Former NDP MP, city councillor Olivia Chow enters crowded race to be Toronto's next mayor

Former NDP member of Parliament and Toronto city councillor Olivia Chow is running to be the city's next mayor.

Chow, who began her political career in the mid 1980s as a school board trustee before spending 13 years as a city councillor and eight years as an MP, made the announcement Monday.

"I know how to work across the aisle with people of different political stripes. I know how to get things done," she told reporters gathered on a Spadina Avenue restaurant terrace downtown.

There are currently 48 candidates registered for the June 26byelection, and with nominations open until next month, that number could grow. Chow saidsaid her experienceat the municipal and federal levels make her uniquely qualified to take on the city's top job.

"What makes me stand out in this crowded field? I have the experience. I have the strength. I know how to bring people together and I know how to get results. And that is what I will do," Chow said.

"I believe that together we can create a city that is more caring, more affordable and safer for everyone."

Chow noted the 10 years she spent on the city's budget committee, saying that work will help her tackle the $1.5-billion budget hole currently looming over Toronto's fiscal future. She signalled that increasing funding streams from the provincial and federal governments would be a key part of her plan.

"That is where the money is, the federal and provincial governments," Chow said. She declined to directly answer a question about whether she would raise taxes to help balance the city's finances.

2nd mayoral run

As a city councillor, she said, she helped establish child nutrition programs and expand the number of languages spoken by 911 dispatchers.

This will be Chow's second run to lead Toronto. Sheresigned as MP for the riding of TrinitySpadina in 2014 to run in that year's municipal election, placinga distant third behind runner-up and current Ontario Premier Doug Ford and winner John Tory. Torywent on to be elected to three terms before he resigned in February after admitting to an affair with a staffer.

The following year Chowtried to retake her seat on Parliament Hill during the 2015 federal election but lost to her Liberal opponent Adam Vaughan.

Chow said Monday that she willrelease a full platform in the coming weeks. But she did say she does not support the province's proposal to have a private company build a sprawling indoor spa and waterpark at Ontario Place,and also suggested she will have a plan to build housing where the eastern stretch of the Gardiner Expressway currently stands.

Chow also said she would not use the "strong mayor" powers bestowed on the city's mayor by the province last year to "override the power of council."

Chow says she's not worried about vote split

Chow is the latest contenderto enter a crowded field that already includes some well-known candidates,including councillors Josh Matlow and Brad Bradford, former councillorAnaBailoand former police chief Mark Saunders.

The first two weeks of the campaign centred largely around the issues of public safety, housing and the controversial redevelopment of Ontario Place.

Asked if she thinks her runcould split votes among progressive candidates, Chow downplayed that possibility.

"I am not worried about splitting votes," but rather about residents who can't afford their rent and vulnerable people being turned away from shelters, she said.

A full list of candidates running to be Toronto's next mayor can be found here.