Josh Matlow
Josh Matlow is a community advocate and Toronto City Councillor for Toronto-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 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. 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. She died on July 6, 2015, and is the subject of Dead Mom Walking, a memoir published in 2020 by Josh's sister Rachel Matlow.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.
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, keeping Toronto's school pools open, and helping students to achieve 'economic literacy'. He spoke against a proposal to create an Africentric school in Toronto.
In 2010, Matlow was elected to Toronto City Council where he has become known as a political centrist and has been working on issues such as creating a Toronto Seniors Strategy, a Youth Equity Strategy, a regional transit plan, removing the Ontario Municipal Board's purview over Toronto planning decisions, Toronto's arts & culture sector and combating gridlock.
In 2014, he was re-elected to Toronto City Council with the highest vote count and highest winning percentage of any councillor candidate across the city.
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.In February 2015, Matlow submitted five administrative inquiries asking city staff to address unanswered questions. 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." 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.
Coronavirus/COVID-19
On March 9th, 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.During his time in self-isolation, Matlow would share his experience, observations and words of encouragement to the public via social media, a series of articles in the Toronto Star and daily updates on the CP24 News Channel.
Election results
Municipal
| 2018 Toronto election, Ward 12 | - | - |
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Josh Matlow | 20,371 | 51.60% |
| Joe Mihevc | 16,634 | 42.14% |
| Ian Lipton | 930 | 2.36% |
| Elizabeth Cook | 908 | 2.30% |
| Bob Murphy | 342 | 0.87% |
| Artur Langu | 290 | 0.73% |
| Total | 39,475 | 100% |
| 2014 Toronto election, Ward 22 | - | - |
| 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 | - | - |
| 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% |