Olivia Chow is a Canadian politician, former Member of Parliament and current mayor of Toronto since July 12, 2023.
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She is the daughter of Wilson Wai Sun Chow and Ho Sze Chow. Her mother was an educator and her father was a school superintendent
At the age of 13, she immigrated to Canada with her family, settling in Toronto, where they first lived on the third story of a rooming house in the Annex before transferring to a high-rise condominium in St James Town.
To support the family, her father took odd jobs like delivering Chinese food and driving taxis. Her mother worked as a seamstress, maid, and in a hotel laundry. Her father was mentally ill and violently cruel to her half-brother, Andre, and her mother.
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Olivia Chow began her political career as a school trustee in the Toronto District School Board in 1985. She later served as a Toronto City Councillor from 1991 to 2005, representing the Trinity-Spadina ward.
In 2006, Chow was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the federal riding of Trinity-Spadina in Toronto. She served as an MP until 2014 and was a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP).
Following Tory’s resignation, Olivia Chow was elected mayor in 2023, defeating former deputy mayor Ana Bailo and former police chief Mark Saunders.
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