Toronto's Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa, pictured in 2019, will step down from the role by the end of the year.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
The top public-health bureaucrat who helped steer Toronto through some of its worst days during the COVID-19 pandemic announced Tuesday she would resign at the end of the year.
Eileen de Villa took the role as the city’s Medical Officer of Health in 2017. She signalled her departure by saying that “we have really come through quite the remarkable journey.”
Shortly after, Mayor Olivia Chow praised Dr. de Villa for her “work to keep our city healthy.”
In a resignation video posted online, Dr. de Villa talked at some length about the pandemic but also made a glancing reference to “the drug toxicity epidemic,” the controversy now bedevilling the agency she leads.
Toronto Public Health supported a city request of the federal government for a legal exemption that would decriminalize the use of hard drugs. However, a similar effort in British Columbia led to resident backlash at people injecting and smoking drugs in public. In response, B.C. has asked the federal government to roll back its exemption, which Ottawa has agreed to do.
Ms. Chow has not said whether she thinks her city’s decriminalization proposal should be modified. In recent weeks, though, Dr. de Villa has defended the proposal, stressing that “we cannot arrest our way out of this crisis.”
Dr. de Villa was not available for interview Tuesday. In the resignation video, she was vague about her next steps, mentioning a different career direction and more time with her family.
Her announcement means that the most public faces of Torontos’ pandemic effort are now all gone or on the way off-stage. Then-mayor John Tory resigned last year. Councillor Joe Cressy, who was chair of the board of health, decided not to run again in 2022. Fire Chief Matthew Pegg said last week he would leave in October.
These four were on television nearly daily as the city grappled with waves of COVID and the death toll rose. They bore criticism for restrictions imposed on residents, but also offered reassurance.
Dr. de Villa’s measured delivery was a calming feature of those briefings. And her extensive collection of scarves, an accessory she wore daily, occasionally became a story in its own right. Someone started an account on X, then Twitter, showcasing her scarves and Serge Ibaka, who played at the time for the Toronto Raptors, participated in a video call highlighting the role of a scarf in public health.
On Tuesday, Mr. Cressy called Dr. de Villa’s efforts “public service at its very finest.”
“During the COVID pandemic – arguably the most challenging and uncertain period in Toronto’s history – Dr. de Villa led with remarkable integrity, courage and compassion,” Mr. Cressy said in a text message.