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John Howard Tory (born May 28, 1954) is a Canadian lawyer, broadcaster, businessman, and former politician who served as the 65th mayor of Toronto from 2014 to 2023. He served as leader of the Official Opposition in Ontario from 2005 to 2007 while he was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario from 2004 to 2009.
After a career as a lawyer, political strategist and businessman, Tory ran as a mayoral candidate in the 2003 Toronto municipal election and lost to David Miller. Tory was subsequently elected as Ontario PC leader from 2004 to 2009, and was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario representing Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey and serving as the leader of the Opposition in Ontario from 2005 to 2007. After his resignation as PC leader in 2009, Tory became a radio talk show host on CFRB. Despite widespread speculation, Tory did not run for mayor again in 2010. He was also the volunteer chair of the non-profit group CivicAction from 2010 to 2014.
On October 27, 2014, Tory was elected mayor of Toronto, defeating incumbent mayor Rob Ford's brother, councillor Doug Ford and former councillor and member of Parliament (MP) Olivia Chow. On October 22, 2018, he was re-elected mayor of Toronto in the 2018 mayoral election, defeating former chief city planner Jennifer Keesmaat. He was elected to a third term as mayor on October 24, 2022, after defeating urbanist Gil Penalosa. He announced his intention to imminently resign as mayor on February 10, 2023, after admitting to having an affair with a staffer during the COVID-19 pandemic. He submitted his resignation letter to the city clerk on February 15, and formally left office on February 17, at 5 p.m. Tory was succeeded by Olivia Chow as mayor of Toronto.
He attended the University of Toronto Schools, at the time a publicly funded high school affiliated with the University of Toronto. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Trinity College at the University of Toronto in 1975. He received his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1978 from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. He was called to the bar in Ontario in 1980.
From 1981 to 1985, Tory served in the office of the premier of Ontario, Bill Davis, as principal secretary to the premier and associate secretary of the cabinet. After Davis retired as premier in 1985, Tory joined the office of the Canadian Special Envoy on acid rain, as special advisor. The special envoy had been appointed by the Brian Mulroney government to review matters of air quality with a United States counterpart. Tory supported Dianne Cunningham's bid to lead the Ontario PCs in 1990. Toronto Star, May 3, 1990.
Tory later served as tour director and campaign chairman to then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and managed the 1993 federal election campaign of Mulroney's successor, Kim Campbell. In his role as the Progressive Conservative campaign co-manager that year, he authorized two infamous campaign ads that ridiculed Liberal candidate Jean Chretien's face, which is partially paralyzed due to a childhood disease. The ads were greeted with much outcry among the Canadian public. They were withdrawn ten days after their first airings, and the Progressive Conservatives would proceed to be decimated in the federal election.
From 1995 to 1999, he returned to Rogers Communications, but this time as president and CEO of Rogers Media John Tory's profile on the Ontario PC Party website , ontariopc.com; accessed July 7, 2017. which had become one of Canada's largest publishing and broadcasting companies. Rogers has interests in radio and television stations, internet, specialty television channels, consumer magazines, trade magazines and, at the time, the Toronto Sun and the Sun Media.
In 1999, he became president and CEO of Rogers subsidiary Rogers Cable, which he led through a period of transition from a monopoly environment to an open marketplace, overseeing a significant increase in operating income. Tory stepped down after Ted Rogers announced that he would stay on as president and CEO of parent company Rogers Communications. He served as the ninth commissioner of the Canadian Football League from 1996 to 2000. Tory later was a board member of Rogers between 2010 and 2014, stepping down to run for Mayor of Toronto.
Tory continued to have an interest in being a broadcaster throughout his life and, as a Rogers executive, hosted a public affairs program on Rogers Cable's community access channel for many years. He sat as a board member of Metro Inc., the Quebec-based parent corporation for Metro and Food Basics grocery stores.
Tory and Miller both entered the race with limited name recognition and support, but each quickly claimed a core base—Miller among progressivism and Tory among more conservative voters. Meanwhile, Hall's initially commanding lead slowly dissipated over the course of the campaign, and the campaigns of both Nunziata and Jakobek were sidelined by controversies.. One of his campaign co-chairs was Mitzie Hunter.
Tory also accepted an endorsement from the Toronto Police Association. He held the traditional suburban conservative vote that had helped to elect Mel Lastman in the 1997 mayor's campaign, but lost the overall vote to Miller in a close race. After the election, Tory helped Miller and Hall raise funds to repay their campaign debts.
Tory's opponents for the leadership post were former provincial minister of finance Jim Flaherty and Oak Ridges MPP Frank Klees. Tory defeated Flaherty with 54 per cent on the second ballot. When Flaherty later left provincial politics to seek a seat in the House of Commons as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, Tory endorsed his former rival in the 2006 election; Flaherty was elected and was appointed the federal minister of finance. Tory also campaigned prominently with Flaherty's wife Christine Elliott in the provincial by-election held March 30, enabling her to win the seat formerly held by her husband.
Tory told the media in November 2004 that he would seek election to the legislature in time for the spring 2005 legislative session.
On January 31, 2005, after much public speculation and some delay, Ernie Eves resigned his seat and cleared the way for Tory to run in Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey, the safest PC seat in the province. As a "parachute candidate", Tory faced some criticism about his commitment to the riding. Nevertheless, he easily won the March 17, 2005 by-election with 56 per cent of the vote. Former premier Bill Davis appeared for Tory's first session in the legislature as PC leader.
Tory released his platform on June 9, 2007. The platform, A Plan for a Better Ontario, commits a PC government to eliminate the health care tax introduced by the previous government, put on coal-fired power plants,Richard Brennan, Tory unveils $1.3B plan to clean Nanticoke smoke, Toronto Star, September 14, 2007. address Ontario's doctor shortage,Richard Brennan, Liberals haven't fixed MD shortage, says Tory, Toronto Star, September 12, 2007. allow new private health care partnerships provided services are paid by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP),Kerry Gillespie Tory sees private health role, Toronto Star, September 19, 2007. impose more penalties on illegal land occupations in response to the Caledonia land dispute, fast-track the building of nuclear power plants,Rob Ferguson, Tory vows to fast-track nuke plants, Toronto Star, September 23, 2007. and invest the gas tax in public transit and roads.Canadian Press, Tory: 'Millions' for transit, Toronto Star, September 14, 2007. A costing of the platform released in August estimated that the PC promises would cost an additional $14 billion over four years.Richard Brennan, Tories release cost figures for 'prudent' platform, Toronto Star, August 30, 2007.
The PC campaign was formally launched on September 3. Most of the campaign was dominated by discussion of his plan to extend public funding to Ontario's faith-based separate schools, during which Tory supported allowing the teaching of creationism in religious studies classes. Earlier in the year, indications were that the party would have been a strong contender to win the election, but the school funding promise resulted in the Liberals regaining the lead in popular support for the duration of the campaign. CBC.ca - McGuinty only leader not facing leadership questions Later in the campaign, in the face of heavy opposition, Tory promised a Conscience vote on the issue. Progressive Conservatives to soften position on faith-based schools: report
With the beginning of the official campaign period on September 10, the PC campaign made clear its intention to make the previous government's record a key issue. In particular, Tory focused on the Liberals' 2003 election and 2004 pre-budget promise not to raise taxes and their subsequent imposition of a health care tax.
On election night, the PCs made minor gains and remained the Official Opposition while Dalton McGuinty's Liberals were re-elected with a majority. Tory was defeated in Don Valley West by the incumbent Ontario Liberal MPP, Minister of Education Kathleen Wynne. Although Tory was defeated in both his riding of Don Valley West and the race for the premiership, he said that he would stay on as leader unless the party wanted him to resign.
Throughout 2008, Tory's leadership of the party was perceived to be tenuous, as he faced widespread criticism for his seeming failure to convince a sitting MPP to resign in order to open a seat for him. Most notably, Bill Murdoch called for Tory to resign as party leader in September, resulting in his suspension from the party caucus on September 12. MPP suspended for suggesting John Tory quit, Toronto Star, September 12, 2008. Six days later, Murdoch was permanently expelled from the party caucus. In December 2008, media pundits speculated that Prime Minister Stephen Harper would appoint PC MPP Bob Runciman to the Senate in order to clear the way for Tory to run in Runciman's comfortably safe riding of Leeds—Grenville. However, Harper did not do so.
On January 9, 2009, PC MPP Laurie Scott announced her resignation from the legislature, allowing Tory to run in the resulting by-election in Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, a normally safe PC riding in central Ontario. In exchange for agreeing to resign, Scott was given the post of chair of the party's election preparedness committee until the 2011 election, and $100,000 in severance pay. "Tory gets a chance at last", Toronto Star, January 9, 2009. On March 5, 2009, he lost the by-election to Liberal candidate Rick Johnson. "Ont. P.C. Leader John Tory loses byelection bid", CTV News, March 5, 2009. Tory announced his resignation from the party leadership the next day and was succeeded by Bob Runciman as interim leader; Runciman had served twice as leader of the opposition during the two times Tory did not have a seat in the legislature. Niagara West—Glanbrook MPP Tim Hudak won the 2009 Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership election to become party leader and opposition leader.
In the fall of 2009, CFRB moved Tory to its Monday to Friday afternoon slot, for a new show, Live Drive, airing from 4pm to 7pm. The show first broadcast on October 5, 2009.
Tory was considering challenging incumbent Toronto Mayor David Miller in the 2010 municipal election as was Ontario Deputy Premier George Smitherman. On September 25, 2009, Miller announced he was not running for re-election. Tory announced on January 7 that he was not running in order to continue his radio show and also become head of the Toronto City Summit Alliance. "Who could be Toronto's next mayor?", Globe and Mail (online edition), September 25, 2009 "A list of potential mayoral candidates", National Post (online edition), September 25, 2009 "It's official: John Tory won't run for Toronto mayor", Toronto Star (online), January 7, 2010 On August 5, 2010, after a week of press speculation that he was about to re-enter the race, Tory confirmed that he would not be running in 2010 for mayor of Toronto. "John Tory is officially out of mayoral race - again", Toronto Star, August 5, 2010
Tory's last broadcast was February 21, 2014, after which he declared his candidacy for mayor.
Tory became mayor of Toronto on December 1, 2014. He spent his first day meeting with Premier Kathleen Wynne, emphasizing the importance of working with other levels of government. He also announced that Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong would be his deputy mayor. Minnan-Wong remained in the position for two terms, but did not seek re-election in 2022, and Tory selected Councillor Jennifer McKelvie as deputy mayor for his third term. May 1, 2018, Tory registered his candidacy for re-election. Tory retained a high approval rating at 58%, with only 24% disapproving, and 18% undecided. He was a front runner in the polls for the mayoral election at 65–70% support. Tory was re-elected mayor of Toronto on October 22, 2018, defeating former chief city planner Jennifer Keesmaat with 63.49% of the vote.
Tory was re-elected to a third term in 2022, defeating urbanist Gil Penalosa with 62% of the vote.
Despite public demand to completely end carding, Tory initially defended the policy in general, stating it should be reformed, but not stopped. The practice was defended by the police union, which maintained that it was a "proven, pro-active police investigative strategy that reduces, prevents and solves crime". On June 7, 2015, Tory called for an end to the policy, describing it as "illegitimate, disrespectful and hurtful" and stating it had "eroded the public trust". In the TPSB meeting on June 18, Tory introduced a motion to end carding, however, the motion was subsequently amended to return to an initial 2014 version of the policy, which required officers to notify those they stop that the contact is voluntary and issue a physical receipt following the interaction. Carding was effectively ended province-wide in 2017 when the provincial community safety minister, Yasir Naqvi, issued a regulation banning police from collecting data arbitrarily.
During his term of office, he insisted on strengthening the resources of the police, the municipality's main financial asset. The priority given to the police was at the expense of social services and housing, whose budgets were reduced.
On January 26, 2022, the Executive Committee approved a staff report outlining an implementation plan for the pilot program. It was subsequently adopted by city council on February 2. According to Tory, "the pilots will allow the city to test and to evaluate and to revise this model before we implement it on a larger scale but make no mistake it is our intention to implement it on a larger scale and to have it city-wide by 2025 at the latest".
In March 2022, the city launched the Toronto Community Crisis Service pilot program.
After his election, as city and Metrolinx staff began studying his proposal, SmartTrack plans began to change, with stations changing, and questions raised surrounding the costs and integration. An updated plan saw the western portion being dropped in favour of extending the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. As other transit projects emerged, such as the Ontario Line, stations were dropped which would be serviced by new proposals.
The plan currently in place sees the construction of five new transit stations being completed in 2026, at a cost of $1.463 billion to the city.
The provincial government ultimately rejected the idea in January 2017, with Premier Wynne stating that her government could not endorse road tolls on the Gardiner and Don Valley Parkway until better transit alternatives were in place for commuters outside of the city to enter downtown. Wynne instead committed to increasing the municipal share of the gas tax, which would give the city $170 million annually by 2022. While Tory was thankful for the increased gas tax share, he harshly criticized the province for denying the city a long-term option.
During the 2022 municipal election, Tory once again floated the idea of introducing road tolls. The provincial government under Premier Doug Ford once again rejected the idea.
While introduced with the housing action plan, a separate item includes legalize city-wide by March 2024, which was previously deferred due to lack of support on council.
The proposal was described as "a profoundly bold plan" by former chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat, who ran against Tory for mayor in 2018, and praised by housing advocacy groups. Councillor Stephen Holyday described the plan as a "death blow" to detached homes such as those in his Etobicoke Centre ward.
The plan was contingent on the city securing air rights to the lands above the railway, owned by Canadian National Railway and Toronto Terminals Railway. A group of private developers disputed this, claiming they had already owned the air rights. City council moved to re-zone the area above the railway for park use only, which would prevent developers from building residential buildings as is the case in the surrounding area. The developers sided with the city in the provincial government's Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT), which sided with the city, noting the growing downtown core and a lack of open space. The developers wished to build a 12-acre park as part of a development of eight condo and office towers.
In May 2021, LPAT issued a new ruling in response to sided with the developers, ruling the city should not have rejected a proposal to build a "mixed use community" over the land. The tribunal decision effectively ended the city's plans to develop the land as park space. In a statement, Tory said he was "deeply disappointed" by the ruling and "the possible impact on the future of Rail Deck Park".
The development group plans to build a park at half the size of the city's original proposal, with mixed use towers taking up the remaining space.
Beginning after Canada Day, street parking enforcement as well as fare evasion enforcement returned to Toronto and the Toronto Transit Commission respectively. From July 2, 2020, Surgical mask or coverings were required to be worn on the TTC. After July 7, masks were required in enclosed, public places.
At a press conference, Tory stated that when speaking to the public, he often hears complaints relating to housing and community safety, but nobody has complained about the new powers. The mayor's office has also said he would make very limited use of new powers. The Ford government defended the new powers by pointing out the mayor's "city-wide mandate", having received more votes than the rest of council. The National Post
The new legislation was condemned by Toronto City Council, which had not been consulted on the changes, some of which were introduced after the election. All five living former Toronto mayors, David Crombie, David Miller, Barbara Hall, Art Eggleton and John Sewell, wrote a letter to Tory describing the new powers as an "attack" on local democracy and majority rule. Political science professors such as Harvard's Pippa Norris and Laval's Louis Massicotte were puzzled by the legislation, as no other democratic legislature in the world can pass laws with only one-third support. Critics urged Tory to reject some, or all, of the new powers as Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe had done. Toronto Sun commentator Brian Lilley supported expanded powers for the mayor due to his city-wide mandate, but argued that those powers should not include minority rule. The Globe and Mail
In December 2022, Tory asked the provincial government to amend the legislation to include a sunset clause after his term ends in 2026.
Tory announced at a press conference the same day that he would resign as Mayor of Toronto and committed to working with Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie, City Manager Paul Johnson and City Clerk John D. Elvidge to ensure an "orderly transition". He submitted his resignation letter to Elvidge on February 16, which states that his official last day would be February 17 at 5 p.m., after which McKelvie would assume certain mayoral powers until council arranged for a mayoral by-election. Former NDP MP Olivia Chow was elected to succeed Tory as mayor. Tory had endorsed his former deputy mayor Ana BailĂŁo to succeed him. She finished second in the election.
Tory has two brothers, Michael and Jeffrey, and one sister, Jennifer. One of Tory's ancestors, James Tory, was a soldier in the 71st Scottish Regiment. He was captured and held as a prisoner of war during the American Revolution. He later settled in Nova Scotia in the 1780s. His maternal grandmother, Helen Yvonne Solomon, was born in 1909 to a Russian Jewish family that had immigrated to Canada six years earlier and settled in Toronto. Helen Solomon married Howard English Bacon, an Anglican, and their daughter Elizabeth Bacon was raised a Christian and married Tory's father, John A. Tory, in 1953.
| + 2022 Toronto mayoral election | ||
| Total | 551,890 | 100.00 |
| + 2018 Toronto mayoral election |
| + 2014 Toronto mayoral election |
|align="left" colspan=2|Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative |align="right"| Swing |align="right"| +11.58 |
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