Toronto: Olivia Chow, a former NDP parliamentarian and past city councillor, has been elected the next mayor of Toronto.
In Chow, voters have elevated a progressive — 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.
There were a record 102 candidates on the ballot, with roughly a half-dozen high-profile names rising to the top of the field over the 12-week campaign.
Chow, who was leading in the polls through the campaign, was first elected to be a Toronto school board trustee in 1985 before serving a 13-year stint 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.
She 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. — Canadian Press