Chow is a former Canadian politician who served as federal New Democratic Party Member of Parliament for Trinity-Spadina from 2006–2014, and Toronto city councillor from 1991 to 2005. Chow is the widow of former NDP and Opposition Leader Jack Layton; they were married from 1988 until his death from cancer in 2011. She was a candidate in the 2014 Toronto mayoral election, where she placed third behind winner John Tory and runner-up Doug Ford.
Chow won the Trinity—Spadina riding for the New Democratic Party on January 23, 2006, becoming a member of the House of Commons of Canada. In 2011, she was re-elected in her riding for her third straight win. She speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and English. In May 2012, Chow was named one of the top 25 Canadian immigrants in Canada by Canadian Immigrant magazine. Chow's personal memoir, titled My Journey, was published January 21, 2014. Chow resigned her seat in parliament on March 12, 2014, to run in the 2014 Toronto mayoral election. Following her mayoral election loss, Chow became a distinguished visiting professor at Ryerson University from 2015 to 2018.

Francis St. George Spendlove was born in Montréal on April 23, 1897. He was educated privately by tutors and showed particular interest in art history. At the age of 19, he enlisted in the military during World War I and served in Europe, suffering a severe concussion that injured the nerves in his ears, leaving him with a hearing impairment . In 1919, he returned to Montréal but was unable to work for two years. It was during the latter part of this period that he read a book on comparative religion and became interested in the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith. After working as a fine arts dealer for several years, he sold his business and spent a year travelling across Palestine, India and the Far East. Between 1932 and 1933 Mr. Spendlove made the first of his two pilgrimages to Haifa. The year following his trip, he went to London to study Chinese archaeology at the Courtauld Institute of the University of London. On completion of this course, he was granted a post-graduate diploma in archaeology and was recommended to the Royal Academy to assist it in preparing its catalogue for the great International Exhibition of Chinese Art, shown at Burlington House in 1935. In November 1936, Spendlove returned to Canada to join the staff of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, overseeing the Japanese and East Indian collections. After several years, he became the curator of the modern European collections and was appointed a special lecturer in the Department of Art and Archaeology at the University of Toronto. His remarkable memory enabled him to recall details of Chinese art, European furniture, Indian art, Japanese ceramics and lacquer, timepieces, glass, silver and Canadiana. His final appointment at the Royal Ontario Museum came in 1952, as curator of the Canadiana collection. Mr. Spendlove’s first book, The Face of Early Canada, published in 1958, is illustrated with pieces from this collection. A second book, Collectors’ Luck, followed in 1960. He died in 1962.