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What might a post-Tory Toronto look like?

By The Big Story

In today’s Big Story podcast, John Tory for a long time seemed like your archetypal career politician; adept at avoiding scandal, and keeping his private life out of the public eye. And so the recent revelation that the thrice-elected mayor engaged in a romantic affair with a former employee — his subordinate at the time — was shocking to say the least.

Ben Spurr is a reporter with The Star’s City Hall Bureau, and part of the team of journalists who broke the affair story that ultimately led to Tory’s resignation. He joins us to discuss their coverage, and outline the potential fallout from the scandal.

“[Tory] built this reputation on being a very upstanding guy who’s not going to let his personal life intrude on his public duties. And this story kind of blew that reputation out of the water.”

On top of tarnishing his public image, the scandal has thrown the Toronto political sphere into a state of disarray. Tory, with his newly acquired ‘Strong Mayor Powers,’ had an ambitious agenda for his third term, including the passage of a contentious budget that’s due to be debated in council this week.

Will Tory’s opponents capitalize on the scandal to impose their own will onto the future of the city? And who might end up in the mayor’s seat, after what promises to be the most compelling Toronto municipal election in nearly a decade?

You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.

You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.

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