Olivia Chow will be Toronto’s next mayor. Here's what she promised

Here's what Toronto mayoral elect Olivia Chow promised to do during the election campaign:

Former city councillor and member of parliament Olivia Chow has been elected mayor of Toronto.

Chow was declared the winner of the mayoral byelection on Monday night after dominating in the polls.

The next city council meeting is scheduled for July 19. Here’s what Chow promised to do during the election campaign:

Chow has promised to build a dedicated busway to replace the decommissioned Scarborough RT to the tune of about $60 million. She said the funding would come from replacing the Gardiner Expressway with an at-grade boulevard between Cherry Street and the Don Valley Parkway rather than rebuilding the roadway.

More widely, she has committed to “reversing the recent service cuts” made to the TTC, ensure cell service is available to riders, and make sure public transit is “fast and reliable.”

One of the biggest differences between Chow and the other candidates was her pledge to raise Toronto’s vacant home tax from one per cent to three per cent. The money collected would be used for affordable housing initiatives.

Chow has also promised to build 25,000 homes on city-owned land in the next eight years. Those homes would be developed by the city as well, with a minimum of 7,500 affordable units and at least 2,500 units to be rent-geared-to-income.