suggested that Bradford had closed the gap with Chow to within the margin of error for those surveys.
