Toronto mayor resigns after accepting relationship with employee

The mayor of Toronto, Canada’s largest city, John Tory, unexpectedly resigned after accepting that he was having an extramarital relationship with a worker 37 years his junior.

Tory announced her departure at a press conference an hour after The Toronto Star newspaper revealed details about the relationship.

“I recognize that it was a serious mistake on my part to allow this relationship to happen,” Tory said, adding that the relationship came about at a time when he and his wife were separated for long periods during the Covid-19 pandemic .

The 68-year-old mayor was re-elected for the third time in October 2022.

He has been married since 1978 and has four children and six grandchildren.

Tory, a prominent conservative businessman who became mayor of Toronto in 2014, said he was stepping down because he did not want City Hall damaged by the scandal.

“I deeply regret having to give up a job I love in a city I love even more. I believe in my heart that it is best to dedicate yourself completely to the work necessary to restore these most important (family) relationships as well,” said Tory.

Tory has not identified the employee. The star, citing unnamed sources, said the woman is a 31-year-old aide to the mayor.

Exactly in 2014, Tory replaced another Conservative politician, Rob Ford, who plunged City Hall into a string of scandals between 2010 and 2014.

Ford, who suffered from drug and alcohol addiction, made several public appearances drunk.

In 2013, he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman. and shortly after, a video was released of him smoking “crack”, a form of cocaine. (EFE and Reuters)