Toronto deputy mayor prepares for transition of power, not running to replace Tory

Toronto shifted its attention to a transition of power in the city’s top office Thursday, with the deputy mayor saying she was focused on stability in the interim and wouldn’t be running to replace John Tory.

Tory, 68, submitted his formal letter of resignation late Wednesday night after the councillors approved what became his final budget. His last day in office is Friday and he said he’d be working on transition details with Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie until then.

McKelvie is set to oversee the mayor’s office and assume some of its power once Tory is gone, ushering in a still-indefinite period of interim leadership until the city can elect a new mayor.

“Residents can rest assured that my entire focus at this time is ensuring a smooth transition and continued good governance,” McKelvie wrote in a statement, quashing any suggestion she’d take a run at the mayor’s office.

Tory’s resignation came after he stunned the city last week with the admission of an “inappropriate relationship” with someone who used to work on his staff. He said at the time that he planned to step down, but his office later said he’d remain to see his budget passed.

McKelvie will immediately assume her new powers after Tory’s resignation takes effect at 5 p.m. Friday, including to act as the city’s chief executive and designate priority items at council.

Chief among her challenges, said one political observer, will be to minimize the politicking and gamesmanship that could envelop city hall ahead of a mayoral byelection as some councillors vie for the top job.

“I think she needs to signal clearly and explicitly to all other members of council that their collective responsibility is to tend to the well-being of the city,” Myer Siemiatycki, professor emeritus of politics at Toronto Metropolitan University, said in an interview.

McKelvie’s new powers will include the ability to call the next council meeting, which will prove pivotal in the timing of a byelection. Council is next set to come together on March 29 and it’s unclear if McKelvie will opt to call an earlier meeting.

The next council meeting _ whenever it happens _ will see the city clerk bring a report that allows councillors to formally declare the mayor’s office vacant and to pass a bylaw to initiate a byelection.

A nomination period opens the next day and lasts anywhere between 30 and 60 days. The mayoral byelection is held 45 days after that.

If council meets as currently scheduled on March 29, McKelvie will be steering the mayor’s office until at least June.

Coun. Shelley Carroll, speaking inside city hall Thursday, said she would prefer a byelection be held in late June or early July to give voters the time to assess the candidates and see them debate.

“It is going to be a few million dollars,” Carroll said, “But it is, I would argue, one of the most important political positions in this country, and so it is democratic money well spent.”

City staff said Thursday that a cost estimate wasn’t currently available for the mayoral byelection as planning was still underway.

Tory’s resignation heralds what Siemiatycki expects to be a hotly contested mayoral race, and one that comes far earlier than the outgoing leader’s conservative allies expected and hoped for.

Among them, Siemiatycki said, is Premier Doug Ford, who this week voiced his support for Tory and said it would be a “disaster” if he resigned and a “lefty” mayor replaced him.

“It kind of hints at desperation to use that kind of language to characterize the election,” Siemiatycki said of Ford’s comments.

Whoever becomes Toronto’s next mayor will gain new “strong mayor” powers granted by the provincial government _ McKelvie will not have those privileges in her interim role.

The powers include veto privileges over bylaws that conflict with provincial priorities, such as building housing. They also give mayors the responsibility for preparing and tabling their city’s budget and the ability to pass it with one-third council approval.

The upcoming byelection could mark the best chance for Toronto’s progressive left to elect a mayor in over a decade, Siemiatycki said.

Tory, who had cultivated an image in office as a straitlaced moderate conservative, will see his third term come to an end less than four months after his re-election in October.

He said he hoped to be a“ contributing citizen hopefully in a number of different ways” in the future.

“I continue to be deeply sorry and apologize unreservedly to the people of Toronto and to all those hurt by my actions without exception,” he wrote in his resignation letter. “This has been the job of a lifetime.”

– with files from Sharif Hassan.