Despite a groundswell of support and a public opinion poll that showed more than half of Torontonians wanted him to continue, John Tory submitted his resignation as Mayor of Toronto effective Friday. Tory handed in his resignation after a lengthy city council meeting where he presided over the passage of his budget. Under the terms of Doug Ford’s “strong mayor policy” Tory could have forced the budget through with only a third of councillors agreeing but the budget passed by a large margin.
Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie will assume the Mayor’s chair Friday. She has indicated she will not be a candidate when the by-election to replace Tory is held.
The by election could come in June. The next city council meeting is on March 29, at which time the mayoralty will be declared vacant. There will then be a 30 or 60 day period for nominations and the Election will come 45 days after that.
Ford announced his resignation last Friday, just before the Toronto Star was set to publish an article revealing an affair Tory had recently concluded with a former staffer. Tory said he would resign but prominent individuals like Premier Doug Ford and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland urged him to stay on leading to speculation that Tory might rescind his resignation—but those hopes were put to rest late Wednesday night with his formal resignation letter.
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