It’s raining. I am sitting in my apartment in the Plateau of Montreal re-watching the funeral services of the late Jack Layton on YouTube.
I have seen the pride Mr. Layton had for his family and have experienced the support he gave to the LGBTQ community.
What I didn’t know was how much of an influence his partner Olivia Chow also had. She has gone out of her way on many occasions to speak on LGBTQ issues from Equal Marriage to Homo-Immigration in her role as MP. She has gone on to share personal stories about her love for her homogay friends and even marches in the Pride Parade in Toronto.
Now, we clearly think she should be the next leader of the NDP, and possibly the next leader of Canada. This is an OPEN THREAD: Tell us about your love for Olivia Chow. Should she run? Is it the only hope the NDP has?
To know more about Olivia Chow:
Twitter: @oliviachow
Meet Olivia Chow, MP (Trinity-Spadina, NDP)
Olivia Chow’s quest for a better society has been a lifelong journey that has taken her from Hong Kong to Toronto and one of the more extraordinary careers in Canadian politics. First as Trustee, then City Councillor, and now as a Member of Parliament, Olivia has been a tireless activist for the residents of Trinity-Spadina in downtown Toronto.
First elected as an MP in January of 2006, Olivia was re-elected in 2008 and again in May of 2011.
A former Vice Chair of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), and now the Critic of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Olivia is re-introducing the first ever National Public Transit Strategy Bill in the House of Commons so Canadians have access to fast, reliable and affordable public transit. As the New Democratic Party’s former child care critic, Olivia’s Early Learning and Child Care Bill laid the legislative foundation for a universal, high-quality, affordable and non-profit national child care program. It received support from Parliament twice and almost became law.
Olivia gained a taste for political life in 1981 while working as a constituency assistant for New Democrat MP Dan Heap. She assisted Dan Heap to launch the campaign to seek an apology and compensation from the federal government on the shameful anti-immigrant “Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act.” Working tirelessly with grassroots organizations through the years, the federal government finally apologized in 2006, the year Chow became a MP.
First elected as a school Trustee in 1985, Olivia became a City Councillor in 1991, breaking new ground as the first Asian woman elected at the municipal level in Toronto. After Toronto’s amalgamation in 1997, she was re-elected three times as City Councillor.
Olivia Chow had the rare distinction of being voted best Member of Parliament in 2010 and best city councillor seven times by the readers of NOW Magazine and best local politician four times by readers of Eye Magazine. She has also been the recipient of numerous awards, including Consumers Choice Award for the Woman of the Year and received a honourary degree from the Ontario College of Art and Design.
Oilvia Chow clearly has her own gay agenda, below are a few videos I found interesting.
On Equal Marriage:
On homo-immigration:
Gay Pride Toronto:
About the Author
I think she has the charisma and the character – of course in large part due to her connection to Jack – to take the party very far.
I adore her-