Michael Taube: Fear of a Left-Wing Mayor in Toronto, and How to Prevent It

Toronto City Hall in Nathan Phillips Square, in a file photo. Yue Pang/The Epoch Times

Commentary

Toronto’s municipal political arena has been quite the spectacle lately. It could turn into a political nightmare by the summer.

John Tory, who was roughly four months into his third mayoral term, admitted to an illicit affair with a 31-year-old former staffer. He immediately announced his resignation on Feb. 10, and stepped down seven days later.

Tory was replaced by Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie. She won’t serve as an acting or interim mayor, however. Last year’s update to the City of Toronto Act by the provincial government prevents this, along with access to the controversial “Strong Mayor powers” that Ontario Premier Doug Ford implemented. Rather, McKelvie “automatically assumes certain rights, powers and authority given to the Mayor by Council” and operates, in effect, as a political placeholder.

Meanwhile, the Toronto City Clerk set provisional dates for the mayoral byelection. Nominations will open on April 3, and close on May 12. Election day will be June 26.

This is contingent on City Hall “declaring the vacancy and passing a bylaw requiring a by-election” between March 29 and March 31. Recommendations will be considered at that time. Since this decision must be done in accordance with provincial law, Ford could theoretically step in and assume control of the process. This would be an unprecedented (and unwise) move, but certainly interesting from a historical perspective.

Let’s hypothetically assume the mayoral byelection moves ahead as scheduled. If the city elects a centre-left or far-left mayor, it would be a political and economic disaster. Considering Toronto’s political history, which has been a mixed bag for Conservatives, it’s a very likely scenario.

Several mayors in the late 19th and early 20th century were traditional Tories who emulated the policies of former Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald. Some were Liberals or Reformists. Quite a few were politically unaffiliated. This wasn’t terribly out of step with other Canadian cities at that time.

The establishment of Metropolitan Toronto in 1953, and amalgamation of the City of Toronto in 1997, shifted the city’s political dynamic to the left. Liberal mayors such as Allan Lamport, Philip Givens, Art Eggleton, and June Rowlands, and NDP-leaning mayors like John Sewell, Barbara Hall, and David Miller, fit with Toronto’s progressive values. When the city elected a right-leaning mayor, it was generally a Red Tory, or left-leaning Conservative, such as Nathan Phillips, Mel Lastman, and, most recently, Tory.

The one historical outlier was Rob Ford. He was pro-business and had some conservative ideas, but was more of a populist and fiscally-minded retail politician. His tenure could have potentially turned into something fascinating for Toronto politics. Alas, personal demons and City Hall’s circus-like atmosphere prevented it from happening.

None of this is terribly surprising.

Municipal politics contains issues that Conservatives focus on, including taxes, economic development and crime rates. Yet, there’s always been a more natural appeal to Liberals and progressives concerned about affordable housing, poverty, the environment, municipal services, and so on. Left-of-centre people tend to be more motivated to fixate on local issues, vote for local candidates, and run for local politics.

Toronto isn’t unique in this regard. Calgary, which has historically been right-leaning, has largely elected Liberal and left-leaning mayors like Dave Bronconnier, Naheed Nenshi, and Jyoti Gondek. Even Ralph Klein was still viewed as a nominal Liberal when he served in the mayor’s chair!

Hence, the political formula for right-leaning electoral success in Toronto isn’t small “c” conservatism. The ideological movement and votes simply aren’t there to make this happen. You either have to be a Red Tory, or a moderate Conservative who can broadly appeal to Liberals and a smattering of New Democrats and Greens.

In other words, someone like John Tory.

Former Toronto Sun columnist Sue-Ann Levy suggested in a Feb. 16 piece for True North, “Tory moved so far to the left with his policies and constant virtue signaling, residents may not know the difference.”

Fair comment. Tory’s brand of conservatism—Red Toryism on its good days, left-of-centre on its worst—was often frustrating. Nevertheless, his policies were primarily pro-business and fiscally moderate. He did keep property taxes down in Toronto (until his final budget), and encouraged businesses to invest in the city.

Former Liberal MP and city councillor Adam Vaughan and former NDP city councillor Mike Layton, son of the late NDP leader Jack Layton, have been touted as possible mayoral by-election candidates. Their left-leaning track records, and mutual infatuation with government intervention, free-wheeling spending of taxpayer dollars, wokeness and political correctness, would be far worse for Toronto’s already-weakened political health and economic well-being. Residents would see a difference, I believe.

What will be Toronto’s political fate? Only time will tell.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.