Although he leaves amidst a scandal that will impact the legacy he leaves behind, Mayor John Tory dedicated much of his life, or at least the past couple decades, to the service of the people of the city of Toronto. With Tory leaving office, we decided to take a walk down memory lane to have a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly.

In the beginning

John Tory was operating as a political insider long before taking a run at office, notably with former mayor Mel Lastman. But, when he did finally throw his hat in the ring, it didn’t quite go as well as planned. In 2003, he finished second to David Miller and his magic broom of destiny in a hotly contested mayoral race to replace Mayor Mel.

Provincial leanings

 

Although he lost in Toronto, his impact in a crowded mayoral race was enough for some to lure Tory into provincial politics. In 2004, Tory was elected leader of the Ontario PCs. During this time, Premier Dalton McGuinty was in the middle of a big run of electoral wins for the Ontario Liberals. Tory was defeated in the 2007 general election by MPP Kathleen Wynne in the riding of Don Valley West, and provincially by the McGuinty Liberal machine. He also lost back-to-back by-election in 2009 and that was the end of his career in provincial politics.

Back to the fray

Just over nine years ago, Tory registered as a candidate for the 2014 Toronto mayoral election on Feb. 24, 2014. This time, he won in another competitive race that also included Doug Ford and Olivia Chow. When Tory arrived at city hall, he was the guy that allowed the city to breathe a collective sigh of relief following the tumultuous tenure of Rob Ford that put the city in headlines around the world for all the wrong reasons. Tory was well-spoken, well-connected and conducted business around city hall with a decorum sorely lacking at the time. People liked him. They still do.

Off the tracks

Tory ran on a vision to created a Yonge Street subway relief line to take the pressure off of the city’s over-burdened Line 1. That idea became SmartTrack, which would utilise existing GO train infrastrucuture. Although the plan was rolled out now and again, especially around election time, there was never a track, let alone a smart one under Mayor Tory. It wasn’t until Premier Doug Ford bashed through his government’s own Ontario Line that any kind of relief line for Yonge Street came to fruition.

And off the rails

This whole over-promising thing plagued Mayor Tory throughout his tenure as some of his biggest ideas failed to see the light of day. Like SmartTrack, another jazzy campaign item from Tory was to be his legacy downtown — Rail Deck Park. And, it was a wonderful vision, let’s be fair, to transform the rail lands into a massive suspended park and open space for the growing downtown population to enjoy. The catch was, the land and air rights in question were spoken for, by a development company. No Rail Deck Park. But, at least, the developer has proposed plenty of park space as well.

King for a day

In car-centric Toronto, especially under previous mayor Rob Ford, any movement to refocus the transportation lens on people as opposed to automobiles was challenged. But, let’s give him credit, Mayor Tory championed a project along the King Street corridor that gave public transit the priority and, although it didn’t ban them from the street altogether, shuffled cars to the sidelines. There were some who were not happy, including many businesses along King. There was one particular restaurant that put up an ice sculpture of a hand with a middle finger extended defiantly toward city hall. Tory held firm and the project, although apparently not doing as well these days, is ongoing.

Express to Nowheresville

In 2016, one of the big decisions on the table was the fate of the Gardiner Expressway, east of Jarvis Street. The hulking elevated expressway was crumbling and major investment would be needed to keep it in a state of good repair. There were three clear options: knock it all down, keep it all and pay through the nose to fix it, or a hybrid of the two. At time when other progressive cities were getting rid of or burying their crosstown waterfront expressways (see: Boston, Chicago), Tory decided to walk the middle road with the hybrid option. The repair bill would still be steep at $1 billion, but a section would be taken down allowing the city to reframe some key waterfront development it the Port Lands. It’s a decision that, to this day, still doesn’t sit right with the urbanists of Toronto who value the people who live in the city as opposed to those who commute here for work.

Pandemic hair

In March, 2020 Tory declared a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, one that would only be lifted 24 months later. It’s a period of time that changed the city, changed us all. One we are still processing. During that time, Tory and the city of Toronto team did an admirable job of providing a steady, calm influence on the population. Notably the vaccination program under Tory and city councillor Joe Cressy was very effective. In addition, the city took on a number of initiative such as ActiveTO and CafeTO that gave more public space back to people during this trying time. But, perhaps most memorably, Tory’s pandemic hair was a constant comical reprieve from what was a most depressing time.

Homeless

Tory will likely be remembered most for what he didn’t do for the city’s unhoused, but for what it’s worth, some good initiatives were launched including the city’s modular housing program, and other programs that sought to house the city’s most vulnerable in hotels. Tory was also adamant about working with other levels of government on housing issues and more importantly getting funding from those governments and has teamed up on numerous occasions to provide new housing through the ModernTO program and others. For instance, turning a nine-storey office building on Yonge Street into an affordable housing site. It is an issue that Tory was passionate about, despite the public perception. He simply didn’t make enough right choices. Most memorable and traumatic for the city is the forced eviction of a homeless encampment in Trinity Bellwoods Park and Lamport Stadium by what appeared to be a riot squad of heavily-armed police.

Strong Mayor?

The housing crisis has been the big issue the past couple of years as affordability in the city of Toronto was crushing many a would-be homeowners dreams, while high rents were crushing others and creating more and more housing challenges. It was an issue that Tory championed heading the most recent municipal election in 2022, and it was in this context in which Premier Doug Ford moved to grant Toronto and Ottawa special Strong Mayor powers. The move was a controversial one, but facing little opposition, Tory was easily re-elected with the lowest voter turnout in recent memory.

 

Scandal

And that brings us to a week ago when the mayor, following an investigate report by the Toronto Star, fessed up to the extra-marital shenanigans. Sure, an affair might not be unforgivable, but doing so with a younger person who works for you is bad news. The abuse of power apparent, Tory announced his resignation which comes into effect in about two hours at 5 p.m., Feb. 17, 2023.

The end of an era.