Josh Matlow

Josh Matlow (born November 27, 1975) is a community activist and Toronto City Councillor for Ward 22, St. Paul's. He served as a school trustee representing the midtown Toronto riding of St. Paul's between 2003 and 2010 at the Toronto District School Board. On October 25, 2010, Matlow was elected to Toronto City Hall. He was re-elected in 2014 with the largest number of votes and highest plurality (86.2 percent) of any candidate running for Toronto City Council across the city.

Background

Matlow was a co-director of Earthroots, an Ontario environmental non-governmental organization. He also worked for the Canadian Peace Alliance, organizing against the war in Iraq.^[1] He lives in Toronto with his wife, Melissa and daughter, Molly. His father, Ted Matlow, is a federally appointed judge and his mother, Elaine Mitchell, was a retired high school teacher. She died on July 6, 2015.

Matlow has written articles for several local newspapers as well as the Toronto Sun and Toronto Star. He hosted a call-in radio show on University of Toronto station CIUT, was a weekly contributor and co-host on Toronto talk-radio station AM 640 and CFRB. He hosted a talk radio show called The City with Josh Matlow on Toronto radio station Newstalk 1010 and was a weekly columnist for the Toronto Star.^[2]

Politics

In 2002 and at the age of 26, Matlow was asked by the Ontario Liberal Party to run as their candidate in Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey in a by-election against Progressive Conservative Premier Ernie Eves. He lost by 3,560 votes.

In 2003, Matlow was elected to the Toronto District School Board trustee and re-elected to the same position in 2006. He worked on a number of initiatives including installation of solar panels on school rooftops,^[3] keeping Toronto's school pools open,^[4] and helping students to achieve 'economic literacy'.^[5] He spoke against a proposal to create an Africentric school in Toronto.^[6]

In 2010, Matlow was elected to Toronto City Council where he has become known as a political centrist ^[7] and has been working on issues such as creating a Toronto Seniors Strategy,^[8] a Youth Equity Strategy, ^[9] a regional transit plan,^[10] removing the Ontario Municipal Board's (OMB) purview over Toronto planning decisions,^[11] Toronto's arts & culture sector ^[12] and combating gridlock.^[13]

In 2014, Josh Matlow was re-elected to Toronto City Council with the highest vote count (24,347) and highest winning percentage (86.2%) of any councillor candidate across the city.^[14]

TTC subway extension into Scarborough

Matlow is an outspoken advocate for the seven-stop Scarborough LRT over the 3-stop subway. He refers to the LRT as the "evidence-based" transit option, as it serves more people within walking distance and won't require an additional $1 billion in debt and taxes from the City of Toronto.^[15][16]

In July 2013, Matlow exposed Mayor Rob Ford's ignorance of the route of the Scarborough LRT, which Ford said will "go down the middle of the road" despite it being in a completely traffic-separated corridor. A video of the exchange quickly went viral through Youtube, reaching over 100,000 views.

Also in 2013, Matlow was awarded a "Menschie" by The Grid magazine for his work on the Scarborough subway. The publication said that Matlow's "continued pursuit of facts makes him an essential member of council."^[17]

In February 2015, Matlow submitted five Administrative Inquiries asking City Staff to address unanswered questions.^{[18][19][20][21][22]} The Toronto Star wrote an editorial stating that "City Councillor Josh Matlow is right to press for answers on the ill-judged Scarborough subway extension with even basic numbers still unknown."^[23] The City Manager's response confirmed that City Staff still do not know how many people will ride the Scarborough subway, where it will go, or how much it will cost.^[24]

Election results

Municipal

Provincial

References

External links

• City of Toronto Councillor Profile
• Official website