Radio host John Tory said he is joining the race to be Toronto’s next mayor.
Tory confirmed Sunday evening that he intends to file his nomination papers Monday morning at Toronto city hall, ending months of speculation as to whether the former leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative party would throw his hat back into the political ring.
In a campaign launch video, Tory vowed to make building a subway relief line his top priority if elected as mayor. He also promised to keep property taxes low and make city hall more functional.
“Building a great city means people working together, my whole career has been about bringing people together,” he said.
Tory is set to join the race on the same day another high-profile hopeful, Coun. Karen Stintz, said she would be officially launching her own mayoral campaign.
Stintz tweeted on Friday that she had filled out her nomination papers, and would be launching her campaign Monday at 10 a.m.
This is the second time Tory is running to be mayor of Toronto. In the 2003 Toronto municipal election, he lost to David Miller.
Tory joined provincial politics as leader of the Ontario PCs from 2005 to 2009. In 2007, his party suffered major defeat at the hands of the ruling Liberals. The defeat was also personal: Tory had chosen to run in the general election in the riding of Don Valley West, and was unable to defeat MPP Kathleen Wynne. He later suffered a subsequent defeat in a Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes byelection, and Tory left Queen’s Park after that.
Tory turned to broadcasting in recent years, hosting a weekday radio call-in show on Newstalk 1010.
Stintz, who has represented Ward 16 Eglinton Lawrence since 2003, publicly declared back in October her plans to seek Toronto’s top political job.
Last week, she stepped down from her role as TTC chair, a position she has held since Mayor Rob Ford appointed her to the transit file in 2010. The pair disagreed however, over the handling of some critical matters related to the TTC.
Stintz and Tory are running against declared candidates Ford, former councillor David Socknacki and dozens of lesser-known candidates in what is expected to be a hotly contested race.
There have been reports circulating for some time that Toronto MP Olivia Chow is also considering joining the race.
