Tory looks good to new party

[spmarshall]

Here's an interesting scenerio: If John Tory loses the municipal election, he goes for either the provincial PC party or even the new federal Conservative Party.

I wouldn't mind Tory becoming the provincial leader. He's a strong politican, more of an old-school Davis-style conservative than Harris or Eves. The strong showing at the Toronto election would help, even after losing it. Though I'd probably not vote for him myself.

Hey, it might make it easier for those who like Tory to vote Miller!


Nov. 9, 2003. 01:00*AM
Toronto Star
Tory looks good to new party

RICHARD GWYN
When he announced in midweek that he would not run for the leadership of the merged Conservatives and Alliance, former Ontario premier Mike Harris let it out that it was because he was so enjoying the attractions of the private sector (including not having to read about his love life in the newspapers).

Not at all. An unimpeachable party source tells me that as part of his preparations to contest the leadership, Harris ordered up a quickie poll. Its findings were exceedingly bleak, for Harris personally and for the merged party nationally. Defeat avoidance made up Harris' mind for him.

Without Harris, the merged party doesn't have a real leadership race to give a kick-start to its new life. Conservative Leader Peter MacKay, if he runs, would be thrashed. Other potential candidates, like Calgary businessman Jim Prentice, may be capable but are unknown.

Which leaves Alliance Leader Stephen Harper. He has assets, like intelligence, parliamentary experience and bilingualism. He has one huge offsetting handicap. Any new party that starts life with an old leader hobbles itself before the electoral contest even begins. And a second sizeable handicap: Harper's ascent to the top would confirm public suspicions that what's happening is a takeover by the far-right Alliance of the centrist Conservatives.

Hang on for just a day and a potential solution will have changed the equation. The highly probable winner of tomorrow's Toronto mayoralty election will be David Miller. One of the losers therefore will be John Tory.

Only a semi-loser, though.

By his impressive campaign, Tory, a former top aide of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and former head of Rogers Media but until now unknown except to political professionals, will have made himself into a substantial public figure in what is the country's fourth-largest political constituency (after Ottawa, Ontario, Quebec).

Pressure is certain to be applied to Tory to save the new party from a leadership convention as boring as next week's Liberal get-together to crown Paul Martin. Pressure will be applied simultaneously by the recently defeated, and soon-to-be-leaderless, provincial Conservatives. Since Tory is unilingual, expect him to go provincial. Which will still leave the new party looking listless, and worse, old.

 

[ganjavih]

It's a good idea. I really like Tory and he's had a great campaign. And he's not too far to the right to scare away the mainstream vote.

 

[kpad]

Tory has proven himself to have some strong political instincts in this campaign. He has proven that he is a backroom boy that can easily come out into the light. Not just that, but he also even looks like a leader.

Losing this election by no means puts an end to his career as a front-line politician. Consider for a moment that he has come from practically nowhere to command approximately 40 percent of the decided vote in Canada's biggest city. Moreover, this election has demonstrated the extent to which the left is mobilized for this campaign, fighting back after years of cuts to social programs and to cherished causes. The fact that Tory is doing well as a business-oriented candidate who lives in a new condo when the city is going through a period of obsession with social issues and of staunch NIMBY-ism is impressive. Also, consider that he has been able to do well, despite his affiliation with the pathetic and laughable Lastman administration.

All things considered, this guy has done impressively, and he has earned himself some considerable political capital amongst conservatives, even if he loses.

That being said, anyone who suggests that Tory is the next leader of the provincial PCs or of a merged conservative party is dreaming or is so Toronto-centric that they really need to take some time off to travel outside the city. To be sure, this Bay Street boy will not sell well in many areas outside Toronto. He looks like a businessman, speaks like a businessman, and thinks like a businessman. After years of talking to business audiences, he still needs to hone his message, and the tone of his speeches needs to change to accommodate a more diverse audience. The fact that he sells well in Toronto says nothing about his prospects beyond the city.

So, what's in Tory's future? Well, if he wants to stay on the front-line, his best bet would be to pick a safe riding for a run at a federal seat. To be sure, if the Conservative Party does moderately well, the profile that Tory has acquired should allow him to knock off a vulnerable Toronto-area Liberal (or to defeat a new-comer which is replacing an outgoing Chretienite). Then, assuming that the Conservative Party does well enough in the federal election (which I think they will), he can assume a high profile critics role, perhaps in finance. And, maybe one election after that or two, he can serve a brief stint as Minister of Finance (the Liberals have to lose eventually). It's a long shot, but it could happen.

If he goes the provincial route, he will do very well for himself. Not a premier, but certainly a Minister of Finance or something along those lines. Again, give it at least one more election. The problem with this scenario, which makes it less likely than the federal route, is that the provincial election was too recent, the provincial PCs still too weak and too fragmented. The smart backroom instincts of Tory will tell him that it's a nightmare to walk into such circumstances. Everyone will be suspicious of him, and he'd make quite the target. Besides which, he would have to sit off on the sidelines until a seat became available for him in a byelection, thereby wasting a lot of the political capital that he is gaining through this mayoral run. So, the provincial route is less likely, I think. The timing is just off.

Anyway, that's my two cents for those that care.

 

[Are Be]

Even people who would not vote for John Tory will know that he is a very capable man.

I've spoken to some PC friends of mine (some who are backing Miller, by the way) and many of us agree that Tory would give a united right instant credibility. Tory has the intellect and diplomatic skill to modify - heck, even change the views - of the wacky bits of a Conservative party.

(PS- hauled my ass off all the way from Royal York and Bloor to Coxwell and Danfroth to talk to a PC organizer I know working at the Miller campaign headquarters. He told me: 1, the NDP is just as bad as the PC's for infighting; 2, I'm not the only possible Miller supporter who has a weary 'If Olivia Chow is for it, then I'm against it" attitude; and 3, the key reason why I would not vote for Miller is that I am greatly concerned that he will have puff ball negations with the public sector unions, and use a 'negotiations through capitulation' strategy when dealing with OPSU and CUPE. Does Miller have the courage to be struck off Sid Ryan's Christmas card list? If so, Miller gets my vote

HEY! When does the current labour agreement between the city and the workers expire?

 

[andreapalladio]

I can't imagine the new Fascist party would have Tory as a leader. I mean, it's not like he did a great job when he ran the P.C.'s 1993 national campaign.

 

[sdoody]

But then again he did a pretty good job working for Bill Davis in the 80's...and I don't know if anybody could have saved the conservatives in the early 90's...

 

[andreapalladio]

And then there's the raging sucess he made of the CFL, and how he gave great value to Rogers stakeholders, and lets not forget his record as an idea man for Mel Lastman...

Wait a minute. The fascisti should make him their new leader. It will ensure they never win an election.

JOHN TORY FOR DUCE!!!

 

[Are Be]

Whither all those losing candidates?

By John Barber

UPDATED AT 10:43 AM EST &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2003

Advertisement

Regular readers will know that a columnist's solemn duty on the day after an election is to return to the scene of battle and shoot the wounded.

But who's to shoot? Not Anne Johnston: The oldest and longest-serving member of city council, quick-witted as ever, blew herself to bits on Monday night, leaving nothing to target but a pair of no-longer-lucky red clogs on the ground and a smile in the air.

Ms. Johnston courted her fate with eyes wide open last year when she made a deal on council to approve construction of the controversial Minto towers on Yonge Street, and her constituents delivered it with a wallop. Despite several last-minute pleas on her behalf from Mayor-to-be David Miller, her most ardent admirer and self-confessed political godson, Ms. Johnston lost Ward 16 to anti-Minto candidate Karen Stintz by almost 2,000 votes. Kaboom.

What could be more creditworthy in a politician than to fail on a point of principle? Standing bravely on the wrong side of an honest argument, facing an inevitable and unappeasable yes-or-no answer, old Anne refused to fade away. And now she's gone. Good for her.

So back to the task at hand: Where's John Tory?

I sunk a slug into the losing mayoralty candidate's backside yesterday, criticizing him for detouring into the hard-right hills just as free votes began pouring out of Barbara Hall's high-road campaign like $100 bills out the back of a broken Brinks truck, but the guy barely missed a step as he skipped away to greatness.

So how's his French? That's the big question now, just as compelling as the question of whether or not Mayor Miller will stop the bridge to the island airport. If the allegedly uniting federal conservatives had half a brain among them (the evidence on that is unclear), they would be mightily impressed with any politician who won a quarter-million votes in the heart of Sodom on a frankly right-wing platform.

"He's not unilingual," said Tory campaign manager Rocco Rossi, speaking on behalf of the resting candidate. "He's quite functional in French. It's not up to the level of Paul Martin's French, but it certainly could be brought up to speed."

The real impediment to a Tory bid for leadership of the new party is ideological, according to Mr. Rossi. "Could the united right tolerate a Red Tory leader?" he asked. The answer: Not yet.

And who wants to shed blood fruitlessly battling for redneck votes in rural Alberta? As Mr. Rossi noted, the political debate that flowered so brightly in the Toronto mayoralty debate was a thrilling thing. In each of their speeches to the Canadian Club of Toronto late in the campaign, the two leading candidates "set a high-water mark for political discourse in Canada," according to Mr. Rossi.

"I challenge anyone to find any political debate over the last several years that speaks better to the possibilities of what the body politic should accomplish and what it can aspire to," he added.

Yes, it's a long way from Red Deer. So why go there? Mr. Tory would be equally welcome at the head of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives. He could sell himself as a proved and blooded vote-getter -- imagine that: 250,000 votes for one candidate and he still loses -- without lugging all the baggage of a former membership in either the Harris or Eves governments. Tony Clement must be grinding his teeth.

Still and all, the barely winged Mr. Tory would use his new mandate best if he took it to Ottawa. Somebody has to let those bell-jar conservatives know that they will never, never form a national government without strong support from the stubbornly progressive heartland -- in both southern Ontario and Quebec. You might even say Mr. Tory has a duty to help restore real choice in federal politics for the very large number of currently disenfranchised conservatives he represents.

So what if the time is not ripe for a Red Tory leader of the hopeless Alliance? The time wasn't right for an NDP mayor either, but David Miller ran away with the prize. With any luck, Mr. Tory will be inspired by his defeat.

jbarber@globeandmail.ca


© 2003 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 

[garden of evil]

a red Tory and a blue Liberal.
That would be one interesting federal election

 

[Are Be]

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp
Nov. 14, 2003. 01:00 AM
Tory makes a first-class exit

CAROL GOAR

Journalists are not given to retrospection. But it would be a shame to close the book on the 2003 Toronto mayoral race without one last salute to the runner-up.

John Tory delivered one of the classiest concession speeches in the annals of Canadian politics this week. He set an example, even in defeat.

"We can all leave tonight with our heads held high," he told his disappointed supporters. And they all did.

The 49-year-old lawyer is in Florida now, relaxing for the first time in nine months.

His campaign manager, Rocco Rossi, and a few other stalwarts are finishing up the paperwork and shutting down the campaign office at Yonge and St. Clair. The adrenalin is gone, but the phones are still ringing.

Well-wishers keep calling, urging Tory to run for the leadership of the Ontario Conservatives, jump into the race to lead the new right-wing party in Ottawa or find some other way to capitalize on his high political profile.

Right now, Tory is making no decisions.

He joked, while cleaning out his campaign office Wednesday, that he'd been spared the burden of dealing with the mess at City Hall. But the attempt at humour was half-hearted. "I really would have liked to be mayor."

Judging from the kind of campaign he ran, Tory would have been a good one — just not the one that hope-starved electors wanted this time.

Still, he won a quarter of a million votes. That's 10 times as many as Jean Chrétien or Mike Harris received in their ridings. He delivered several speeches that will stand the test of time. And he climbed from a distant fourth in the public opinion polls to a strong second, finishing with 38.5 per cent of the vote.

Tory found it faintly surprising that anyone would consider his election-night concession speech extraordinary. To him, it was a logical extension of the race he ran. "I really do respect David Miller," he said. "I do believe it's a privilege to run for public office."

It wouldn't have occurred to him to skimp on any of the closing-night rituals. He acknowledged the strengths of each of his competitors, offered his heartfelt thanks to his staff and volunteers, reached out to encircle his family and friends and re-affirmed his faith in the city and the electoral system.

Then he headed off to Miller's victory party to congratulate the winner personally.

With Tory's corporate connections, his legal training, his family pedigree and his managerial talent, he will have little difficulty re-establishing himself in business.

Nevertheless, he sent three important messages by running for mayor:

Public life is worth the sacrifice of a well-established citizen's time, income and privacy.

Municipal politics are no longer a backwater. Tory had been approached to run federally and provincially. He chose to enter Toronto's highly competitive mayoralty race.

Leadership skills such as clear-sightedness, resilience and the ability to build consensus are transferable from business to politics.

Tory did suffer a couple of battle wounds in the campaign.

The first was inflicted by rival John Nunziata, who claimed late in the race that someone from the Tory camp had offered him $150,000 to drop out of the race.

A police investigation found the allegation groundless, but it cast a shadow over Tory's campaign for 12 crucial days.

The second scar was left by this newspaper which published a front-page story last Sunday, headlined: "Miller most trustworthy: Poll."

Tory and those around him were deeply hurt by the implication that he was untrustworthy. On balance, however, he enjoyed the campaign and believes he was treated fairly.

Rossi, too, walks away from the race more heartened than disappointed. The campaign manager says the experience gave him a glimpse of the city that a businessperson rarely sees.

Each time he accompanied Tory to a different neighbourhood, he'd find out about great programs he'd never heard of and dedicated community workers who sought no recognition. Their budgets were minuscule, their results impressive.

"There are an incredible number of people out there, each lighting one little candle," he said. "That was a huge learning for me."

Rossi hopes Tory makes another foray into electoral politics, but he is adamant that the mayoralty campaign was not a test run, a profile-raising exercise or a positioning tactic.

"I saw the depth of his commitment to this community," Rossi said. "I saw the way he dealt with the headaches and the cheap shots. Anyone who assumes this is just another job or activity is missing the point."

For those who like happy endings, this campaign had one.

The newly elected mayor praised Tory for his intelligence, his love of the city and his grace in defeat. "He has established himself as a major figure in electoral politics," Miller said.

Tory promised that, "after a few days of rest, John Tory, private citizen, will be back at the task of trying to shape a great city."

It was a bad night for cynics.

Carol Goar's column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Additional articles by Carol Goar

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[Are Be]

Tory urged to seek Ont PC leadership- gov't in waiting

If Tory becomes leader of the provincial PC's, the PC's will be a 'government in waiting' with instant credibility and will hold the Liberals feet to the fire


Jan. 7, 2004. 02:55 PM
Tory urged to seek PC leadership
`The more the better': Flaherty
Stronach eyes run for federal party

ROBERT BENZIE
QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU

Pressure is mounting on former Toronto mayoral candidate John Tory to seek the provincial Conservative leadership now that Tony Clement is jumping to federal politics.

While Whitby-Ajax MPP Jim Flaherty is the frontrunner to succeed Ernie Eves as leader later this year, a growing number of Conservatives are encouraging Tory to run.

"I've been talking to a lot of people. A lot of people have been kind to call," the runner-up to Mayor David Miller in the Nov. 10 municipal election said yesterday. Tory said he plans to make up his mind on whether to run "in the next little while.

"Frankly, I've got to make a big personal decision. I'll not be taking long to sort it out once and for all," he said.

Sources say some supporters of Clement, the former Ontario health minister who is expected to seek the leadership of the new Conservative Party of Canada, have approached Tory.

"There's a real opportunity there to have an interesting contest. It's not a shoo-in for Jim Flaherty," said one high-ranking Conservative.

Another insider said Conservative strategist John Laschinger — architect of Miller's mayoral win and Eves' 2002 leadership victory — has been approached to run Tory's campaign. But Laschinger said such speculation is "premature."

"I made a habit a long time ago of not announcing as a campaign manager before a candidate announced," he said.

Tory and Laschinger reportedly discussed the provincial race at a meeting Monday night to organize a fundraiser to help pay off Miller's municipal campaign debts.

Insiders say there is a feeling within the provincial Conservative party that Flaherty, who finished second to Eves in 2002, is too right-wing and a centrist like Tory is better equipped to take on Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty in the next election.

Flaherty, for his part, said he would welcome all challengers.

"I intend to run for the provincial leadership. There's no ambiguity about that," he said, noting he and one-time rival Clement have spoken several times since the Oct. 2 provincial election about helping one another in their respective races.

The former finance minister added he would like to run against Tory.

"The more the better as long as they're credible candidates — and he is certainly a credible candidate," Flaherty said.

Other potential provincial candidates include Oak Ridges MPP Frank Klees and Burlington MPP Cam Jackson.

Before Christmas, Eves told reporters he would announce a departure date this year.

Clement, who couldn't be reached for comment, is expected to announce his federal bid later this month.

Canadian Alliance caucus leader Stephen Harper, who will officially announce his bid on Monday, is the frontrunner.

Auto-parts tycoon Belinda Stronach, CEO of Magna International, has also expressed an interest, but sources at Queen's Park say they are trying to dissuade the political neophyte from running federally.

Calgary lawyer Jim Prentice, who finished second in last year's federal Conservative leadership race, has already declared his intention to run in the March 21 race to head the new Conservative party.

Others considering federal bids include Alliance MP Chuck Strahl and Conservative caucus leader Peter MacKay.

Meanwhile, Manitoba Alliance MP Brian Pallister said yesterday he has decided not to run for the federal leadership.

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