Ushering in a new progressive era at City Hall

On June 26, together, we were able to elect Olivia Chow as the next mayor of Toronto. It was a historic and hopeful moment! And shortly afterwards, at 11am on Wednesday July 12, the City hosted a Declaration of Office with the City Clerk and officially named Olivia Chow as Mayor of Toronto!

It’s a historic moment for our city made possible by our work together to elect Olivia Chow and end over a decade of conservative rule in Toronto. Our efforts in this election and in the years leading up to it have paid off. Now, we are ushering in a new progressive era at City Hall, and the hope for a better city is palpable.

I want to take this moment to thank you, because this victory belongs to all of us. 

With this election, we chose a different path, one that invests in people and communities. We elected the first woman and first racialized person to lead amalgamated Toronto. To every person who made calls, knocked on doors, chipped in, and supported progressive values—you changed our city. 

While our city is still in crisis and a lot more work needs to be done in order to make it a safe and livable place for all, I hope you take a moment to celebrate what we accomplished together! We have big opportunities on the horizon to change Toronto for the better—and those opportunities are possible because of people like you.

Olivia’s victory comes on the heels of years of hard work. 

When Progress Toronto first launched in 2018, we knew that organizing and building progressive power across Toronto—especially outside the downtown core—was key to winning on progressive issues and changing our city. This is the work we’ve been doing alongside you for the past 5 years. We’ve been organizing and winning on issues, building and training up thousands of volunteers, and running campaigns that have reached hundreds of thousands of people.

That’s why, in this by-election, we were able to jump into action and pour the capacity we’ve built into mobilizing progressives to help elect Olivia Chow as our Mayor. We put our people power to work and had hundreds of volunteers knocking on doors, delivering tens of thousands of campaign flyers, and making calls in support of our Progressive Mayoral Champion. In part because of this work, Olivia’s message of hope reached far beyond traditionally progressive downtown wards, and she won ridings in Scarborough and North York. This proves our theory of change: if we organize, progressive ideas can win all across our city.

The past year has been incredibly exciting for Toronto progressives. Just last October, we were celebrating a very successful election night. We helped elect new progressive city councillors from Etobicoke to Scarborough. 

With Olivia as Mayor and more allies on city council, we can work together to help deliver on a progressive agenda. This is our opportunity to win on housing, transit, services, and more. We have big plans for the next three years—and while it may feel like a time to roll back our efforts, this is in fact when we need to step up our work in order to use the momentum we’ve created and win big changes for our city.

We thank you for your work and invite you to continue organizing with us.

While having Olivia and our progressive allies in power is an important step to winning on key issues, conservatives across our city and those with monied interests in what’s happening at City Hall will be working hard to slow down progress however they can.

That’s why we cannot let up on our organizing work. We know that Olivia will be more harshly judged than her conservative predecessors, and our work to ensure progressive issues are front and center will be more critical than ever. Throughout the next three years, we need to build strong public support for Olivia’s progressive agenda to make sure it succeeds at City Hall.

We have an opportunity to change the trajectory of our city.

If you are able, please chip in to support our work so we can keep building power and winning. The most meaningful and impactful donation you can give is a small monthly contribution. A big thank you to our monthly donors who sustain our work. If you aren't already a monthly donor, please consider starting a monthly gift today.

This victory gives our team, volunteers, and residents across the city a renewed sense of hope for the future of Toronto.

This election proved what is possible for our city; it showed us what can happen when we work together. I am proud of Progress Toronto's work this election, and all the cumulative work that led to the city’s biggest progressive victory in over 12 years.

Thank you for organizing with us. Thank you for voting progressive, for signing petitions, speaking out to advocate for change, for donating, and for volunteering your time.

Thank you for your commitment to our city,

Saman Tabasinejad
Acting Executive Director
Progress Toronto