Is John Tory keeping his 'One Toronto' promise?

In the lead up to the October election, Mayor John Tory campaigned heavily on the notion of 'One Toronto'. The idea, Tory said, was to unite the seemingly disparate enclaves of the city into a single, functioning municipality free of the fractiousness that marked the last several years at City Hall.

A key tenet of that strategy was to include representatives from across the city and across the political spectrum in Toronto's top offices, particularly on the executive committee.

But when Tory revealed his selections late Sunday, it appeared the dream of 'One Toronto' was dead.

Nine of 13 members of Tory's executive committee served under former mayor Rob Ford, and Coun. Frances Nunziata, whom Tory has selected to continue her role as Speaker, is largely viewed as a Ford ally.

Other critics have pointed out that no councillors representing the downtown core of Toronto or those who are open members of the NDP have been tapped as committee chairs, though left-leaning Coun. Pam McConnell from Toronto-Centre Rosedale has been chosen as a symbolic deputy mayor (Tory chose Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong as deputy mayor and named three others to represent geographic regions of the city, though they have no powers that come with the title).

Former mayor David Miller also appointed three deputy mayors.

Coun. Shelley Carroll from Don Valley East has been among the most vocal critics of Tory's choices.

"There was a lot of talk about having a broad spectrum. It's a little less than broad," she told reporters at City Hall Monday.

"Those of us who've been in council a long time and actually remember the three deputy mayor model, it's window dressing. It doesn't translate into any additional authority anywhere," Carroll said.

To hear more reaction and Tory's response, watch the video report from CBC's Jamie Strashin above.

Original Article
Source: CBC
Author: cbc