Hong Kong-born Olivia Chow to run against Rob Ford for Toronto mayor
Olivia Chow, the Hong Kong-born widow of Canadian opposition leader Jack Layton, launches campaign against scandal-plagued Rob Ford
Left-leaning, Hong Kong-born Olivia Chow has launched her campaign to replace Toronto's conservative mayor Rob Ford, whose drug scandal turned him into an international punchline.
Chow made no mention of Ford's drug use, drunken public appearances or erratic behaviour as she made her first campaign speech on Thursday, a day after she resigned her seat in the federal Parliament in order to contest the mayoralty of Canada's largest city. But she said the mayor had disappointed her.
"The current mayor is failing at his job, and he is no role model for my granddaughters," Chow said at a packed church hall. "We deserve better. It's time for a change."
The mayor is failing at his job, and he is no role model for my granddaughters. We deserve better. It's time for a change
Chow, who immigrated to Canada with her family when she was 13, is the widow of Jack Layton, the leader of the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) who died of cancer in 2011. She is the only prominent left-leaning candidate in a crowded field of right-wing contenders in the October 27 mayoral election.
Ford has rebuffed pressure to resign since admitting to smoking crack cocaine last year. The Toronto City Council stripped him of most of his powers in an effort to isolate him, but it lacked the authority to force him out.
Ford said he was not concerned about the challenge from Chow, whose candidacy was widely expected. He insists he remains highly popular in Toronto's working-class conservative suburbs, which carried him to victory in 2010, galvanised by his promise to shake things up at a City Hall he said was dominated by a free-spending liberal elite.
Chow, 56, and her late husband formed a political power couple for decades. The NDP, a union-backed party with socialist roots, won official opposition status for the first time in the May 2011 federal election. Many credited Layton's charisma and popularity. He died soon afterwards.
Chow, a former Toronto city councilor who has spent 26 years in politics, emphasised her immigrant roots during her speech, dismissing attacks from the Ford camp that she would spend recklessly if elected mayor.