Ontario politicians fall back into step
Wynne and Tory meet again after ‘summer break’
Toronto Mayor John Tory likened it to a “summer break.”
But the first formal meeting between the mayor of Canada’s largest city and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne in nine months might more accurately be described as a spring thaw of the chilly relations between the pair throughout most of 2017.
Tory and Wynne met formally Wednesday for the first time since the premier’s decision in January to spike the mayor’s plan to toll two major Toronto highways — the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway.
And while the leaders downplayed the significance of the protracted spat, a Liberal insider acknowledges to The Canadian Press that the government was well aware of Tory’s lingering displeasure about the decision and believes a $300-million provincial funding commitment for social housing retrofits in Toronto announced in August, helped get “the relationship back on-track.” The source denied the funding had anything to do with placating Tory ahead of next spring’s provincial election, stressing that the province agreed Toronto had a pressing need for the housing assistance.
“I would not say it’s a political calculation,” said the Liberal insider, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
“It’s not like we’ve given him anything that doesn’t make sense from a good public policy point of view. We’re not just sending him gift baskets to win him back over.”
Tory swept to Toronto’s top job over then city councillor Doug Ford in 2014. The new mayor, and former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader, immediately began to hold joint meetings and press conferences with Wynne on a nearly monthly basis, often to tout their close working relationship. But that all changed in January after the controversial tolling issue ended their regular meetings and kicked off months of tense relations.
Tory complained bitterly the day Wynne made her decision that the mayor of Canada’s largest city should not be treated like a child by the Liberal government.
“It is time we stop being treated and I stop being treated as a little boy going up to Queen’s Park in short pants to say, ’Please, could you help me out with something I thought was in the City of Toronto Act that I can do,’ and to be told, ‘No. I’m terribly sorry. Go away and come back some other day,’ ” Tory said at the time.
Tory immediately mounted a campaign to secure hundreds of millions in funding for social housing and transit from the provincial government, money he said his tolling plan would have generated.
But the Liberal insider also said Tory’s aggressive tactics were noticed by the Liberal legislators. Of particular concern was an April 30 event where Tory distributed flyers door-to-door in the Thistletown neighbourhood of Etobicoke North, a Toronto riding held by Liberal Shafiq Qaadri.
The flyer, which had Qaadri’s picture on it, accused the Liberal government of not paying its fair share of a $1.73 billion repair backlog in the city’s social housing stock.
“That message was certainly delivered to the rest of caucus,” the insider said.
The next day, Liberal Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca arrived at Toronto City Hall, holding an impromptu press conference outside Tory’s office while the mayor was inside meeting with Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown. Del Duca called Tory’s flyer stunt “a little bit over the line.”
Liberal Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid, who represents an east-end riding and is a former Toronto city councillor, acknowledged Friday that the working relationship between Tory and Wynne had been strained but it is on the mend. The pair are “two professional, mature leaders that really put the public interest first,” he said.
“They have a good personal relationship. They always have. That’s never, ever been at risk. There are going to be times ... when they’re looking out for the interests of their respective constituents where they’re going to be at odds. Sometimes they should be.”
Duguid downplayed the efforts to make up with Tory ahead of the provincial election, saying one has nothing to do with the other.
“I think having a premier that works very well with others, that works very well with other levels of government, but also stands up for the interests of Ontario is something that bodes well for the premier’s re-election chances,” he said. “But I don’t think that the relationship is guided by when the next election will be.”
This week, Tory defended his actions, saying he was standing up for Toronto.
“In all relationships sometimes you take a little break,” he said. “It’s like a summer break. Now we’re back here in the fall doing things together for the benefit of the people we both serve.”