Integrity commissioner exonerates John Tory for ties to Rogers, ActiveTO vote

Mayor John Tory is receiving some good news heading into the holidays.

A new report from the city’s integrity commissioner finds Toronto’s mayor did not break any conflict of interest rules by participating in a council vote regarding ActiveTO road closures earlier this year.

Tory was the subject of an investigation as to whether or not he broke conflict of interest rules over his ties to Rogers and his vote to reduce closures on one of the city’s main roads.

“The evidence shows that the interest Mayor Tory had in the matter was ‘so remote or insignificant in its nature’ that it could not reasonably be regarded as likely to influence him,” reads commissioner Jonathan Batty’s report.

Tory responded to the report’s findings on Tuesday morning, saying he is relieved but wants to work on making things as transparent as possible moving forward.

“I have followed the rules scrupulously for eight years,” said Tory. “Even in this instance where there were some questions raised about that, it was found that the activities I engaged in were exempt from any finding otherwise.”

The commissioner’s report does go on to say that the complaint about Tory was valid and worth investigating.

The investigation was launched after a complaint that Tory was in a conflict of interest over his city council vote on ActiveTO road closures in June. The ethics complaint filed by civic activist Adam Chaleff argued there was a conflict of interest when Tory voted and spoke about ending the closures on Lake Shore Boulevard West.

The president of the Toronto Blue Jays weighed in on the ActiveTO debate ahead of the June council meeting, arguing the closures made it more difficult for fans to get to the Rogers Centre for the team’s home games. The mayor later voted in line with Mark Shapiro’s request, along with a majority of city councillors, to treat ActiveTO road closures on Lake Shore West as limited special events rather than a reoccurring weekend closure.

“Even though he has narrowly escaped legal accountability, Tory owes Toronto an apology for letting his Rogers interests interfere with the public interest,” wrote Chaleff on Twitter after the result of integrity commissioner’s report was revealed.

ActiveTO road closures were implemented during the pandemic and the road closures aimed to give cyclists and pedestrians more space on weekends.

The Blue Jays are owned by Rogers Communications and Tory is a shareholder in the company. Tory has been on the Rogers family trust for over a decade and is paid $100,000 a year for his role.

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