Josh Matlow

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Josh Matlow
Josh Matlow (39623665021).jpg
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 12 Toronto—St. Paul's
Assumed office
December 1, 2018
Preceded byWard created
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 22 St. Paul's
Assumed office
December 1, 2010
Preceded byMichael Walker
Succeeded byWard dissolved
Toronto District School Board Trustee
for St. Paul’s
In office
December 1, 2003 – November 30, 2010
Preceded byShelley Laskin
Succeeded byShelley Laskin
Personal details
Born (1975-11-27) November 27, 1975 (age 47)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Political partyIndependent
(Municipal politicians are elected on a non-partisan basis in Toronto)
Other political
affiliations		Ontario Liberal (2002)
SpouseMelissa Christine Matlow
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • environmental advocate
  • politician

Josh Matlow (born November 27, 1975) is a Canadian politician who has served on the Toronto City Council since 2010. He presently represents Ward 12 Toronto—St. Paul's.

Matlow was a Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustee between 2003 and 2010 before his election to council representing St. Paul's. He was elected to City Council following the 2010 municipal election, and was re-elected in 2014, 2018 and 2022.

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, was a federally appointed judge and his mother, Elaine Mitchell, was a retired high school teacher.[2]

Matlow has written articles for several local newspapers including 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.[3]

Political career

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.

Trustee (2003—2010)

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,[4] keeping Toronto's school pools open,[5] and helping students to achieve 'economic literacy'.[6] He spoke against a proposal to create an Africentric school in Toronto.[7]

Election to council and first term (2010—2014)

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

Second term (2014—2018)

In 2014, he 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.[13]

TTC subway extension into Scarborough

Matlow supports the seven-stop Scarborough LRT over the three-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.[14][15]

In February 2015, Matlow submitted five administrative inquiries asking city staff to address unanswered questions.[16][17][18][19][20] 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."[21] 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.[22]

Third term (2018—2022)

On March 9, 2020, Josh Matlow became the first known Canadian politician to go into quarantine after coming into close contact with a person who had tested positive for COVID-19.[23]

In 2020, Matlow put forward a motion in Toronto City Council to defund the Toronto Police Service by 10 percent and allow city council to read the line by line police budget they vote on. "It's time to defund the police budget and re-balance our use of public funds".[24] The motion was defeated.[25]

Fourth term (2022—present)

Election results

Municipal

2022 Toronto Municipal Election, Ward 12, Toronto[26]
Candidate Votes Vote Share
Josh Matlow 22,670 84.7%
Bryan Ashworth 2,045 7.6%
Bob Murphy 1,175 4.4%
Antonio Corpuz 892 3.3%
Total 26,782 100%
2018 Toronto municipal election, Ward 12 Toronto—St. Paul's
Candidate Votes Vote share
Josh Matlow 20,371 51.60%
Joe Mihevc 16,634 42.14%
Ian Lipton 930 2.36%
Elizabeth Cook 908 2.3%
Bob Murphy 342 0.87%
Artur Langu 290 0.73%
Total 39,475
100%
Source: City of Toronto[27]
2014 Toronto election, Ward 22[28]
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 [29]
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 Conservative Ernie Eves 15,288 46.59 -
Liberal Josh Matlow 11,728 35.74 -
New Democratic Doug Wilcox 2,633 8.02 -
Green Richard Procter 2,017 6.15
Family Coalition Dave Davies 1,025 3.12 -
Independent John Turmel 120 0.37

References

  1. ^ "CBC News - Canada - Anti-war protests held around the globe". CBC News. 2003-01-19. Archived from the original on 2012-08-01. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
  2. ^ Ryan Porter, "Laughing in the face of dark times — lessons for life with COVID-19". Toronto Star, April 2, 2020.
  3. ^ "Toronto City Councillors, Councillor Josh Matlow". City of Toronto. 22 August 2017.
  4. ^ Porter, Catherine (2007-06-25). "Toronto schools to power up rooftops". thestar.com. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
  5. ^ Brown, Louise (2008-04-10). "Trustee urges more debate on pool closings". thestar.com. Toronto. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
  6. ^ Kate Hammer (2009-03-24). "Dollars 'n' sense courses urged". Toronto: The Globe and Mail. p. A11.
  7. ^ Kate Lunau (2008-01-31). "What's next for Toronto's Africentric school? | Macleans.ca - Canada - Features". Macleans.ca. Archived from the original on 2011-05-18. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
  8. ^ "With TTC head Gary Webster likely to be sacked, Karen Stintz asks why now?". The Toronto Star. 2012-02-20. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  9. ^ "Seniors & Disabled". 2017-11-15.
  10. ^ "Exec committee asks staff to work with Metrolinx and other GTA cities on transit funding | OpenFile". Archived from the original on 2012-09-11. Retrieved 2012-07-28.
  11. ^ "OMB: Good for developers, bad for cities?". The Toronto Star. 2012-06-23. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  12. ^ "Getting 'road hogs' off the curb". Metro News. August 17, 2011. Archived from the original on April 16, 2014.
  13. ^ "By the numbers: Toronto's 2014 municipal election - Toronto | Globalnews.ca". 2014-11-02.
  14. ^ Matlow, Josh. "Let's Get Scarborough Transit Back on Track".
  15. ^ "City of Toronto Staff Report, Scarborough Rapid Transit Options: Reporting on Council Terms and Conditions" (PDF).
  16. ^ "Agenda Item History". app.toronto.ca.
  17. ^ "Agenda Item History". app.toronto.ca.
  18. ^ "Agenda Item History". app.toronto.ca.
  19. ^ "Agenda Item History". app.toronto.ca.
  20. ^ "Agenda Item History". app.toronto.ca.
  21. ^ "Answers needed on Toronto's ill-judged Scarborough subway plan: Editorial". The Toronto Star. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  22. ^ Pennachetti, Joe. "Re: Administrative Inquiries from Councillor Josh Matlow (IA 3.1-IA3.5)" (PDF).
  23. ^ "City councillor on self-isolation: 'I look forward to getting back into the world eventually'". Toronto Star. 10 March 2020.
  24. ^ "Toronto Councillors Put Forward Motion to Reduce Police Budget by 10%". CBC. June 8, 2020.
  25. ^ "Toronto Just Voted Not To Defund The Police". BlogTO. August 26, 2020.
  26. ^ "Full election night results for Toronto-St. Paul's including school board trustee races". thestar.com. 2022-10-24. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  27. ^ "Declaration of Results" (PDF). Toronto City Clerk's Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 25, 2018.
  28. ^ "2014 General Election Results for City Ward 22 - St. Paul's".
  29. ^ "St. Paul's, Ward 22, Councillor". City of Toronto. Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2012-05-10.

External links

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