Olivia Chow makes her case to be Toronto's next mayor on Metro Morning

Olivia Chow made her pitch to Toronto voters in an interview with CBC Radio'sMetro MorningWednesday, sayingher mayoralty would be "people-centred" and focused on restoring core services.

"We need hope. We absolutely need it," Chow said of residents in the city.

Chow, back at CBC Toronto less than 24 hours after a live debate with four rival candidates,said that in the last decadecity hall "abandoned" its role in building affordable housing and that she would change course. She also promised to give renters and those facing eviction more protection.

Chow has faced criticism from rivals because she has not said by how much she would need to raise property taxes to help pay for her package of promises. She told host PiyaChattopadhyay that "arbitrarily" tying property taxes increases to the rate of inflation a budgetapproach introduced by former mayor Rob Ford and continued by his predecessorJohn Tory is a "backward" way to approach budgeting and has left the city with a $1.5-billion deficit.

You can hear the full interview below.

LISTEN | Olivia Chow on why she should be Toronto's next mayor:

Who is Chow?

Chow began her career in politics in the mid-1980s as a Toronto school board trustee. She then spent 13 years as a city councillor, a tenure that included 10 years on the budget committee.

In 2006 she was elected as an NDP MP for TrinitySpadina, a position she held for eight years.

In 2014, Chow resigned her seat on Parliament Hill to run for mayor of Toronto. She placed adistant third behind Tory and the runner-up and current Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

This time around, public opinion polls suggest Chow has a commanding lead among decided voters. A Forum Research poll published this week put her support at 38 per cent. Her closest rival, ex-police chief Mark Saunders, had 12 per cent.

There are 102 candidates running to be Toronto's next mayor on June 26. You can find the full list on the City of Toronto's website here.

Looking for more coverage of Toronto's mayoral election? Here are some key stories:

• Check out the full CBC Toronto debate or see the highlights here
• Compare the platforms of six of the top candidates here
• Learn more about how to vote here remember, advance voting opens on Thursday