Josh Matlow

Josh Matlow
Toronto City Councillor
Assumed office
December 1, 2010
Preceded by Michael Walker
Constituency Ward 22, St. Paul's
Toronto Public School Trustee
In office
December 1, 2003 – November 30, 2010
Preceded by Shelley Laskin
Succeeded by Shelley Laskin
Constituency Ward 11, St. Paul's
Personal details
Born (1975-11-27) November 27, 1975
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nationality Canadian
Spouse(s) Melissa Christine Matlow
Profession Toronto Councillor, journalist and broadcaster, environmental advocate
Website http://www.joshmatlow.ca

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

2014 Toronto election, Ward 22[25]

Candidate Votes %
Josh Matlow 24,347 86.157%
Bob Murphy 1,586 5.612%
James O'Shaughnessy 1,526 5.4%
Sarfraz Khan 800 2.831%
Total 28,259 100%
2010 Toronto election, Ward 22[26]

Candidate Votes %
Josh Matlow 11,892 52.39%
Chris Sellors 8,037 35.40%
Elizabeth Cook 1,900 8.37%
William Molls 869 3.82%
Total 22,698 100%

Provincial

2002 by-election for riding of Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive ConservativeErnie Eves 15,288 46.59 -
LiberalJosh Matlow 11,728 35.74 -
New DemocraticDoug Wilcox 2,633 8.02 -
GreenRichard Procter 2,017 6.15
Family CoalitionDave Davies 1,025 3.12 -
IndependentJohn Turmel 120 0.37

References

  1. ↑ "CBC News - Canada - Anti-war protests held around the globe". CBC News. 2003-01-19. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
  2. ↑ "Toronto City Councillors, Councillor Josh Matlow". City of Toronto.
  3. ↑ Porter, Catherine (2007-06-25). "Toronto schools to power up rooftops". thestar.com. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
  4. ↑ Brown, Louise (2008-04-10). "Trustee urges more debate on pool closings". Toronto: thestar.com. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
  5. ↑ Kate Hammer (2009-03-24). "Dollars 'n' sense courses urged". Toronto: The Globe and Mail. p. A11.
  6. ↑ Kate Lunau (2008-01-31). "What's next for Toronto's Africentric school? | Macleans.ca - Canada - Features". Macleans.ca. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
  7. ↑ Jackson, Emily (20 February 2012). "With TTC head Gary Webster likely to be sacked, Karen Stintz asks why now?". Toronto Star.
  8. ↑ http://www.toronto.ca/seniors/strategy.htm
  9. ↑ http://t.thestar.com/#/article/news/gta/2014/01/14/toronto_releases_strategy_to_help_citys_most_vulnerable_youth.html
  10. ↑ http://www.openfile.ca/toronto/blog/2012/exec-committee-asks-staff-work-metrolinx-and-other-gta-cities-transit-funding
  11. ↑ The Star (Toronto) http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1215914--omb-good-for-developers-bad-for-cities. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ↑ http://www.globaltoronto.com/councillors+look+to+increase+arts+funding/6442766765/story.html
  13. ↑ http://metronews.ca/news/toronto/25833/getting-road-hogs-off-the-curb/
  14. ↑ http://globalnews.ca/news/1647879/by-the-numbers-torontos-2014-municipal-election/
  15. ↑ Matlow, Josh. "Let's Get Scarborough Transit Back on Track".
  16. ↑ "City of Toronto Staff Report, Scarborough Rapid Transit Options: Reporting on Council Terms and Conditions" (PDF).
  17. ↑ Fane, Kate; et al. "The 3rd Annual Menchies".
  18. ↑ "Agenda Item History - IA3.1: Metrolinx Sunk Costs Associated with the Scarborough LRT".
  19. ↑ "Agenda Item History - IA3.2: Operating and Capital Maintenance Costs for the Scarborough Subway Extension".
  20. ↑ "Agenda Item History - IA3.3: Scarborough Subway Extension Study Area".
  21. ↑ "Agenda Item History - IA3.4: Scarborough Rapid Transit Options".
  22. ↑ "Agenda item History - IA3.5: Ridership Projections for the Bloor-Danforth Subway Extension in Item CC37.17 - Scarborough Rapid Transit Options".
  23. ↑ "Answers needed on Toronto's ill-judged Scarborough subway plan: Editorial". The Toronto Star. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  24. ↑ Pennachetti, Joe. "Re: Administrative Inquiries from Councillor Josh Matlow (IA 3.1-IA3.5)" (PDF).
  25. ↑ "2014 General Election Results for City Ward 22 - St. Paul's".
  26. ↑ "St. Paul's, Ward 22, Councillor". City of Toronto. Retrieved 2012-05-10.

External links

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