Multiple members of city council have met with John Tory and asked him to reconsider his decision to resign as mayor, according to one of his allies at city hall.

Jon Burnside, who serves as Tory’s hand-picked chair of the TTC, told reporters on Tuesday that he would be “in favour” of the mayor remaining in his job and communicated as much during a recent meeting.

Tory abruptly announced his intention to resign on Friday, shortly after the Toronto Star reported that he had engaged in extramarital affair with a member of his staff.

Since then a number of councillors have expressed support for Tory remaining as mayor, including his budget chief Gary Crawford.

“I have spoken to him. He didn't indicate one way or the other. That's his decision to make. But I asked for some time, as did (council speaker) Frances Nunizata and there are other councillors as well. We made our pitch to him,” Burnside said on Tuesday.

Tory’s office has confirmed that he plans to remain as mayor for Wednesday’s budget deliberations at city hall and has promised “further details on the transition” process following that meeting.

Some members of council are, however, asking Tory to reconsider.

Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Burnside said that Tory’s relationship with a now former employee “does raise questions and they need to be investigated.”

But he said that he doesn’t believe his conduct is going “to cause the citizens of Toronto to change their mind” about who they want to be mayor for the next four years.

“If anyone were to say ‘well council is going to be crazy’ they've never been to council, it's already crazy. I also don’t know of any councillor who would say ‘I'm not going to support Mayor Tory’s initiative, whatever that might be, because he had a lapse of judgement,” Burnside said.

 

Torontonians split on whether Tory should resign

Tory has said that engaging in a relationship with a staff member “was a serious error in judgment” on his part and not in keeping with the standards he holds himself to “as mayor and as a family man.”

He has indicated that he wants to step down “to do the work of rebuilding the trust of my family.”

But he has also said that he doesn’t want “to see the city government itself put through a prolonged period of controversy” as a result of his actions.

Tory himself hasn’t said anything to suggest that he is considering changing his mind, though it should be noted that he had initially indicated that he would formalize his resignation “in the coming days” and has since backtracked on that timeline.

Torontonians also appear to be split on whether Tory should remain in the mayor’s chair.

On Tuesday Forum Research released a poll showing that a slight plurality of respondents (45 per cent) believe Tory should not resign. Another 43 per cent said that he should.

Reacting to the behind the scenes maneuvering at city hall on Tuesday, Ward 14 Toronto—Danforth Coun. Paula Fletcher said that it would be “very hard” for the mayor to walk back his intentions to resign at this point.

“I think he would be pretty wounded for the rest of this term and not have the moral authority he had previously (if he were to reconsider,” she told CP24. “He has had a lot of moral authority over many, many different issues in the city. I think that might be ruptured at this point.” 

Toronto’s integrity commissioner has said that he will be looking into Tory’s relationship with the staffer and will conduct his inquiry in accordance with the City of Toronto Act.

But Tory will remain in the mayor's chair for the time being and is expected to be in his chair for Wednesday's budget debate.

“I am just not interested in that (Tory's intentions). My job is to focus on the budget, my job is to focus on the community I serve and my job is to focus on Toronto,” Ward 12 Toronto—St. Paul's. Coun. Josh Matlow, who is believed to be considering a mayoral run in the event of Tory's resignation, told CP24 on Tuesday.  “The more time we keep speculating over what the mayor is or isn’t going to do the less time we will have to focus on our priorities. So if the mayor is there at that meeting tomorrow we should be discussing the budget. As for what the mayor is going to do, I have no idea what he is going to do and I have no control over what he is going to do. But I have control over what I am going to do and I am going to fight to improve this budget.”