With the election of Olivia Chow as mayor of Toronto, the two most populous cities in the country are now led by women. Like the Mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, Mme Chow offers a progressive program, lined with social issues, underline experts consulted by The dutywhich remind us, however, that they evolve in very different political contexts within their respective cities.
The election campaign for the mayor of the Canadian metropolis was not followed diligently by Quebecers. However, the election of Olivia Chow represents a clear change of direction, even a blow of bar given by the voters of Toronto, who hold a great power within Ontario and the Canadian Federation.
“When a city like Toronto speaks, people listen,” notes Philippe Dubois, professor of public and political communication at the National School of Public Administration (ENAP).
After a decade of conservative mayors, the choice of a progressive, center-left politician represents real change, said political scientist Martin Horak, who teaches at Western University.
By the way, M.me Chow, 66, “was probably the most left and center of all the candidates.”
The campaign for Ontario’s largest city was marked by a record number of candidates: 102. Despite this dizzying choice, the race was really between a handful of candidates. And it ended in a two-way fight between Mme Chow and the outgoing mayor’s runner-up, Ana Bailão, who had a platform leaning towards the center right, notes Mr. Dubois. The margin separating the two candidates is not huge: “It was not a wave in favor of the new mayor”, he notes. Mme Chow collected 37% of the vote against 32% for Mme Bailao.
The main question
Affordable housing was “the number one issue” for voters in Toronto in this election, says Professor Horak, who is also associate director of Western University’s Center for Urban Policy and Local Governance.
However, the new mayor has put affordable housing at the forefront of her platform, offering a whole range of measures. “The voters really responded to that,” sums up the expert.
Moreover, long before her two campaigns for mayor, Olivia Chow had campaigned for solutions for this item of expenditure which empties citizens’ wallets. The politician, a former New Democrat federal MP – in the party led by her late husband, Jack Layton – has been concerned about this issue for more than three decades.
“It gave her depth and credibility when she presented her proposals,” says Professor Horak. He believes that this file has allowed him to make significant inroads in Scarborough, the least well-off of the three Toronto suburbs.
Affordable housing is also at the heart of the platform that Valérie Plante put forward — one of her three main fields of action — for her re-election in the fall of 2021. She then proposed to build 60,000 affordable housing units in Montreal. .
Two progressive politicians
The two women are also very connected with local social movements and activists on the ground, analyzes Professor Horak. Projet Montréal, Valérie Plante’s party, was born out of citizen movements.
Mme Plant and Mme Chow target the same social issues, notes Danielle Pilette, professor of municipal management at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM). “They see the city as a local government, involved in the socio-community. »
In his victory speech, Mr.me Chow also launched: “You have in front of you the result of immigration! recalls the teacher. Mme Chow is the first visible minority in charge of the metropolis. Mme Plante is also very sensitive to these issues, she adds, which can be seen in its measures to integrate cultural communities.
Mr. Dubois nods. Their programs have a lot in common, with recurring themes, such as public transit and active transportation.
But we must be careful when examining the “implementation” aspect of their proposals, even if they are similar, warn the three professors.
“The parallel is tempting, but the two women do not evolve in a similar environment. The political system is not the same and does not operate in the same way,” underlines Mr. Dubois.
The City of Montreal is structured in a way that allows social movements and activists to have a greater impact at City Hall than in Toronto, particularly within the boroughs, consultation tables, and in s Involved with municipal political parties: these do not exist in Ontario — a major difference, notes Mr. Horak.
“When there are no political parties, you don’t do politics the same way. »
Same, not the same
Danielle Pilette nevertheless underlines another similarity between the two mayors: they are at the head of metropolises which are distinguished from the rest of their respective provinces, which she considers more to the right. Valérie Plante and Olivia Chow are more in line with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal movement, which may work in their favor – for now – since the federal government has a major role in funding infrastructure in major cities. They could therefore form a common front on certain demands addressed to Ottawa.
Mr. Dubois notes, however, these few differences: Olivia Chow is a career politician, whose face was very recognizable in the streets of Toronto, while Ms.me Plante was “virtually unknown” before her first election campaign in 2017. Plante was therefore given the opportunity to “define herself and define her brand”. While Mme Chow arrives with a lot of baggage, which could play against her, he believes. The mayor of Montreal also has all the support of a party behind her, which does not benefit that of the Queen City.
Defining municipal policy
In general, a political platform gives a clue to the perceptions of voters’ needs and priorities, explains Professor Dubois.
The Toronto election illustrates a trend in large cities to go beyond the “classic or traditional powers” of municipalities – roads, garbage collection – to include social issues such as the fight against poverty and housing social, which are not only of municipal competence. “We realize that this has an impact, and we are interested in more global problems. »
According to Martin Horak, the victory of Mme Chow, with its drive to provide solutions to overpriced apartments, “shows the potential and power of housing, and affordable housing, as an election issue.”
“In big cities, people ask themselves, ‘Can we afford the kind of life we want?’ And people are listening to the proposed solutions. »