Candidate kicks off campaign to replace Rob Ford
Left-leaning Olivia Chow says Toronto deserves better
3/13/2014TORONTO — A left-leaning candidate popular in downtown Toronto formally kicked off her campaign to replace Mayor Rob Ford, saying he is no role model and the city deserves better.
Olivia Chow is a former Parliamentarian and ex-Toronto city councilor. She said today that Ford has let his city down.
Ford has been enveloped in scandal since acknowledging last year that he smoked crack cocaine. The conservative has refused to resign and is seeking re-election in the Oct. 27 vote.
Chow, who moved to Canada from Hong Kong when she was 13, noted her immigrant roots. She is the widow of Jack Layton, the leader of the leftist New Democrat party who died of cancer in 2011.
Chow is the only candidate from the left in a crowded field of right-of-center contenders.