Toronto Mayor John Tory looks back on 2019 with satisfaction

Tory hopes upcoming Vision Zero measures improve pedestrian safety

Toronto.com
December 24, 2019
David Nickle

John Tory is not about to say never.

After his first year presiding over the new 25-member Toronto council -- the first year of his second term as mayor -- Tory said that he's not ruling out a run for a third term.

"Am I ruling out running for a third term? Absolutely not," said Tory, in a year-end sit-down interview with toronto.com. "If I saw there was some force at Queen's Park that was going to fight our housing and transit plan -- or if there were someone here trying to obstruct that -- that would be something I would think very seriously about. But it's a long way away."

In the meantime, Tory said he's looking back with some satisfaction at 2019, as rocky as it has been.

The year began as Toronto's new 25-member council was just starting to work, after having its numbers cut by Ontario Premier Doug Ford mid-election in the summer of 2018. Tory said he observed "a measure of fatigue on their part," as councillors struggled to represent areas twice as large as their former wards and juggle the increased responsibility.

The change affected Tory's job minimally, although he said that he has to turn more of his attention to council matters.

"I am spending more time on council-related matters, because there are 25 people now and the margin of error is less," he said. "With 45 people you knew you had a margin of five votes, so if you lost one vote or one vote was away, it wasn't a problem. Now, I have to spend more time with councillors. But it's fine. I have no complaints with that. I think finally, the thing is functioning reasonably efficiently. There are fewer people that make fewer speeches."

The past year has also been one of more dramatic flux. In the wake of the cuts to council, Tory has found himself taking on the provincial government on other municipal-related issues: cuts to public health and child care, and the potential uploading of Toronto's subway system. Tory said the political to-and-fro have improved provincial relations, finally.

But Tory also spoke about accomplishments and advances on the municipal front: in particular, housing, poverty and pedestrian and road safety.

On that last point, Tory acknowledged that the Vision Zero pedestrian safety plan that Toronto council augmented in the spring has yet done little to stem the rising number of pedestrian deaths.

Tory said he's hopeful that upcoming measures will help.

"We're just about to introduce photo radar, and we are doubling the number of red light cameras," he said. "We're reducing the warrants for crosswalks and we have changed hundreds of speed limits across the city. I'm very hopeful."

Tory capped the year with what he acknowledged was a major shift -- the expansion of Toronto's city-building levy so that it will now increase property taxes by 10.5 per cent over the next six years.

"It reflects the reality that I faced at the moment I faced it, in the last six to 12 months," said Tory. "Before 12 months ago, we had the road tolls and the gas tax money, and we lost those things."

Tory said that as the city found itself with more and more costs on its plate -- state-of-good repair money, and a new provincial transit deal that required the city to contribute in ways it hadn't before -- he was facing more and more questions of how the city would pay for this. The levy, he said, was the best option.

Tory said despite the levy, he will maintain discipline in the city's operating budget otherwise.

"I would say that the discipline we applied to the operating budget which was based on a two per cent property tax increase will absolutely be maintained," he said. "That's the part we'll be focusing hard on. I think people will get behind it. They told me in the election they wanted housing. In the prior election they said they wanted transit. They know that's not for free."