Blair to seek Liberal nomination in Scarborough Southwest

Toronto, Former police chief Bill Blair has announced that he will seek the Liberal nomination in Scarborough Southwest, bringing an end to months of speculation over his political future.
Blair confirmed his intentions in an interview with CP24 on Sunday morning, just hours after his 10-year reign as Toronto’s top cop officially came to an end.
The carreer cop, who joined the TPS in 1976, previously refused to comment on his next step, only saying that he planned on continuing to serve the public in some fashion.

“I spent my entire life in service, service to this community, service to the City of Toronto and to my own neighbourhood, and I wanted to find an opportunity to continue to serve,” Blair said while attending the annual Khalsa Day parade on Sunday. “There are lots of different way to do that – I have volunteered on hospital foundations and with Children’s Aid and Covenant House – but I also wanted to be able to have some influence and impact on the quality of people’s lives and the safety of our communities and the best way to do that is through elected office.”
Blair, 61, grew up in Scarborough and chose to raise his family in the east-end neighbourhood.
Though he was reportedly courted by all three federal parties to run in the upcoming federal election, Blair told CP24 that the values of Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberal party most closely aligned with his own, making the decision on which banner to run under relatively easy.
“The values that he (Trudeau) represents and he speaks of are the ones that really speak to me. The notion of inclusiveness and how we should live together are the values that I have carried through my entire tenure in the service,” he told CP24.
NDP Member of Parliament Dan Harris currently represents Scarborough Southwest but a poll conducted by Forum Research in February found that Blair would likely be favoured to win the riding in the event that he entered the race.
The poll of 557 eligible voters in the riding found that 39 per cent of respondents would vote for Blair compared to 29 per cent for Harris and 27 per cent for a Conservative candidate.
Blair is one of six candidates currently registered to seek the nomination in Scarborough Southwest.
“There are so many great people in that community and they need a strong voice,” Blair said. “They need people who can take their concerns and issues to Ottawa and make sure that not just Ottawa but all three levels of government do everything possible to invest in that community. I just want to be part of that.”
Blair isn’t the first Toronto police chief to enter politics. Julian Fantino, who served as police chief from 2000 to 2005, is currently a Conservative Memmber of Parlaiment for the riding of Vaughan.