Rachel Chernos Lin

Rachel Chernos Lin is a Canadian politician. She is currently a Toronto City Councillor and previously was the chair of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB).^[1] On 4 November 2024, she won a by-election to replace the late Jaye Robinson on Toronto City Council.^[2] She represents Ward 15 Don Valley West.^[3] In 2018, her political career started when she was elected as a TDSB school trustee for Ward 11.^[4] She was re-elected as the Ward 11 trustee in the October 2022 municipal election.^[5] On 15 November 2022 she was elected as the TDSB’s chair.^[6] While a school board trustee, she led the board to join a class-action lawsuit against social media companies because of how their products can potentially affect students negatively.^[7] Chernos Lin lives in the Don Valley West riding with her husband and two children.^[8] She is Jewish and her husband is Asian.^[9]

Ward 15's previous councillor, Jaye Robinson, was diagnosed with breast cancer and took a temporary leave of absence from council on 29 October 2019.^[10] She returned to council meetings in November 2020, although her attendance was done remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11] Robinson died – while still serving as a city councillor – on 16 May 2024, at the age of 61.^[12][13] Following her death, City Council – on 26 June 2024 – approved the 4 November 2024 by-election to fill her seat.^[14] Her son Sam Robinson ran in the by-election, and came in third.^[1] Near the end of the campaign progressive candidates Dhruv Jain and Evan Sambasivam suspended their campaigns – too late to remove their names from the ballot – and endorsed Chernos Lin due to fears of splitting the vote and enabling an Anthony Furey victory.^[15] On election night, Cherson Lin won almost 55 percent of the vote, and her closest competitor, Furey, came a distant second with roughly 31 percent of the vote.^[16] Voter turnout was slightly better than the 2022 general election at 31 percent, which was somewhat unusual for a municipal election.^[15]