Former Conservative MP Chris Alexander to Run for Toronto Mayor

Then-Immigration Minister Chris Alexander answers a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 25, 2015. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Former Conservative federal cabinet minister Chris Alexander is officially entering Toronto’s mayoral race amid a sea of more than 30 candidates, including incumbent Olivia Chow and Councillor Brad Bradford.

Alexander officially launched his campaign for the city’s top spot late on July 28 and announced his plan to officially file his papers at City Hall the following day.

The former Ajax-Pickering MP and 57-year-old father of three said he is running because “Toronto has been standing still for three years.”

“A city with this much talent, strength and potential should not be under-performing,” he said in a post on his website. “We need to work together to make Toronto better—the best it can be.”

The former Harper-era immigration minister is set to challenge Chow and Bradford, who are considered the front-runners for mayor in October’s municipal election.

There are 32 names listed on the city’s roster of candidates vying for the top spot, but that count will rise to 33 after Alexander officially registers.

Campaign Platform

Alexander detailed his five main priorities for his mayoral term on his website.

He said he wants to re-start Toronto’s “economic engine” by implementing the Toronto Board of Trade’s priorities for budgeting, congestion, and zoning and by making Toronto the “anchor partner for provincial and federal governments in pursuing national strategies.”

He also highlighted a need for public transit improvements and safer bike lanes as well as more affordable housing options, especially for young people and newcomers struggling to afford rent.

Strengthening neighbourhoods is another top priority cited by Alexander. He said he would focus on making services easier to access in every neighbourhood as well as infrastructure needs, and connecting walking trails for pedestrians.

His last stated goal is to “be ambitious for Toronto” by building on the city’s strengths such as being home to one of the world’s top 10 stock exchanges and “unrivalled library system.”

“Working together, we should aim to be the most liveable, best-governed, most consistently prosperous city in the world—where diversity enriches us all and points the way forward to an even brighter future,” he said.

Candidate History

Alexander previously served as the Conservative MP for Ajax-Pickering from 2011 to 2015 in former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government. He was the immigration minister from 2013 to 2015.

He is known for introducing the “Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act,” which he tabled in the House of Commons in 2014 during his tenure as immigration minister.

It received royal assent in June 2015, criminalizing forced and early marriages, banning polygamous immigrants from entering or staying in Canada, and restricting the legal defence of provocation in honour killings.

The Conservatives were defeated just months later in the 2015 election and Alexander was unsuccessful in securing his riding.

Before embarking on his political career, Alexander was a diplomat in Canada’s Department of External Affairs. He began as a foreign service officer in 1991 and held the position of the first resident Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005. He later wrote a book about his six years in Kabul.

Mayoral Race

Early polling shows a two-way race for mayor. A Liaison Strategies Toronto Pulse survey published on July 29 shows Chow holding an 8-point lead over Bradford among decided and leaning voters.

If a mayoral election were held today, Chow would receive 49 percent of the vote from decided and leaning voters, followed by Bradford at 41 percent, and the next candidate at 10 percent. The poll was performed before Alexander announced his candidacy.

Chow is serving her first term as the city’s mayor after winning a June 2023 byelection to replace Mayor John Tory who resigned in February of the same year.

Bradford also ran in the 2023 byelection, placing eighth. He currently represents Ward 19, Beaches-East York, on city council.

Nominations for the municipal election opened on May 1 and will officially close on Aug. 21. The election is set for Oct. 26.