Olivia Chow mulling Toronto mayoral run

Trinity-Spadina MP Olivia Chow told CBC that she's mulling a run at the Toronto mayor's chair.

Chow's name came up repeatedly amongmedia andCity Hall watcherswhen it appeared Mayor Rob Ford would lose his job earlier this year. ASuperior Court judge ruled thatFord had contravened the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act and ordered him from office, but a Divisional Court overturned the decision.

Speaking Wednesday on CBC TV's George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight ahead of the release of a biopic on her late husband, former NDP Leader Jack Layton, Chowsaid she loves Toronto but hasn't made any final decision.

'I am considering it'

"I'm listening to people's advice," she said. "Jack wanted to be mayor. Maybe I want to be a mayor, too, but maybe not. Perhaps I won't be able to do it. I am considering it."

Layton was elected to council in 1982 and had a failed mayoral bid in 1991. Chow's stepson Mike Layton is a sitting councillor.

Chow, theNDP's current Transport critic, has a long history as a Toronto councillor herself. She was the first Asian woman elected to Metropolitan Toronto Council, in 1991,and she was re-elected five times before winning a federal seat in 2006.

She was chair of the community services committee and vice-chair of the Toronto Transit Commission.

Chow'swebsite boasts that "shewas central in forging nine consecutive balanced budgets as a member of the citys budget committee from 1994 to 2003."

Ford has said that he will run for re-election. Other potential opponents bandied about by the media and other political watchers during Ford's court troubles included councillors Adam Vaughan, Shelley Carroll, Denzil Minnan-Wong and Karen Stintz.

Thenext municipal electionwill take place inOctober 2014.