Olivia Chow opened her campaign office at Yonge St. and Rosehill Ave. just south of St. Clair Ave on Sunday. The location seems a necessary sign to “uptown folks” that she is more than a south-of-Bloor candidate. In keeping with what most voters might expect, the candidate promised to put children at the heart of her campaign. She said she will broaden after-school activities. When fully operational, it will cost somebody about $3.2 million a year. The promise has the essential quality of an NDP plum. There is much empathy in the expressed need “to do more” without much examination of what’s happening. The main talking point for Ms. Chow was that right now one out of five children has access to after-school activities. But who and where they are is not clear. The promise raises again the merits of all-day kindergarten. It is doubtlessly a boon to working parents but it was sold by the Ontario Government as necessary for the adequate education of kids. There has been considerable questioning of that contention in the light of the first year’s results.
