It is now obvious that broadcaster John Tory is going to jump into the Toronto mayoralty. He gave up the news on Global Television’s Focus Ontario over the weekend. And he had no need to answer host Alan Carter’s snide introduction as “Soon to announce for the Toronto mayoralty, John Tory.” In fact, one of the benefits of running for mayor will be an excuse for Tory to stay off that show with its amateur and biased host.
And he might as well run for the mayor’s job. Someone has to do the healing after the Rob Ford years and John is ideally suited to that role. He is even forgiven for being a Conservative. He is just not as obnoxious and narrow-minded as his replacement in the provincial wing of that party.
He can also do the job without putting out a purported biography. He hardly needs sugar coating to his privileged upbringing. What he can uniquely offer is leadership. It is something we know he has and has demonstrated. In a city with complex problems and extremes of opinions, he is the one person with a chance to pull it together. He can save the city from itself. He can be the mayor we want to respect.
That is something that no other candidate can offer. And that includes Jack Layton’s widow. The New Democrats are going to need her vote in Ottawa anyway. She would be a continuing disaster in the mayor’s chair as she gradually alienates every councillor from the suburbs. She has no understanding or skill at leadership and the fractious downtown caucus will never do for her what they did for David Miller.
Tory might have no natural empathy for that group of downtown misfits but they will at least respect him enough to listen. They will also respect his knowledge and experience in working with Toronto’s transit and infrastructure funding problems. He is a thinker and not a grandstander. He is the opposite of a Rob Ford.
And he has just been marking time as a broadcaster. That experience puts him head and shoulders ahead of any other mayoralty candidate. In fact, he might be the first mayor in many years who really knows how to handle the media and is relaxed in the process.
There is still the question of how we knew that he is running. Why else would he be sporting a new toupée? It is a considerable improvement over the old one. It is not as though he can afford a full-time hairdresser as does Prime Minister Harper but the quality of the rug makes a heck of a difference.
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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