

Chris Fox, CP24.com





Four west-end city councillors have thrown their support behind Olivia Chow in her bid for mayor.

Councillors Sarah Doucette (Ward 13), Gord Perks (Ward 14), Mike Layton (Ward 19) and Joe Mihevc (Ward 21) gathered in the Junction Tuesday morning to publicly endorse the former NDP Member of Parliament ahead of the Oct. 27 municipal election.

The mass-show of support was originally planned for last week, but was pushed back after Mayor Rob Ford was admitted to hospital.

“I have support from a lot of councillors and I am very grateful that these west-end leaders are joining with me today. We can’t wait to repair the damage that the Ford brothers have done in the last four years,” Chow told CP24. “We can’t afford four more years of the Ford-Tory style policies where they leave people behind. With me as mayor you will see that everyone counts no matter their income or where they come from.”

In addition to the sitting councillors, Ward 20 candidate Joe Cressy and Toronto District School Board trustee candidates Ausma Malik and Marit Stiles also attended the event to throw their support behind Chow.

Following the event, Chow was asked if the support is an indication that she will be able to get the votes necessary to pass motions at city hall and she responded that it “absolutely” is.

In recent years, Mayor Ford has been criticized for being unable to gain the support for his policies among fellow councillors, sometimes being on the wrong end of 42-2 votes with his councillor brother turned mayoral candidate Doug Ford.

“I have worked with everyone before, I will continue to do that as mayor,” Chow said.

The endorsement from Doucette, Perks, Layton and Mihevc are not the first to be made by sitting city councillors.

Last month, Ward 23 councillor John Filion threw his support behind John Tory and on Monday Ward 24 Coun. Jaye Robinson did the same.

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