‘I continue to be deeply sorry’: Mayor John Tory steers budget through council then announces he is stepping down Friday

The news of John Tory’s formal resignation caps a shocking six days that started with a Star investigation that revealed the married 68-year-old mayor had an extended, secret relationship with a junior member of his city hall staff while he was her boss.

Thestar.com
Feb. 16, 2023
David Rider
Ben Spurr
Alyshah Hasham

John Tory, Toronto’s popular mayor who won power in 2014, guided the city through the pandemic and coasted to re-election last fall, has made it official -- he is resigning.

Late Wednesday night, as Tory sat in his office on the phone breaking the news to supporters who had hoped to convince him to stay put, an aide handed waiting reporters a statement confirming he will officially leave office Friday at 5 p.m.

The news capped a shocking six days that started with a Star investigation that revealed that the married 68-year-old mayor had an extended, secret relationship with a junior member of his city hall staff while he was her boss

Tory stunned the city by quickly announcing he would leave office, triggering a campaign by his city council allies, a barrage of emails to his office, and calls to open-line radio shows saying he should reconsider and remain mayor of Toronto.

Those hopes were dashed in a five-paragaph letter to the city clerk confirming that the John Tory era of city politics, where he fostered an image of a fatherly consensus builder and family man, has come crashing down in the most unexpected way possible.

“I will be spending the next two days in meetings with Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie and City staff to continue to ensure an orderly transition,” Tory wrote.

“I want to thank the people of Toronto for trusting me as Mayor since 2014. I continue to be deeply sorry and apologize unreservedly to the people of

Toronto and to all those hurt by my actions without exception.

John Tory’s resignation letter addressed to the city clerk. Tory, who announced his resignation last week, has stayed on to oversee the 2023 city budget and ensure it is passed.

“This has been the job of a lifetime, and while I have let many people, including myself, down in this instance, I have nonetheless been deeply honoured by the opportunity to serve the people of this wonderful city for more than eight years and I hope I achieved some good for the city I truly love.

“I will continue to be a contributing citizen hopefully in a number of different ways. That is because I love the people of Toronto and I will never stop believing in Toronto and all of the residents who make it up.”

As fans including Premier Doug Ford begged Tory to change his mind, the mayor sat impassively in the council chamber as councillors passed, with a few changes, the budget he brought them under new strong mayor powers conferred by Ford.

In a vote of 25 to 1, council approved a consensus motion that allocated about $7 million in new-found savings to give inflationary increases to community non-profit grants, open youth hubs in the Danzig and Empringham neighbourhoods, deploy mental health outreach workers on the transit system, expand property tax relief programs, and keep one warming centre for homeless people open around the clock until April 15.

In a speech to council Tory said the spending plan represented the “best budget for these times,” in which Toronto is facing major financial challenges in the form of inflation, an affordability crisis, reduced transit revenues and increased costs for the shelter system.

Council set property tax rates for 2023. Residential households will pay a combined seven per cent increase -- 5.5 per cent for the budget and 1.5 per cent for the City Building Levy.

The city has shortfalls from COVID-19 totalling $1.5 billion for 2022 and 2023, and was only able to balance this year’s budget by pencilling in as yet uncommitted funds from the provincial and federal governments.

Tory said the budget, which included a $49.3-billion, 10-year capital plan, represented “a whole series of difficult but very carefully considered choices” that will keep taxes affordable while protecting front-line services like the police and housing.

“You have to try to achieve that balance. You can’t do everything you want to do. You never can, in a budget,” he said.

Some of the mayor’s opponents said the city should be making bigger investments in social supports like programming for Black and Indigenous youth and safe spaces for the most vulnerable.

A motion from Coun. Alejandra Bravo (Ward 9, Davenport) to divert $900,000 from the $1.1-billion police budget to fund homeless respite centres was defeated 17 to 8.

Coun. Gord Perks (Ward 4, Parkdale--High Park) said that by blocking spending increases in those areas, Tory and his allies were repeating a mantra of “can’t, can’t, can’t, can’t, and can’t.”

Perks said a city as wealthy as Toronto can afford to do more, but “what is actually happening is that some in this chamber won’t.”

Tory could have prolonged the budget process by using his new strong-mayor powers to veto council’s changes. Instead he used a provision of the provincial legislation to deem the spending plan adopted immediately.

Earlier, Tory emerged from his city hall office to a crush of reporters and questions about whether he would follow through on his plan to resign over an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.

“Just ready to deal with the budget, get that done,” Tory said as he strode to the elevator across from his office as reporters yelled questions in a scene reminiscent of the scandalous times of his predecessor Rob Ford.

Council allies told reporters that Tory had to stay in office to address the many problems Toronto faces as it emerges from pandemic.

“That’s not the first time it’s happened and I don’t remember any other politician who resigned,” said Coun. Francis Nunziata of Tory’s misconduct.

“We don’t know what the story is and we don’t know who propositioned who.”

Others were saying Tory had lost the moral authority to govern.

In Ottawa, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, a Toronto MP who has a close working relationship with Tory, called his departure “necessary” given his improper relationship.

Perks said “John Tory stood in front of Torontonians on Friday and said he intended to resign,” Perks said. “He has to honour that.”

Coun. Jon Burnside, whom Tory hand-picked to be TTC chair, lead the councillors who tried and failed to convince the mayor to take a leave and then serve out the rest of his four-year term.

“Obviously I’m very disappointed,” Burnside said.

“But when I saw him today at council he looked so sullen I realized that it was over.”