Former leading force in city hall dead at 75
Well-connected lobbyist Jeff Lyons’ career was tarnished by MFP scandal
Jeff Lyons, a former TTC chair whose reign as Toronto city hall’s most powerful lobbyist was ended by the MFP computer-leasing scandal, is dead at age 75.
Lyons died after collapsing during a run Sunday, Lyons’s longtime friend Paul Godfrey said Monday.
A noted lawyer, owner of the Lyons Group government lobbying firm and active supporter of many charitable causes, Lyons was a hyper-connected force at Toronto city hall in the 1990s who urged his councillor friends and senior city staff to call him “Brother Jeff.”
He held high-profile posts including chair of the Toronto Transit Commission and vice-chair of the Toronto Police Services Board.
Lyons also held directorships with agencies including Ontario Place, the Greater Toronto Airport Authority and Via Rail.
His reputation, however, was tarnished by the MFP computer leasing scandal and resulting inquiry that revealed a culture of cronyism in then-mayor Mel Lastman’s city hall. Public repugnance at the scandal helped pave the way for the election of Lastman’s broom-wielding successor, David Miller, in 2003.
In her 2005 inquiry report, Justice Denise Bellamy described Lyons as the “most sought-after lobbyist” during the Lastman administration.
In 1999, he helped two firms, MFP and Dell Financial Services, competing for the same city computer-leasing contract. It was alleged Lyons demanded a $150,000 payment from Dell as a “success fee” for the contract if they won.
Bellamy concluded it was “plausible” Lyons tried to solicit the fee on behalf of himself and/or Tom Jakobek, then the city budget chief. The OPP investigated but no charges were laid.
Lyons admitted during the inquiry to funnelling, through his assistant, $15,000 in campaign contributions from a city supplier to city councillors.
The inquiry report ended Lyons’s salad days at city hall but he continued to be a lobbyist. His volunteerism including chairing the Toronto Blue Jays’ charitable foundation.
A Conservative, Lyons was active in both the provincial and federal parties.
Former Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak tweeted Monday: “Very sad news about Jeff Lyons. “Brother” Jeff was so helpful to so many in politics incl. me. Kind, wise & generous. Heart goes out to Sandy”, Lyons’s wife.
Mayor John Tory said, via an email from his staff, “His sudden passing is very sad and I extend my sincere condolences to his entire family.”
Godfrey, the prominent businessman and former politician, met Lyons through Conservative circles about five decades ago. Lyons’s success arguing a 1970s class-action suit on behalf of owners of prematurely rusty Fords led to better protections for all car owners, he said.
“Jeff was sort of the Ralph Nader of Canada in those days,” Godfrey said. “He had a real burning desire to help the city and became a go-to guy for people who wanted him to represent them at city hall in the late 1990s and early 2000s.”
Lyons is survived by Sandy and his adult children Heather, Merrill and Stewart.