Former Queen’s Park top bureaucrat Peter Wallace tapped to be city manager
Wallace, who spent 30 years in the provincial public service before retiring, has been praised by Premier Kathleen Wynne for “exemplary service.”

TheStar.com
April 30, 2015
Jennifer Pagliaro
 
The man poised to be the city’s new top bureaucrat is a veteran Queen’s Park public servant who weathered some of the province’s most recent scandals, the Star has learned.

Peter Wallace, who retired as cabinet secretary and head of Ontario’s public service last year, is expected to return to public service as city manager after being tapped by Mayor John Tory and a group of executive councillors.

His appointment must be confirmed by a city council vote at a meeting next week.

The city manager is arguably the most powerful non-political job in the city, with more than 35,000 employees reporting to him. As city manager, Wallace would work closely with Tory’s office, which includes several former Queen’s Park staffers from both sides of the floor, and would be responsible for the city’s major divisions, including its finances.

A source told the Star the mayor’s office and the councillors who selected him see Wallace as a “real win” for the city.

They added that Tory — who made the rare move to council without previously serving as a councillor — and the executive team were attracted to Wallace because he, too, is an outsider who “has the ability to be a change agent.”

“Peter was also a compelling candidate because of his sterling resume, the enormous respect with which he is held by his public service colleagues, and his high ethical standards,” the source said.