{"id":19435,"date":"2023-07-12T13:30:54","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T20:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/olivia-chow-officially-takes-office-as-mayor-of-toronto-vows-to-bring-change\/"},"modified":"2023-07-12T13:30:55","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T20:30:55","slug":"olivia-chow-officially-takes-office-as-mayor-of-toronto-vows-to-bring-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/olivia-chow-officially-takes-office-as-mayor-of-toronto-vows-to-bring-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Olivia Chow officially takes office as mayor of Toronto, vows to bring change"},"content":{"rendered":"

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TORONTO \u2013 Olivia\u00a0Chow\u00a0has officially taken office as mayor of Toronto.<\/p>\n

The 66-year-old is the first person of colour to lead Canada\u2019s most populous city and has pledged to build what she calls a more caring and affordable city.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is a day for renewal,\u201d\u00a0Chow\u00a0said to cheers and applause moments after she took office at city hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message was loud and clear \u2013 people want change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chow, a former NDP MP and past city councillor, defeated 101 other candidates to win last month\u2019s mayoral byelection to replace John Tory.<\/p>\n

Her victory vaults a progressive into Toronto\u2019s top job for the first time in over a decade.<\/p>\n

It also comes at a time when Toronto is facing pressing issues, including a nearly $1-billion shortfall in this year\u2019s budget, driven in large part by decreasing transit revenues and increased shelter costs.<\/p>\n

A city staff report indicates there are enough COVID-19 reserve funds set aside to prop up this year\u2019s budget, but without more money the backstop would be insufficient to cover next year\u2019s projected shortfall of up to $927 million.<\/p>\n

Chow\u00a0has pledged to get local government back into the business of building social housing and to spend millions to acquire and preserve affordable units.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can and must start by tackling the housing crisis. We can and must because the suffering is real,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The new mayor has said she would call a special meeting of the Executive Committee in August to discuss pressing matters, including the city\u2019s long-term financial plan.<\/p>\n

Since the June 26 byelection,\u00a0Chow\u00a0has been meeting with city administration, finalizing her team and holding transition engagements with civil service and non-profits on priority issues, including housing and community crisis response.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s housing crisis and the record levels of people experiencing homelessness are set to test\u00a0Chow\u2019s term.<\/p>\n

Adding to a sense of urgency, the city has been deadlocked with the federal government over a request to provide more money to help house asylum seekers, with the city recently instituting a policy of turning away those applicants from at-capacity shelters towards federal programs.<\/p>\n

\u00a92023 THE CANADIAN PRESS<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n