John Tory’s resignation leaves power vacuum at Toronto city hall

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As Toronto prepares to elect a new mayor following Friday’s surprise resignation of John Tory, Canada’s biggest city prepares for the kind of political upheaval rarely seen over the past decade.

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“During the pandemic, I developed a relationship with an employee in my office in a way that did not meet the standards to which I hold myself as Mayor and as a family man,” the now-former mayor said in a statement read before reporters Friday evening at Toronto City Hall.

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“While I deeply regret having to step away from a job I love, in a city I love even more, I believe in my heart it is best to fully commit myself to the work required to repair these most important relationships.”

The 68-year-old married Tory, who less than four months ago won his third term as Toronto’s mayor, admitted the affair after reporters at the Toronto Star questioned the mayor’s office about his relationship with the 31-year-old staffer.

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The pair began their affair during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tory said — saying the relationship came to a mutual end sometime over the past six weeks.

The woman, he said, left her job in the mayor’s office to seek employment outside of city hall.

“I think it is important for the Office of the Mayor not to in any way be tarnished and not to see the City government itself put through a prolonged period of controversy, arising out of this error in judgement on my part, especially in light of the challenges we face as a city,” Tory said.

Tory’s eight years as mayor began Oct. 27, 2014 after defeating former city councillor and current Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and former MP Olivia Chow — ushering in an era of calm after the action-packed administration of former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.

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Ford’s time as city councillor and later mayor was marked by a number of incidents and scandals — most notably allegations he’d been captured on video smoking crack cocaine.

Tory would go on to win two more elections — soundly beating runner-up Jennifer Keesmaat in 2018, and most recently a huge landslide win last October, defeating his closest competitor by nearly 244,000 votes.

The Mayor’s office, still reeling from the news, told reporters on Saturday that details surrounding Toronto’s transition of power are still up in the air.

Spokesperson Blue Knox told the National Post that details and timelines over Tory’s departure are still being worked out, and will be made known in the coming week.

“The Mayor will be working with the city manager, the city clerk and Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie to ensure an orderly transition in the coming days,” Knox said. 

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McKelvie will act as mayor until a by-election is held.

Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus in the political science department at the University of Toronto, told the National Post that Tory’s resignation will indeed have ramifications.

“It’s significant in any municipality or in any any political system when someone steps down,” he said, pointing out that Toronto’s status as one of the world’s great cities elevates the tempo of the story. 

“I noticed The Associated Press had a story about, so it’s in the American media — if the mayor of Mississauga stepped down, that wouldn’t make the New York Post.”

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Tasked with overseeing a budget larger than some provinces, he said the mayor’s office ranks as one of the more important political posts in the country.

As for the timing of Tory’s departure — in the midst of budget deliberations and Tory’s first term exercising the new “strong mayor” powers bestowed upon Toronto by the provincial government — Wiseman doesn’t think the resignation will have that much of an impact on day-to-day business at city hall.

“The budget has more or less been set, and things aren’t going to change very much,” he said.

“I expect that a lot of people will look to the senior administrators of the city, who have been working closely with Tory and Tory had general support on council so I don’t think much will change.”

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As for how councillors will react, Wiseman said it’s anybody’s guess.

“Councillors are unpredictable because you don’t have parties, they can go off on tangents,” he said.

“Don’t be surprised if some do some try to throw wrenches into the works as a way of getting publicity for themselves.”

City councillors spoken to by the National Post declined comment or didn’t reply to inquires, but the mayor-shaped vacuum at city hall is sparking some intense chatter.

A former school trustee, member of parliament and Toronto city councillor from 1992 until 2005, Olivia Chow told the National Post she sees Tory’s resignation as an opportunity for Toronto to change course.

“There’s a unique opportunity for a different vision, and a different way to do politics,” she said.

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“The city has a huge number of challenges — affordable housing units, like co-operatives, haven’t been built since the end of the 90s. You’re seeing several decades of neglect, which is why things are so desperate.”

The direction of Toronto hasn’t changed much since David Miller left office in 2010, she said.

“We still don’t have proper transit in Scarborough and Etobicoke, SmartTrack is still not very smart, and housing is still in crisis. Other than less drama, the direction hasn’t really changed that much.”

Chow is no stranger to mayoralty campaigns, having placed third in the 2014 municipal election.

She offered no definite answer when asked if she was planning on running herself.

“I don’t know. No, I’m not sure,” Chow remarked with a laugh.

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Jennifer Keesmaat, Toronto’s former chief city planner and who came second to Tory in the 2018 municipal election, took to Twitter shortly after the scandal broke, tweeting “This is a lot of process” and “Like this city did not have enough going on.”

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On Saturday morning, she tweeted that opportunity always comes with change.

“We need a leader who invests in the right infrastructure,” she wrote in a widely-shared tweet.

“I have been resigned to the broken garbage bins, decaying parks + streets. We made that choice when we choose highways over places. I have my eye on a few very good people.”

She has yet to formally announce her intention to run.

Veteran city councillor and current Toronto-Centre MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam took to Twitter to say it’s time to stop “plugging potholes” and take action on fixing Toronto’s infrastructure shortfalls permanently, and urged her former colleagues to toss out the current budget.

“Tory could have used his veto powers if necessary to pass his budget this week. There’s no reason why Council should proceed now,” she Tweeted.

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“Instead, they should ask staff to rework the budget to accurately reflect the real needs of Toronto.”

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Wong-Tam did say she felt Tory’s resignation was the right move.

“It’s no secret that John Tory and I had many political disagreements,” she tweeted.

“Tonight I fully agree that he should resign. His is not a simple, one-time lapse of judgement. Tory was her boss and this is an abuse of power.”

Former Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes also ostensibly tested the waters for a possible run for mayor, Tweeting a poll question asking her followers if she should enter the race. 

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As of early Saturday afternoon, 76 per cent of 1,324 repondants said she should run. 

• Email: bpassifiume@postmedia.com | Twitter: @bryanpassifiume