Chow reaching for top Toronto seat

As expected, Toronto MP Olivia Chow has stepped down from her seat in Ottawa and is looking for a new place to sit — the mayor’s chair at Toronto city hall.

The widow of former NDP leader Jack Layton kicked off her campaign Thursday in the Toronto neighbourhood where she grew up.  Olivia Chow is no stranger to Toronto city hall — having served there as a city councillor for 14 years before going to Ottawa.

Unofficially, Chow has been leading background polls for the mayor’s job, for several months — but her official entry into the race effectively polarizes the contest between conservative and left of centre voters.

Incumbent mayor Rob Ford represents those on the far right. Other candidates, including John Tory — tend to lean to the conservative side. But Chow represents a clear alternative. Before she even jumped into the race officially, Mayor Rob Ford took a swipe at Chow, dismissing her politics. But Chow responded Thursday by suggesting it’s the incumbent mayor that needs to be dismissed.

Reporter: “What’s your message to voters thinking about voting for Olivia Chow?

Rob Ford: “She makes David Miller look like a conservative.”

Olivia Chow: “The current mayor is failing at his job. And he is no role model for my granddaughters. We deserve better. It’s not just the scandals. It’s really his failed politics.”

Although it may seem somewhat of a surprise — Chow will likely be going after some of the blue-collar voters that support Rob Ford. Her campaign began by emphasizing her modest, immigrant ‘have-not’ roots in the city’s St. James neighbourhood — and her story of rising in the political arena, through hard work. There’s even a hint in her campaign that Rob Ford is not the ‘ordinary guy’ that he claims to be — contrasting Chow’s penchant for riding a bike to work, as opposed to Ford driving there in his own Cadillac SUV.