Toronto Mayor John Tory makes a telephone call from his office after the Toronto budget meeting, on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Toronto Mayor John Tory has submitted his formal resignation, according to his office, and is pledging to quit effective 5 p.m. on Friday.
The announcement comes five days after the three-term mayor, 68, admitted a lengthy affair with an employee and promised to quit. But he also wanted to stay on to see his budget adopted, leaving time for second thoughts. A number of Tory council allies were urging him to stay. And on Wednesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford added his voice to the chorus.
But Mr. Tory waited only about an hour after the end of Wednesday’s budget debate to make official his departure.
“I want to thank the people of Toronto for trusting me as Mayor since 2014,” Mr. Tory said in his resignation letter. “I continue to be deeply sorry and apologize unreservedly to the people of Toronto and to all those hurt by my actions without exception.”
Mr. Tory barely spoke during the budget debate and has not taken questions from reporters since before his admission Friday of the affair. He had earlier Wednesday given no hints about his future while a running gauntlet of reporters and television cameras from his office toward the council chamber.
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Meanwhile, others were making the case that he should stay.
Mr. Ford argued that a new mayor could be “a disaster” if they were left-wing.
“It’s not time to change. Everything is going tickety-boo in Toronto – working well with the federal and provincial government,” Mr. Ford told reporters at an unrelated news conference in Brampton. “Is he the best thing that we have in Toronto? Yes, he is the best thing and let’s not upset the apple cart for a personal issue he’s dealing with.”
He added that Mr. Tory is his preferred option for Mayor of Toronto, but it will ultimately be up to the Mayor and his family to decide.
Several of Mr. Tory’s closest council allies argued Wednesday that he should stay in office.
Council Speaker Frances Nunziata suggested that he should serve out his term, perhaps after taking a leave of absence, arguing that his behaviour was not criminal. Councillor Brad Bradford, touted as a possible candidate to replace Mr. Tory, also said the Mayor should stay.
“I think he’s the man for the job,” he said. “I think he’s really done a lot of great work here in Toronto. I’d like to see him continue to do that. But I think it’s his decision.”
But Councillor Gord Perks, a regular critic of the Mayor, said leadership of the city is not a job you can do part-time.
“If you want to be the Mayor of Toronto, if you put your name forward, you stick by that. If you decide you can’t do it and you resign, you stick by that.”
When he admitted the affair on Friday, Mr. Tory framed his decision to resign as giving him time to “reflect on my mistakes and to do the work of rebuilding the trust of my family.”
However, speculation that he might not follow through on his promise to quit was fanned by the Mayor not formally submitting a resignation letter for days. Not doing so allowed him to preside over the budget debate, though he did not hold the customary media availability before it began.
In his first extended public remarks since promising Friday evening to resign, Mr. Tory preceded the budget debate with a retirement speech for a senior civil servant. At one point a loud voice was heard coming from the direction of a council entrance, shouting “Let me in” and “John Tory resign.” The Mayor kept talking, raising his voice slightly.
The budget debate started hours late, derailed for most of the morning by a variety of disruptions. Protesters chanted: “House the homeless, feed the poor, kick John Tory out the door.” Some people were physically removed by City Hall security guards and the chamber was cleared twice for security sweeps. Fewer people were allowed back in after the second clearance and the debate didn’t start in earnest until around noon.
Mr. Tory’s strong-mayor powers allow him to veto changes to his budget. He stated Wednesday he would not do so, finishing the budget process.
This is the first budget under the strong-mayor powers, which the province introduced last year for Toronto and Ottawa. Although Mr. Ford on Wednesday voiced concerns about “a lefty mayor” taking over in Toronto, he said the beefed-up powers would not be revoked – adding that he intends to expand them to other cities.
With a report from Jeff Gray in Toronto