Rachel Chernos Lin is a Canadian politician. She is currently a

Toronto City Councillor Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The Toronto City Council 2022–2026, current term began on Nove ...

and previously was the chair of the

Toronto District School Board The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), formerly known as English-language Public District School Board No. 12 prior to 1999, is the English-language public-secular school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The minority public-secular franco ...

(TDSB). On 4 November 2024, she won a by-election to replace the late

Jaye Robinson Janet Joy "Jaye" Robinson (December 7, 1962 – May 16, 2024) was a Canadian politician who served as a member of the Toronto City Council from 2010 to 2024. She was the chair of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) from 2018 to 2022. Robinson r ...

Toronto City Council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The Toronto City Council 2022–2026, current term began on Nove ...

. She represents Ward 15 Don Valley West. In 2018, her political career started when she was elected as a TDSB school trustee for Ward 11. She was re-elected as the Ward 11 trustee in the October 2022 municipal election. On 15 November 2022 she was elected as the TDSB’s chair. 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. Chernos Lin lives in the Don Valley West riding with her husband and two children. She is Jewish and her husband is Asian. She also serves on the board of directors of the

Canadian Film Centre The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable organization founded in 1988 by filmmaker Norman Jewison in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally launched as a film school, today it provides training, development and advancement opportunities for ...

."Revolving Door"
''Broadcast Dialogue'', March 6, 2025.

2024 Ward 15 by-election

Ward 15's previous councillor,

, was diagnosed with breast cancer and took a temporary leave of absence from council on 29 October 2019. She returned to council meetings in November 2020, although her attendance was done remotely due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Robinson died – while still serving as a city councillor – on 16 May 2024, at the age of 61. Following her death, City Council – on 26 June 2024 – approved the 4 November 2024 by-election to fill her seat. Her son Sam Robinson ran in the by-election, and came in third. 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. 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. Voter turnout was slightly better than the 2022 general election at 31 percent, which was somewhat unusual for a municipal by-election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chernos Lin, Rachel Toronto city councillors Women municipal councillors in Ontario Jewish Canadian politicians Jewish women politicians 21st-century Canadian municipal councillors 21st-century Canadian women politicians Toronto District School Board trustees Living people Year of birth missing (living people)