The strong mayor powers held by John Tory will not be transferred to his deputy mayor upon his resignation but will be inherited by whoever is ultimately elected in a by-election, a spokesperson for the Ford government confirms.

Tory was granted sweeping new powers that allow him to craft his own budget, unilaterally hire and fire department heads and veto any decision supported by less than two-thirds of city council in the fall.

But in a statement provided to CTV News Toronto on Monday, a spokesperson for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing confirmed that the powers cannot be transferred to a caretaker mayor, such as his deputy Jennifer McKelvie.

“Strong Mayor powers do not transfer to the interim/acting mayor,” Victoria Podbielski said.

“Once a new mayor has been elected pursuant to the by-election, that person will be the head of council and will be able to exercise the strong mayor powers.”

Tory has said that he will work with the city manager, the city clerk and McKelvie “to ensure an orderly transition in the coming days.”

But it remains unclear what role, if any, McKelvie will hold.

In an interview with CP24 on Monday, municipal lawyer John Mascarin pointed out that McKelvie was appointed under Section 193 of the City of Toronto Act which gives her “a very, very limited scope of authority.”

In fact, the legislation only states that a member of council can be appointed to “preside at meetings when the head of council is absent or the office is vacant.”

That would mean that McKelvie could designate key items and speak last prior to votes but would not have the additional powers held by Tory.

It is also unclear whether she would have access to the additional resources granted to the mayor’s office, including a larger budget.

“I was surprised to learn that she was actually appointed as deputy mayor under section 193 of the City of Toronto Act and that means she only has a very, very limited scope of authority,” Mascarin said. “That means that those powers, those really recent powers given to the head of council in Toronto and Ottawa, will not transfer to the deputy mayor in this particular regime.”

CP24 did ask the City of Toronto for more information about what roles and responsibilities could be assumed by a caretaker mayor in the event of Tory’s resignation but was told by a spokesperson that the city will only advise on “timelines and next steps” after Tory submits a letter of resignation to the city clerk.