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Toronto, Mayor John Tory’s long-time friend and youth educator, Louise Russo, will be the special guest to address the city hall chamber when council meets for the first time today since the Oct. 27 election.
Russo is known for her work teaching youth about the harmful impact of violence. A former Bell Canada employee, Russo got caught in the crossfires of an underworld shooting at a sandwich shop in North York in 2004. Her spine was shattered and she was left paralyzed from the waist down.
In the wake of the shooting, Russo created the charity Working Against Violence Everyday. Tory “developed a special bond” with Russo when he reached out to her after the shooting, he said in a news release, and has been a long-time supporter of WAVE.
Russo will be accompanied by former premier Bill Davis, who Tory calls a mentor.
Earlier this morning, Tory was mum about who his guest is when he arrived at city hall around 6:30 a.m.
“I’m not telling you that,” he shot at CP24’s Farah Nasser. “We’ll just keep that as a small mystery until this afternoon.”
Tory did say his guest is not a sports figure ruling out the possibility of former CFL star Mike “Pinball” Clemons who endorsed the mayor during the election campaign.
Rookie Coun. Joe Cressy, who said he learnt how to properly knot a tie for today’s special occasion, speculated that the special guest is unlikely to be “anybody wearing a pink jacket.” The reference harkens memories of hockey commentator Don Cherry, outgoing mayor Rob Ford’s special guest during his inaugural council meeting. Cherry wore pink specifically to take a stab at left-wing, bicycle-riding “pinkos.”
Today’s meeting at 2 p.m. is largely ceremonial in nature. Seven new councillors – 8 counting outgoing mayor and newly elected councillor Rob Ford – and 36 incumbents will make a declaration of office before taking their seats, and Tory will be presented with the velvet-collared chain of office.
Ford, who has been undergoing chemotherapy for a rare and aggressive form of soft-tissue cancer, is expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
A Striking Committee will also be appointed today to review councillors’ preferences for various committee positions and to recommend appointments to council.
Tory has already unveiled his list of four regional deputy mayors and members of the powerful executive committee. His choices have been criticized for not giving key positions to left-of-centre council members, but he defended himself by saying, “I had choices to make… and I’ve made them.”
“I have to put somebody in place who is going to help me get results as mayor,” he told CP24 Tuesday morning, adding that Shelley Carroll, a left-wing councillor for Ward 33 Don Valley East, will be the deputy speaker and serve on the police services board, TTC board and budget committee.
“That’s a pretty good roster of activities for somebody who is seen as being on the progressive side of the council.”
Likewise, he offered Pam McConnell as an example of a progressive downtown councillor who will be a regional deputy mayor if council approves the post.
Carroll, for her part, called herself “somewhat centrist” and said the creation of regional deputy mayors is “window dressing” for the moment because these are roles that are not yet defined. Only the role of deputy mayor is defined by the city’s law on the books, Carroll said.
There is at least one left-leaning councillor – Coun. Sarah Doucette for ward 13 Parkdale-High Park – who says she has no idea what committees she will be on because Tory has not met with her. Meanwhile, right-wing Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti has also not been appointed to any committees. He says he feels singled out because he supported the Ford brothers during the election campaign.
Tory’s choice for deputy mayor is conservative councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong who is generally not known for being a consensus builder. He appears unfazed by critics saying that he and Tory are trying to rise above partisan politics.
“I look at the work that I’ve done in terms of reforming taxi cabs, bringing in the first bike lane network, fighting congestion and gridlock, negotiating a labour agreement and contracting out garbage,” Minnan-Wong said. “I think that’s a pretty strong resume of accomplishments and I’ll put that up against anyone’s record.”
Minnan-Wong added that he is humbled to serve as deputy mayor and represent Toronto’s Chinese-Canadian community.
The new mayor was officially sworn in on his first day on the job Monday. His private oath-taking ceremony at city hall followed a meeting with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne to discuss public transit and housing issues.
Members of the public who wish to attend city hall for the inaugural meeting will most likely have to watch via a live broadcast from the building’s rotunda or committee rooms. Seating is reserved for people with a ticket so as not to exceed the room’s capacity permitted by fire regulations. Tickets are being distributed by council members to families, friends, senior city officials and the media.
Tory has said his wife, Barbara, their children, his mother and “a couple of friends” will come to watch him preside over his first council meeting.
