Okay, so I love Toronto. I am even more happy due to the recent mayor elections and am SO GLAD that Chow was re-elected. She was first elected in a public office in 1985 (the year I was born!) and then served on city council for twelve years. Then she represented Trinity-Spadina as a NDP MP. Then she came in third in 2014 for mayor and then NINE years later won in the 2023 race. She is a progressive and I am a progressive. And I am happy.
Source: https://macleans.ca/society/the-power-list-olivia-chow/
One of the things I think progressive-ism does well is attempt to allocate resources for everyone living in the city. I also find it interesting, from an observer perspective, that in the neighborhood I live in, I only say Brad Bradford signs. I think there’s a higher correlation between the huge ingle-family homes and their lack of support for a progressive. One of the issues is property tax, and that Chow wasn’t to raise it. These homeowners own absolutely massive homes. I am not exaggerating. I know we’ve all seen homes in Lawerence Park or Bridle Path. People who have inherited vast amounts of wealth. Those same people all support Clow’s main opponent. Btw every time I saw his signs, I would flip them off.
Now I want to e very clear, I am not against wealth. But I am against people hoarding it. The wealthy should pay more in tax. Those tax dollars should go to the public good. Now in Canada, property taxes go both to the city and the province. Then organizations like the Canadian Hearing Services collect funds primarily from the province. This is not a controversial take, organizations and schools should have more money to impact the public good. The Canadian Hearing Services use these funds for sign language in hospitals. Counseling. Audiology services. I’ve been in the hospital once as an adult, when I had my kiddo. I am so glad that they provide sign language services in hospitals. I could not image having a health issue and not being able to communicate.
I have a friend who has worked with the Canadian Hearing Servies. They own this business here, and Emma works in communications. She helped the CHS with their website, improving UX and then increasing donations. How cool is that? It also shows the complexity of operating a non-profit in Canada. Not only does the CHS have support from t he province, they also needed support fundraising. Because organizations that aid in the public good, should have access to enough funding to do so. Right??
Right.
So, yay for Chow. And yay for Emma. I’m so happy to see two women succeeding in their goals and I feel like Toronto is the perfect backdrop to allocate resources for its residents.
