Prominent Toronto women show support for Chow as mayor
Sixty prominent women made Olivia Chow their choice for Toronto’s next mayor, calling her candidacy "the best opportunity we have ever had to advance women and girls and move towards true equality in Toronto."
Sixty prominent women made Olivia Chow their choice for Toronto’s next mayor, calling her candidacy "the best opportunity we have ever had to advance women and girls and move towards true equality in Toronto."
Her record as a former school trustee, councillor and MP in the city shows Chow is the best-qualified mayoral candidate, the women said a joint statement released Thursday, Oct. 9, at a College Street restaurant..
"We believe it is time for a female mayor, a person of colour, and an immigrant who will reflect the changing face of Toronto and lead our city forward," said the statement, praising Chow’s commitment to "women’s issues" – such as affordable child care – the signers believe should also be election issues.
Good childcare is just as important to the city as good transit, added Zeenat Janmohamed, a professor at George Brown College’s School of Early Childhood Education.
Other women who signed the statement include filmmaker Deepa Mehta, author Naomi Klein, nurse and homeless advocate Cathy Crowe and three incumbent councillors – Janet Davis, Sarah Doucette, and Paula Fletcher.
Chow, who lags behind John Tory and Doug Ford in the race, welcomed the support from "progressive strong women who made the city a better place for everyone."
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Having pledged earlier to create 3,000 more childcare spaces in Toronto, half of them subsidized, she questioned why Tory and Ford hadn’t made their own childcare promises.
By not pledging improvements, she said, her rivals effectively are telling parents on childcare waiting lists they may have to wait years longer. "That does not make a good leader."
Thursday’s event was organized in a hurry after a mayoral debate on women’s issues that evening night was cancelled for what Rebick called "crazy bureaucratic reasons."
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