Mayor John Tory hasn’t made an official announcement yet about whether he will step down, but in a morning interview on AM640, he did say he was debating it.
I spoke to him on my “Morning Drive” show this morning. We covered his reasoning behind not wanting to be the mayor of the City of Toronto for just a few more weeks, and whether or not he would jump before voters go to the polls in the municipal election. Here are a few highlights from our conversation:
How should he end this term?
“I’m thinking about what comes next. Some of that will be after the election. I’m thinking very carefully about that moment that comes after the election, and I’ll make a decision in the next few days.”
Would a special election make sense?
“I think it would be a mistake to have a full special election if you think the public’s not really going to have a full understanding of what’s going on with the City of Toronto and what’s going on inside City Hall.”
Did he have too much of a say with the TTC, about the TTC?
“I did a lot of work over a couple of years. I gave my advice on a range of decisions that were made. I would like to be remembered as somebody who fixed roads and ripped up sidewalks. I just did my best to have the plan in place that was as up to date as it could be, with the advice I could bring to it.”
Does the experience as a politician prepare you for the presidency?
“I don’t believe so. I don’t think I am any better equipped for the presidency than I am as mayor. It might be hard to convey to people who might be having trouble making the connection because the only time I ever discussed the idea of running for president was with my wife, in the last days before we had our first child.”
Is the city ready for another term, or do we need a new person to lead the city?
“It’s difficult to evaluate whether or not it is ready and I think it is a difficult call for anybody. I would be surprised to see any council that is still trying to figure out how to win an election because you run to win. It doesn’t take a genius to run for office. You have to make the case and the case has to be solid.”