Toronto’s deputy mayor steps into election race by endorsing fellow John Tory ally

Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie has waded into Toronto’s municipal election and endorsed Ana Bailão for the city’s top job.

McKelvie, who has led city government since former mayor John Tory abruptly resigned in February, said at a press conference with Bailão in front of city hall on Friday that the former Davenport councillor is “the best choice to lead Toronto forward.”

The deputy mayor described her former council colleague as a “consensus builder” and the only candidate capable of working with councillors and other levels of government to fix Toronto’s financial woes.

When McKelvie (Ward 25, Scarborough—Rouge Park) took on the job of overseeing the mayor’s office, she pledged not to run in the election and to focus on ensuring a smooth transition to the new administration.

She said Friday that while she had vowed to keep the mayor’s office out of the race, she felt free to endorse a candidate after council wrapped up Thursday in its final session before the June 26 vote.

“I sat on the sidelines as long as I could, but now Toronto has to come first, the people of Toronto come first, and that’s why I’m here to support Ana Bailão,” she said.

Less than two hours before the joint press conference, the city issued a news release marking progress on its Housing Now program, an initiative Bailão led when she was a councillor. The release could help Bailão, whose opponents have spent weeks hammering her on Housing Now’s disappointing results to date.

The mayor’s office routinely provides input for city media communications, but McKelvie rejected the suggestion of any link between the Housing Now release and her backing Bailão.

“That was released prior to this announcement,” she said. “The legislative agenda is now complete, and I am exercising my right to support a good candidate.”

Both Bailão and McKelvie are close allies of Tory, who stepped down after a Star investigation revealed he had a relationship with a member of his office staff. Bailão was one of Tory’s deputy mayors, and staff on her campaign team also worked on his mayoral runs or in his office at city hall.

The ex-mayor has not publicly weighed in on the byelection to replace him. With just over a week until voting day Bailão could need a big boost to catch apparent front-runner Olivia Chow, but didn’t answer directly when asked whether she was actively seeking Tory’s endorsement.

“I’m accepting endorsements till the 26th at 8 p.m., particularly the endorsement at the ballot box of the residents of Toronto,” Bailão said.

In addition to McKelvie, Bailão has secured the endorsements of seven other council members.

Five councillors are backing Chow, a former NDP MP, and one is supporting ex-police chief Mark Saunders.

Also in the race are Coun. Brad Bradford (Ward 19, Beaches—East York), Coun. Josh Matlow, (Ward 12, Toronto—St. Paul’s), former Scarborough Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter, and pundit Anthony Furey.

Ben Spurr is a Toronto-based reporter covering city hall and municipal politics for the Star. Reach him by email at bspurr@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @BenSpurr

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