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.

He attended Sir George Williams University, graduating in June 1966 with Honours in History and winning the Lieutenant-Governor's Silver Medal for the highest standing in history. After graduation he pursued graduate studies at the University of Toronto, earning an MA in history in 1967 and a Ph.D. in 1971. He has published in academic and popular publications on a wide range of topics specializing in modern Canadian politics, Canadian defence and foreign policy, and Canadian military history. He has written, coauthored, or edited over 30 popular and academic books and does regular commentary for television and radio. He has written for the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Calgary Herald, the National Post and other newspapers.
In 1988, Bercuson was elected to the Royal Society of Canada and in May 1989, he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies at The University of Calgary. In 1997 he was appointed Special Advisor to the Minister of National Defence on the Future of the Canadian Forces. He was a member of the Minister of National Defence’s Monitoring Committee from 1997 to 2003. He served on the Advisory Council on National Security from 2005 to 2008. Since January 1997 he has been the Director of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary. Currently he is also the Director of Programs of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, which is based in Calgary. Dr. Bercuson served as Honorary Lieutenant Colonel of 41 Combat Engineer Regiment, a Land Force Reserve military engineer unit of the Canadian Forces until November 2010. He is a member of Board of Governors of the Royal Military College of Canada. In 2002 Dr. Bercuson was awarded the J. B. Tyrrell Historical Medal from the Royal Society of Canada. In 2003, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.