In 2014 when John Tory first ran for mayor he told would-be voters he’d heal a divided council and bring order and integrity to the circus of the Rob Ford years.
He even presented a Code of Conduct for himself which promised to treat city staff with professionalism and ensure city resources were only spent on city business.
The most pertinent to this moment in time is his guarantee that “real penalties” would be introduced for those on the city payroll who abuse their power (presumably himself as well).
Now just slightly more than eight years later and barely three months into his third term, Tory has resigned in disgrace for abusing his power.
He crossed the line by carrying on an affair with one of his own staffers and apparently using city resources to travel with her.
It appears to have carried on not just during the pandemic. Sources say it endured for three years and just ended a month ago.
However lengthy, one wonders how he could have fully kept his eye on the ball during the pandemic and last fall’s election.
This is the legacy that will haunt Tory.
This plus the simple fact that with his resignation Friday night he leaves a weak council divided and in chaos — the very same chaos he vowed to end in 2014.
Aside from the very hubris and ever increasing egoism that caused the mayor to order Torontonians to stay home, that closed down public parks and forced businesses shut for the longest period of any Ontario city during the pandemic, it also led him to run for a third term (despite promises he would not.)
Once returned to office by the lowest voter turnout in years, he appeared to take his newfound strong mayor powers very seriously, installing the weakest executive team I’ve seen in my 20-plus years covering City Hall.
These were the same people who followed him around during a laughable campaign last summer in which he did photo opps on social media at safe bakeries and restaurants.
He never once touched on the city’s rising crime rate, Toronto’s surging homeless and drug addiction issue, council’s rampant overspending and the general decline of the once great city.
He never once visited neighbourhoods rife with crime and drug addicts, as if such a thing didn’t exist.
The lazy media never asked hard questions, never pointed out what was right in front of their faces (crime, drug addicts and homelessness) and never held Tory to task for his repeated efforts to pander to the activists.
Like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the legacy media gave him a free pass. They didn’t do their jobs.
And is typical, instead of concentrating on the here and now, they’re all abuzz about who might run to replace him for a by-election that is months away. They’d rather focus on the latest shiny object.
At a time when Toronto so desperately needed capable people steering the sinking ship, the executive team was selected because they wouldn’t show up Tory and as quid pro quo for their public appearances with him (I called it a deal with the devil) instead of integrity and talent.
But the weakest link is the woman who is set to take over with all the powers of a strong mayor until a by-election is held.
Deputy mayor Jennifer McKelvie is a nice enough woman and certainly far better educated than most of council, but she’s inexperienced and in my view, will be easily manipulated.
Besides, she wasn’t elected by the citizens of Toronto, only those in her Scarborough ward. That’s a far cry from getting the nod across the city.
Still there is no doubt that Tory selected.all of these weaklings because he wanted to remain in control, particularly at the numerous photo ops he had everyday.
That’s not my idea of a strong mayor. A strong mayor shares decision making and the limelight.
It’s sad to think that Toronto — already verging on the New York of the 1970s and current day Seattle — has been left in the hands of a weak collection of has-beens, retreads, never beens, not terribly insightful or bright and radical defund-the-police types.
Had Tory not run again, perhaps someone of depth, ethics, strength of character and business savvy would have come forward.
I’ve been at this long enough to know how Rob Ford — for all of his warts— had a strong team around him to pick up the slack. There was absolutely no ego with him.
Surprisingly enough, problems were addressed and constituents were treated with respect, despite his addiction issues and the abusive way the media dealt with him.
Had the media held Tory’s feet to the fire (as I tried to do), exposed his conflicts for sitting on the Rogers Trust board, his duplicitousness around tax hikes and his total disdain towards constituents plagued with lawlessness around hotel shelters, perhaps he would not have run again.
But they didn’t and Toronto is left with an impotent council, another costly election on the horizon and the inevitable grandstanding to which we will be subjected by those who have it in their mind to run or support a would-be candidate.
Now the city is in limbo yet again for months. I predict that until there’s a by-election and the new mayor gets up and running, it will be the fall before we see any sort of “vision” if we can call it that.
Meanwhile I predict Toronto will suffer and stagnate — saddled with a huge deficit, a hollowed out downtown core and no political will to improve anything.
