Olivia Chow doesn't have French skills or even the English skills to be a successor to Tom Mulcair, plus some people resent her refusal to endorse Joe Cressily during the race vs. Adam Vaughan. Pragmatics mean setting that aside to unseat Adam, but Successor, no, Cabinate Post yes.
For successor I think Megan Leslie, Nathan Cullen, Niki Ashton, Peter Julian, or perhaps a surprise choice from Quebec.
I was going to trash Chow for her oportunistic poll chasing, but before that can we please put this to bed. Olivia Chow's English is entirely fluent, and generally gramatically superior to most Canadian speakers of the language including most politicians. She does not have a standard Canadian English accent, is all.
Accent and fluency are two different things. Sample here.
I really don't have confidence in Chow since she ditched the NDP when it was polling low, ran for mayor on the promise of positive polling, and by the weight of her popularity squandered a good part of the energies of the NDP downtown political machine on a failed mayoralty race that unhappily coincided with a provincial election.
Likewise, it was clear to me, and I am sure it was clear to her that Adam would run for her seat once his path to the mayors chair was blocked by her decision to run for the job. Joe was an unlikely winner against the force of the popular Liberal candidate, and the loss of Trinity Spadina was entirely predictable. In my view she clearly set her own ambition beyond the party, and the consequences for the NDP prestige, locally, provincially and federally were serious.
Very likely had the forces not been disposed as they are, and NDP energies dispersed so, Michael Prue would still be an MPP.
While she was pursuing her career opportunity at City Hall, running a campaign that was every bit as "centerist" as that of the Andrea Horwath, she neither defended the ONDP, and the constant attacks in the MSN, nor did she even endorse Joe Cressy over vaughan.
These losses have been a serious blow to the NDP stock in Toronto. She also deprived the NDP of a local popular "captain" to lead the NDP in Toronto into the next federal election -- herself. Fortunately, it seems Thomas Mulcair has been able to forge forward and put the NDP back on track, along with the outstanding performance of the Rachel Notely and the Alberta NDP.
So, all in all, its hard for me to have faith either in her political accumen, or loyalty to the party. Opportunism wills as opportunism wants.
That said, I am sure she can kick Adam Vaughan's ass, and she will bring added credibility to the campaigns of all Toronto core candidates so I am all for it, because I predict a sweep of all downtown core ridings.