LILLEY: John Tory makes it official, steps down to look after family as Toronto wonders what is next

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Shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday, John Tory made it official by submitting his resignation to Toronto’s city clerk shortly after the budget passed. As of 5 p.m. on Friday, he will no longer be mayor, no longer hold the job he loved so well.

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“I will be spending the next two days in meetings with Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie and City staff to continue to ensure an orderly transition,” Tory said in a statement sent out at 11:05 p.m.

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It followed several days of ups and downs that began last Friday night with his surprise announcement that he would resign following reports that he had been engaged in an extra-marital affair. The story had been circulating in media for some time without any clear proof until Tory spilled the beans himself.

“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,” he said last Friday. “The relationship ended by mutual consent earlier this year.”

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We are 25 years on from the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal, it’s almost as long since former mayor Mel Lastman admitted to a 14-year-long affair with an employee in which he fathered two children. We have a prime minister in Justin Trudeau who groped a woman and said people experience things differently and still gets re-elected mostly due to support from women.

Based on those political realities, Tory didn’t need to announce he was resigning last Friday, and he didn’t need to make it official on Wednesday. Tory is a different man than Clinton, Lastman or Trudeau and he chose to step down, saying he wanted to focus on fixing relationships with his family.

“I believe in my heart it is best to fully commit myself to the work that is required to repair these most important relationships,” Tory said last Friday.

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That commitment was on display Tuesday as Tory spent Valentine’s Day at a Raptors game with one of his grandsons. People pointed, some took pictures, others asked him to stay on as mayor, but in the end he was there to watch the game with his grandson.

Friends of Tory describe a difficult past few months for him as he has dealt with the breakup of his marriage and the strain it has placed on his relationships with his four children and many grandchildren. Whether he heals the relationship with his wife of 44 years, Barbara Hackett, remains to be seen but Tory is focused on trying to patch things up with his children and grandchildren.

Many people, including councillors, federal officials and Ontario Premier Doug Ford had attempted to convince Tory to stay on as mayor, to rescind his commitment to resign.

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“In my opinion, it’s not time to change,” Ford said. “Let’s not upset the applecart for a personal issue. He’s a really, really good mayor and let’s move forward.”

Late Wednesday, Tory threw the applecart to the side with a statement announcing his resignation being official that was both thankful and apologetic.

“I want to thank the people of Toronto for trusting me as Mayor since 2014. I continue to be deeply sorry and apologize unreservedly to the people of Toronto and to all those hurt by my actions without exception,” Tory said.

He described being mayor as the job of a lifetime and said he would look for ways to continue to serve the city and the people of Toronto. What that will look like going forward is a great unknown; how people will judge Tory compared to other politicians who have made mistakes remains to be seen.

Toronto’s municipal politics have moved on from eight years of bland being good to chaos breaking out. As Tory moves on, the rest of us wonder what comes next and look to the political class for a replacement.