Amir Torabi (2L)
As the mayoral election heats up, lawyers from McCarthy Tetrault and a handful of law students from the Faculty of Law gathered on the 53rd floor of the TD Bank Tower to join in a discussion with mayoral candidate and current front-runner John Tory.
Tory began the afternoon lunch session with an anecdote about his own job search while he was in law school – fitting as OCI season was in full flight. His eyes were always set on a position at Torys LLP, a firm founded by his grandfather and where his father and uncle also worked. Tory mentioned that, after graduating in 1978 from Osgoode Hall Law School, he was unsure if he would be allowed to article at the firm given rules potentially preventing partners from hiring family. For him, McCarthy Tetrault would have been the second best fit. Given this adoration with McCarthy Tetrault, Tory naturally seemed in his element while speaking passionately about his platform points. Tory also took questions from the audience and spent some time taking pictures and speaking to individuals.
Though many in the audience seemed to be Tory supporters, the event wasn’t void of tough questions for Mr. Tory. While overlooking a packed Gardiner Expressway and traffic during the lunch hour on a Tuesday, Tory was questioned about his plan to ease congestion in this city. He spoke of the senseless decisions made to close main roads on weekends where all three major sports teams in this city are playing. Tory vowed to ensure that these decisions would be made wisely and with consideration under his administration.
Tory also took the time to promote his SmartTrack plan, which has been a heavy talking point in this election. In the preceding weeks Olivia Chow had hammered Tory about whether SmartTrack development in a portion of his plan would result in the demolition of homes and community centres. In previous debates, Tory failed to outright deny this assertion. At this event, he proclaimed that these accusations were false and that Olivia’s claim was ridiculous. What may have been a more persuasive answer would have been an explanation of how this portion of his transit plan would be built, if not through expropriation. Nevertheless, Tory has conceded that he will find a way to solve these problems that are a natural result of any large-scale construction project, rather than find excuses not to proceed.
Just when it seemed Mr. Tory would get away from this event scot-free, an avid cyclist in attendance questioned whether Tory had any focus on making Toronto more bicycle friendly given his heavy focus on SmartTrack. Tory spoke of his ride-along meeting with the executive director of Cycle Toronto, Jared Kolb. Tory pledged to create a network of separated bike lanes in sensible locations and to increase the amount of bicycle parking facilities, which seemed to resonate with the cyclist.
What the event was void of was of any mentions of the Fords—both of the Doug or Rob variety. Tory seemed focused on his own platform and keen on remaining detached from the other candidates—likely a result of his lead in the polls.
This event provided a great opportunity to address Mr. Tory in a non-hostile environment. Tory was very happy to see law students from the Faculty of Law and took the time to speak with many of them, asking about their experience in law school thus far. Given the nature of the event, seen as a supporting event for Tory’s campaign, it is unreasonable to expect the audience to have asked the tough and challenging questions we demand of politicians in debates and in the media. However, Tory’s ability to resonate with a room full of lawyers and law students bodes well for his ability to sell this city in the future, should he be elected.
