Q&A John Tory on texting with the premier, raising taxes and the elastic nature of campaign promises

On the campaign trail, John Tory said we could have nice things without paying higher taxes. Then he got re-elected and promptly broke his promise. What gives?

You’ve been elected twice now promising not to increase taxes beyond the rate of inflation. But in December, you did just that, increasing the City Building Fund via a special levy added to property tax bills, by roughly $45 a year for the average Torontonian in 2020 and $326 by 2025. What changed?

The city finally developed its own 10-year housing plan and reached a comprehensive transit agreement with the province. The question became: how are we going to pay for these things?

With respect, you’ve known about Toronto’s financial problems and infrastructure needs for years. Why not announce your plans, or even your general line of thinking, before the election? With equal respect, I’d say we didn’t know we were going to do these things back then. Unlike a normal tax, the levy funds don’t go into the general coffers; they go directly to housing and transit.

Do you think you would have won if you’d said a tax increase was on the table during the campaign?

I won’t engage in hypotheticals, but I do believe people have come to trust me to do the right thing. That might not always be consistent with what I said two weeks ago, two years ago or 10 years ago.

The right thing is doing the right thing.

The hostilities between you and Premier Doug Ford seem to have subsided recently. What led to the détente?

He made some personnel changes. He had people around him who were pugnacious, always wanting to fight.

You’re referring to his former chief of staff, Dean French. What was he so salty about?

I don’t know Dean well, and I won’t pin it on one person, but there was an attitude that suggested it was better to fight than to talk. I think they assumed I don’t like to fight. You know what? I don’t. I prefer collaborating. But I will fight. When I said I’d canvass door-to-door against Mr. Ford’s threatened cuts, his office said, “Maybe we should sit down and talk about this.” Today, the relationship is much better. He and I text frequently and get together, just the two of us.

You agreed to proceed with his Ontario Line despite the fact that city staff can’t assess the validity of the timeline or costs. Is this thing actually going to happen?

They also didn’t say it was so ridiculous as to be impossible. They deemed the concept viable.

Drilling under Leslieville sounds… complicated.

I’ve said that that is an outstanding matter. Experts are now taking soil samples and doing things that, yes, might have been done beforehand.

The new-politician, new-transit-plan narrative has become tragically predictable: Miller, Stintz, Rob Ford, you, Doug Ford. Would you agree that transit planning in Toronto is broken?

I don’t know if I’d use that word, but it certainly hasn’t happened the way it should have, starting with the fact that there hasn’t been the commitment from all three governments at a time—which we now have with the Ontario Line.

Your affordable housing plan will provide 40,000 new units. Why has it taken so long for Toronto to confront this problem in a realistic way?

The obvious answer is that no one treated it as a priority. In 2009, council passed a housing plan with a target of 1,000 affordable housing units per year. Between then and 2015, they never even came close.

You’ve been in this job for five years now. What’s your favourite part of your routine?

The hour I spend in my office between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. It’s quiet. There’s a guy who skates on the Nathan Phillips Square rink every morning, so while I’m reading the news or a report or a speech, I’ll look out and watch him.

When does your day end?

I work until 9 p.m. or so, then spend a couple of hours at home with my wife, Barbara. I go to sleep at 11:30 p.m.

When we last talked, a few years ago, she had agreed to two terms. Is she holding fast to that edict?

She was adamant at the beginning. We haven’t yet sat down to discuss another term, because we’re only one year into a four-year term, but I’d say she doesn’t look at that rule as being written in blood any more. I think a lot of it will depend on whether the projects I’ve implemented—transit or housing or others—are in danger of being obstructed. That would prompt me to be much more serious about staying on.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.