Olivia Chow’s ‘Ask Me Anything’ well received

Mayoral candidate last in a line of politicians using Reddit to entice social media users

Olivia Chow speaks to reporters outside of City Hall about Ford's condition on Wednesday. Sana Fatani

Olivia Chow is the latest politician to attempt to curry social media favour on Reddit.

Her one-hour Ask Me Anything on Wednesday got over 800 upvotes and more then 200 questions.

Most of the questions centered around transit, including traffic congestion exacerbated by TTC buses, Chow’s subway plan, and a possible expansion to the island airport.

Chow said that she supported rebuilding old TTC buses, but user Lake_O_Lips pointed out, with attribution, that as an MP she said that putting duct tape over buses was not a policy. This retort went unanswered.

Chow’s AMA, however, went off well with Reddit’s user base.

Chow indicated that she’d extended an offer to Soknacki to join her team, which right now has more than 70 upvotes. She also answered many questions for a short amount of time, including one asking why her campaign had been so “meek.”

“Next to typical politicians, I know I come off a little different,” Chow responded. “I’m a little quieter. I speak with an accent. My face is partially paralyzed. But that doesn’t make me any weaker than the others. Because it takes a bit more for me to be heard, when I say something I really mean it.”

Chow joins Soknacki in a handful of politicians who’ve done well received AMAs. Kathleen Wynne’s AMA in February was particularly unruly, with reddit users frustrated at her sparse and guarded responses.

About this article

By: Jasun Singh
Copy editor: Arturo Chang
Posted: Sep 18 2014 12:13 pm
Edition:
Filed under: News Toronto Votes 2014
Topics: