Just the facts:
John Tory will step down as the mayor of Toronto, after having admitted to an extramarital relationship with a city staffer. In a press conference Friday night, Tory said that, during the pandemic, he “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 has been married to his wife, Barbara Hackett, for more than 40 years.
Tory, 68, says he will work with the city manager, city clerk, and deputy mayor Jennifer McKelvie to organize an orderly transition.
“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," he said.
"As well, 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 judgment on my part, especially in light of the challenges we face as a city."
According to the Toronto Star, the 31-year-old staffer “accompanied Tory on trade missions and governance trips to Los Angeles, Ottawa, Austin, Tex., New York City and Europe between 2018 and 2020. She left the mayor’s office sometime after early 2021.”
Tory initially won the office in 2014, promising a departure from the scandal-ridden tenure of then-mayor Rob Ford.
He cruised to a third election victory in fall 2022.
"It has been the job of a lifetime," he said.
First impressions:
This announcement, only 109 days after Tory won re-election, has sent shockwaves through the province’s largest city as it was expected to delve into its budget process next week.
Tory’s resignation also has repercussions for provincial politics, as it was Tory who lobbied in secret for additional “strong mayor” powers prior to the last municipal election. The province passed legislation to grant the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa the power to move important policies through council with the support of only one-third of council — but only after the results of the 2022 mayoral election were known.
Tory’s imminent resignation requires, under provincial law, that he be replaced through a special election. Once the vacancy in his office has been formally declared, Toronto city council has 60 days to declare that an election will be held. The city clerk will then set a day for the close of nominations between 30 and 60 days after that point, and voting day must be held 45 days after nominations close. If the city takes the maximum amount of time for all those deadlines, voting day could be as late as July.
In the absence of an elected mayor, Tory’s powers will be executed by McKelvie, the councillor for Scarborough–Rouge Park. McKelvie would be eligible to run in a special election to be Tory’s permanent replacement, though she is almost certain to have substantial competition, as an open race to lead the municipal government of Canada’s largest city — a government with a budget larger than that of several provinces — will likely attract a number of candidates, including people who opted not to run against Tory in the 2022 election.
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