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{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Josh Matlow
| image = Josh Matlow Election night party speech (
| caption = Matlow in
| office = [[Toronto City Councillor]]<br />for [[Ward 12 Toronto—St. Paul's]]
| term_start = December 1, 2018
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| spouse = Melissa Christine Matlow
| profession =
| occupation = {{hlist|Journalist|environmental advocate|politician}}
| party = [[Independent politician|Independent]]
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}}
'''Josh Matlow''' (born November 27, 1975) is a Canadian politician who has served on the [[Toronto City Council]] representing [[Ward 12 Toronto—St. Paul's]] since 2010.
Matlow ran as the [[Ontario Liberal Party]] candidate in the 2002 [[Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey (provincial electoral district)|Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey]] byelection, losing against [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservative]] [[Premier of Ontario|Premier]] [[Ernie Eves]]. 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 Toronto municipal election|2010 municipal election]], and was re-elected in [[2014 Toronto municipal election|2014]], [[2018 Toronto municipal election|2018]] and [[2022 Toronto municipal election|2022]]. Matlow
==Early life and education==
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Before entering politics, Matlow was an actor. He performed in festivals, did comedy improv and television commercials.<ref name=":3" />
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.<ref>{{cite news|url=
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-FM|CIUT]], was a weekly contributor and co-host on Toronto talk-radio station [[CFMJ (AM)|AM 640]] and [[CFRB]]. He hosted a talk radio show called ''The City with Josh Matlow'' on Toronto radio station [[CFRB|Newstalk 1010]] and was a weekly columnist for the ''Toronto Star''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/council/members-of-council/councillor-ward-12/ |title=Toronto City Councillors, Councillor Josh Matlow |date=22 August 2017 |publisher=City of Toronto }}</ref>
==Political career==
In 2002
=== TDSB Trustee (2003—2010) ===
In 2003, Matlow was elected to the Toronto District School Board as a [[school trustee|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,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2007/06/25/toronto_schools_to_power_up_rooftops.html |title=Toronto schools to power up rooftops |work=thestar.com |date=2007-06-25 |access-date=2010-09-09 |first=Catherine |last=Porter}}</ref> keeping school pools open,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/article/413158 |title=Trustee urges more debate on pool closings |work=thestar.com |date=2008-04-10 |access-date=2010-09-09 |location=Toronto |first=Louise |last=Brown}}</ref> and helping students to achieve 'economic literacy'.<ref>{{cite news|author=Kate Hammer |title=Dollars 'n' sense courses urged |page=A11 |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date=2009-03-24 |location=Toronto}}</ref>
In === Toronto City Councillor ===
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==== Political stance ====
Matlow initially positioned himself as a political centrist during his first term.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-02-20 |title=With TTC head Gary Webster likely to be sacked, Karen Stintz asks why now? |language=en-CA |work=The Toronto Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2012/02/20/with_ttc_head_gary_webster_likely_to_be_sacked_karen_stintz_asks_why_now.html |access-date=2022-03-14 |issn=0319-0781}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=April 27, 2012 |title=Centrist councillors haven't yet settled on priorities |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/centrist-councillors-haven-t-yet-settled-on-priorities-1.1206152 |website=CBC News}}</ref>
In a 2011 interview with BlogTO, he proposed contracting out garbage collection services and allowing unions to compete in the tender, citing frustrations during the 2010 strike. He also supported asking the province to declare transit an essential service, which would prohibit workers from striking. Matlow supported the repeal of a vehicle registration tax, calling for a reevaluation of financing relations with the province. He also expressed his dislike of the land transfer tax, however, did not support a repeal as it would leave a large revenue gap in the city budget.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Toronto through the eyes of Councillor Josh Matlow |url=https://www.blogto.com/people/2011/02/toronto_through_the_eyes_of_councillor_josh_matlow/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=www.blogto.com |language=en}}</ref>
Later in his career, Matlow shifted to the left, describing himself as a "pragmatic progressive" in 2023.<ref name=":0" /> He has supported issues such as a judicial inquiry of encampment clearings, reducing the police budget, and increasing property taxes to offset a transit fare increase.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2022-09-15 |title=Ward 12 — Toronto-St. Paul's |url=https://thelocal.to/ward-12-toronto-st-pauls/ |access-date=2023-04-01 |website=The Local |language=en-US}}</ref>
==== Scarborough transit extension ====
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==== Integrity Commissioner rulings ====
In 2017, the integrity commissioner ruled that Matlow breached the council code of conduct by making claims on a radio show that a city staff member had misled council in 2016. City Manager [[Peter Wallace (Canadian civil servant)|Peter Wallace]] asked Matlow to apologize after hearing the interview, which he subsequently did. Following the commissioner's report, Matlow said he was "clearly wrong in pointing at a specific name", but "firmly stand by the concerns" he raised.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jeffords |first=Shawn |title=T.O. councillor scolded by integrity commissioner |url=https://torontosun.com/2017/04/21/to-councillor-scolded-by-integrity-commissioner |access-date=2023-04-01 |website=Toronto Sun |language=en-CA}}</ref>
In 2018, TTC CEO [[Andy Byford]] submitted a complaint to the integrity commissioner, who later ruled that ruled that Matlow again breached the code of conduct when he made comments on a radio show questioning the objectivity of
In 2023, the integrity commissioner ruled that Matlow breached the code of conduct in two separate instances. In the first complaint, he claimed in a tweet that staff had "lied" to him about the opening date of park bathrooms.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Spurr |first=Ben |date=2023-03-24 |title=Councillor Josh Matlow should face stiff penalties for tweets critical of city staff, says report |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2023/03/24/councillor-josh-matlow-should-face-stiff-penalties-for-tweets-critical-of-city-staff-says-report.html |access-date=2023-04-01 |website=The Toronto Star |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rider |first=David |date=2023-03-31 |title=Josh Matlow, Toronto mayoral hopeful and city councillor, reprimanded by his colleagues over tweets criticizing civil servants |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2023/03/31/josh-matlow-toronto-mayoral-hopeful-and-city-councillor-reprimanded-by-his-colleagues-over-tweets-criticizing-civil-servants.html |access-date=2023-04-01 |website=The Toronto Star |language=en}}</ref>
The second
=== 2023 mayoral by-election ===
Matlow announced on March 21, 2023, his intention to run for [[mayor of Toronto]] in the [[2023 Toronto mayoral by-election|2023 by-election]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Rider |first=David |date=2023-03-21 |title=Josh Matlow confirms he’s running for mayor |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2023/03/21/josh-matlow-confirms-hes-running-for-mayor.html |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=The Toronto Star |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 21, 2023 |title=Longtime city councillor Josh Matlow running to be Toronto's next mayor |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/josh-matlow-mayor-toronto-race-1.6785429 |website=CBC News}}</ref> He lost to [[Olivia Chow]] on June 26, finishing in 5th place with 35, 572 votes (4.91%).<ref>{{Cite web |title=City of Toronto - City of Toronto Elections Result |url=https://electionresults.toronto.ca/ |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=electionresults.toronto.ca |language=en-CA}}</ref>
In an interview with the ''Toronto Star'', Matlow described his approach as "pragmatic progressive", and committed to improving city finances and services through cost savings and a property tax increase. He noted a city report which identified a $46.5 billion in budget pressures over the next decade, promising to take meaningful action to address it.<ref name=":0" />
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He proposed increasing property taxes and introducing a two per cent annual "city works fund" charge. The new fund would generate $78 million per year to be directed towards service and infrastructure improvements, costing the average household an additional $67 a year.<ref name=":0" />
Matlow would pause plans to
Matlow proposed establishing a $115 million community health and safety fund, which would be spent on programs to combat the root causes of crime, such as through mental health supports. The program would be financed by diverting funding increases to the $1.16 billion police budget for three years. The Auditor General's Office and [[Toronto Police Services Board]] would support TPS in finding budgetary efficiencies.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 5, 2023 |title=Matlow proposes capping Toronto police budget at $1.16B for 3 years to fund community health, safety |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/matlow-police-budget-1.6802420 |website=CBC News}}</ref>
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===Municipal===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
| colspan="3" |'''[[
|-
! scope="col" style="background:#ddf;" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="background:#ddf;" |Votes
! scope="col" style="background:#ddf;" |Vote share
|-
| scope="row" |Olivia Chow
| align="right" |269,372
| align="right" |37.17%
|-
| scope="row" |Ana Bailão
| align="right" |235,175
| align="right" |32.45%
|-
| scope="row" |Mark Saunders
| align="right" |62,167
| align="right" |8.58%
|-
| scope="row" |Anthony Furey
| align="right" |35,899
| align="right" |4.95%
|-
| scope="row" |Josh Matlow
| align="right" |35,572
| align="right" |4.91%
|-
| scope="row" |Mitzie Hunter
| align="right" |21,229
| align="right" |2.93%
|-
| colspan="3" |Source: [[Municipal government of Toronto|City of Toronto]]<ref name="thestar.com">{{Cite web |date=2022-10-24 |title=Full election night results for Toronto-St. Paul's including school board trustee races |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/toronto-election/results/2022/10/24/full-election-night-results-for-toronto-st-pauls-including-school-board-trustee-races.html |access-date=2022-10-26 |website=thestar.com |language=en}}</ref>
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
| colspan="3" |'''[[2022 Toronto Municipal Election]]''', '''[[Ward 12 Toronto—St. Paul's]]'''
|-
! scope="col" style="background:#ddf;" |Candidate
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! align="right" |{{Right|100%}}
|-
| colspan="3" |Source: [[Municipal government of Toronto|City of Toronto]]<ref
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
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===Provincial===
{{
{{Election box begin | title=2002 by-election for riding of [[Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey (provincial electoral district)|Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey]]}}
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==External links==
* {{TorontoCouncillor|ID=matlow1}}
* {{official website|http://www.joshmatlow.ca/}}
{{Toronto City Councillors}}
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[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Toronto city councillors]]
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