The Tory-Ford Feud

Last night, John Tory was elected mayor of Toronto for the second time. His real opponent was never Jennifer Keesmaat. It was Doug Ford. Martin Regg Cohn writes:

Monday’s mayoral contest was never really between Tory and Jennifer Keesmaat, who finished a distant second. His real nemesis has been, and will be, Ford — that shape-shifting mirage who long aspired to replace him as mayor, but has now one-upped him as premier.

That Tory so handily won re-election is mostly thanks to Ford abruptly opting out of their looming confrontation last January, when he seized upon the easier path that opened up in provincial politics. Until then, the mayoral campaign was shaping up as a revenge rematch between the two old antagonists.

The balance of power is not equal:

At city hall, Tory’s purported weakness may be his strength, for his consensual style of politics will be vital in rallying councillors toward unified — and coherent — positions in the coming months. In our municipality, the mayor has but one vote — which is why it is called a “weak mayor” system, where the leader’s word is not law, mere words.

The province, by contrast, overpowers the city but is also governed by what we could call a “strong premier” system — where Ford wields supreme control over his Progressive Conservative caucus. In his majority government, the premier’s word is not only law, it can override the law courts (as when he threatened to invoke the “notwithstanding” clause to suspend charter rights after an “appointed judge” rendered a verdict he disliked.)

But Tory is no political neophyte:

Tory well knows that imbalance of power. And understands our premier’s penchant for unbalanced decision-making.

He can also count on his top political strategist, Nick Kouvalis, to keep watch over Ford’s modus operandi. Often cited as the tactical wizard (or evil genius) who plotted Rob Ford’s mayoral victory in the 2010 election, Kouvalis soon had to fend off Doug, the overbearing big brother who believed the victory was his.

Kouvalis knows the premier better than most, which is why he was hired to help Tory defeat him in 2014, and again for the 2018 mayoral showdown that never was. He will be relied upon to help Tory fend off Ford in future conflicts — whether the province uploads TTC subway operations, downloads social service costs, or whips up Torontonians with yet more wedge issues (such as the phony “crisis” over so-called “illegal border crossers” that Ford fomented over the summer, and that Tory fended off with political acumen and generosity of spirit).

Tory has come up against Ford before. And he used to lead the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. That gamut did not turn out well. Tory is a Bill Davis conservative. His caucus had taken a hard right turn.They and Tory soon parted ways.

There will be tense times at Queen's Park in the next four years. But you can bet that Doug Ford and Toronto's city council will also be butting heads.

Image: Toronto.com