Chow is a weak candidate. Many hard-core NDP will support the person carrying their brand no matter how weak (see Joe Pants), and do so vigorously enough that if your media hangouts run towards the slightly more thoughtful you'd think them the overwhelming choice, but in most places the NDP runs third party. Her consideration of transit questions seems to begin and end at that mother trying to get her stroller on to a rush hour bus. For her the most pressing concern for municipal affairs seems to be about expanding after-school and breakfast programs. She doesn't seem to offer much more than Janet Davis, Paula Fletcher and Pam McConnell, although that might be a bit unfair to McConnell, whose conception of the city might run somewhat broader than the others. There's certainly a place for the initiatives they advocate, but there is question for how much of that should be on the municipal tax base and to what degree such social reform should consume the work of city government. There are a lot of big challenges facing the city, and Chow just seems limited in how much of it might capture her attention.
I've been griping all along about how disappointing it has been that the best Toronto could do to combat Ford was dredge up a couple known but lacklustre names like Tory and Chow. Somehow I thought the shock of Ford would have inspired a more dynamic response.
