Blair to seek Liberal nomination in Scarborough Southwest

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 announced his intentions on his personal Twitter account and then confirmed the news in an interview with CP24 Sunday morning, just hours after his 10-year reign as Toronto’s top cop officially came to an end.

The career 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.

He said it was important he didn’t take his “eye off the ball” on policing while he served as police chief. Blair said he made the decision to jump into politics some time in the last month.

 “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.

Carding policy impact on election

On Sunday afternoon, Blair sat down with CP24 again, this time coming into the Queen Street studio for a more in-depth interview.

He said he’s had “very respectful conversations” with people across the political spectrum and expanded on why he wants to continue to play a leadership role in the city.

When asked if he was concerned that decisions he’s made as police chief – namely his support of the controversial carding practice -- would come back to haunt him in the polls, Blair said he’s confident in his legacy.

He called the practice “very appropriate, lawful and necessary,” and said it’s quite different than racial profiling which is “unlawful and inappropriate” and must be stopped.

“I think sometimes the critics conflate the two issues and they are very, very different,” he said.

Unemployment key priority

As far as the number one issue in the Scarborough Southwest riding, Blair said it is undoubtedly unemployment and underemployment.

“We have to create opportunities,” he said.

Blair said he has every intention of working with constituents in order to “earn” their vote.

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.

The other fiv candidates are Muhammad Bukhari, Michael Kempa, Marlène Thélusma Rémy, Michele Serrano and Tim Weber.

"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.