John Tory has resigned as Mayor of Toronto after news surfaced that he had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member during the pandemic.
Following a Friday night news report in The Toronto Star about the relationship, Tory gave a brief press conference where he read from a prepared statement,
“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,” Tory said. “The relationship ended by mutual consent earlier this year. During the course of this relationship sometime ago the employee decided to pursue employment outside City Hall and secured a job elsewhere. I recognize that permitting this relationship to develop was a serious error of judgment.”
He did not take questions from the media following his statement.
Tory – who has served as mayor since 2014 – said he was resigning from mayor to focus on repairing his marriage. Tory’s wife, Barbara Hackett, had spent the bulk of the time during the pandemic in Florida, according to The Star.
While originally promising to serve only two terms as mayor, Tory sought election for a third time in the fall of 2022. He ran without facing any serious opposition.
