[URBAN NOTE] "The Evidence is in—John Tory is the Mayor of the Status Quo"

[rfmcdonald]

The Torontoist editorial is clear.

We had it confirmed that John Tory treats the mayor’s office like a political party machine. The talking points uniformly spouted by the councillors loyal to him, the stench of Nick Kouvalis, the assemblance of friendly lobbyists—all of this speaks to organized, command-driven, party-line politics. The fact that he was clearly upset that Jennifer Keesmaat dared to contradict him in public (he could not even deny that he had tried to silence her when asked about that allegation) demonstrates that Tory seems to believe that he has some sort of authority over her responsibilities to the public—and it is eminently believable, given his extensive corporate executive background, that he would consider her “his” employee on some level.

But more important than Tory’s tactics in this political fight was his inspiration, and it is what got him this gig in the first place: John Tory is Mr. Status Quo, the do-nothingest of do-nothing candidates. He will talk your ear off about change, of course, because every politician has to do that in order to look Serious, and Tory cares a great deal about looking Serious. But what was marketed as change was effectively an expensive but very slight modification to the existing Gardiner East as the “hybrid” option. (His speech to the Empire Club, featuring at least 36 falsehoods or misleading statements by our count, was illustrative in this regard.)

Ultimately, John Tory’s base looks at present-day Toronto and says “more of the same,” because John Tory’s base is wealthy and satisfied. The mayor rode to electoral victory thanks to the people who are already doing well in Toronto, and more of the same, for them, means more of them doing well. Tory has chosen to try to deliver what his base expects; councillors loyal to Tory work in lockstep towards that.

But at least he isn't Rob Ford.