Parties & Leaders

Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory

MPP Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey
Running in 2007 in Don Valley West
[ Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario ]

John Tory takes to the stage in Toronto in 2004 after he was announced as the new leader of the Ontario PC Party. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

"A fresh face forward" is what John Tory promised when he took over as leader of the floundering Progressive Conservative Party in 2004.

Since then, support for the party has risen but it's still uncertain whether Tory has what it takes to bring the party back to its heyday — 42 consecutive years of Tory rule, from 1943 to 1985.

Tory, while a longtime player behind the scenes for both the provincial and federal Progressive Conservatives, has relatively little experience at the frontline as a politician.

The 53-year-old's first bid to become an elected representative ended in defeat when he joined the race to become Toronto's mayor in 2003.

But the next year, he tried again, this time successfully winning the leadership of the province's Progressive Conservatives.

Tory won over members of the party by eschewing the right-wing leanings of his predecessors, Mike Harris and Ernie Eves, in favour of the moderate, centrist policies of Bill Davis, who was premier from 1971 to 1985.

Behind the scenes

His Red Toryism likely had its roots in one of his earliest political posts as principal secretary for Davis in 1981.

Tory, the eldest of four children, was raised in the wealthy Toronto neighbourhood of Lawrence Park.

He initially followed in his father's footsteps by studying law at the York University's Osgoode Hall.

But Tory had long had an interest in politics — he had joined the Young Progressive Conservatives when he was only 14.

He soon decided to enter the political fray, eventually working behind the scenes for a long line of politicians, both federal and provincial. Along with Davis, the list included premiers Frank Miller, Mike Harris, and Ernie Eves, along with prime ministers Joe Clark, Brian Mulroney and Kim Campbell.

Tory briefly withdrew from politics after he managed Campbell's 1993 federal election campaign: it ended in a disastrous defeat credited in part to Tory's decision to air commercials that many felt mocked the facial deformity of Liberal Leader Jean Chrétien.

In 1995, Tory moved into the business world with a post as president and CEO of Rogers Media then, four years later, of Rogers Cable.

Much of his time was also dedicated to fundraising for charities, including the United Way and St. Michael's Hospital.

Stepping into the limelight

In 2003, Tory returned to politics, this time in the public's eye, with a bid in Toronto's mayoral race. He lost to David Miller, but established himself as an able politician.

A year later, he was elected as leader of the Ontario PC Party and a year after that won his first seat in the provincial legislature in a byelection — in the Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey northwest of Toronto.

This time, Tory plans to take on a Liberal cabinet minister, the recently appointed education minister Kathleen Wynne, in the riding of Don Valley West. Tory grew up in the riding's Lawrence Park neighbourhood and lived there with his family for most of his life.

He is married to Barbara Hackett, a small business owner whom he met when both were studying at York University. They have four grown children — John, Christopher, Susan and George — and are expecting their first grandchild in October, the same month as the election.

Tory has been busy in the summer leading up the Aug. 31 election, unveiling an ambitious 53-page platform in June.

Among his promises are repealing a controversial health tax introduced by Dalton McGuinty's Liberals, funding faith-based schools, and providing new and stable funding to arts and culture.

During his three years as leader, Tory has tried to move the party to more moderate ground and away from the legacy of the now-unpopular Common Sense Revolution, the right-wing policy platform that guided the Tory government under Mike Harris. There are still MPPs in the party from those days.

Rivals have also been critical of Tory's moderate stance, saying he has yet to distinguish himself from McGuinty and risks trying to appeal to everyone but winning over only a few.

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