Six Degrees of John H. Tory: a peek at the high-powered Rolodex of our new Mayor McSchmooze

Six Degrees of John H. Tory: a peek at the high-powered Rolodex of our new Mayor McSchmooze


Education
The mayor-in-training attended some of the finest schools in the land: UTS; U of T’s Trinity College; Osgoode Hall
Barbara Hall
Tory sat next to the former Toronto mayor on his first day of law school. They’ve been friends ever since
Chris Boland
The restaurateur (Trappers, the Tasting Rooms, Boland’s Open Kitchen) is a friend of Tory’s from UTS

 

Family
Tory is the eldest of four power kids to power couple Liz and John A.
James C. Tory
Tory’s cousin is a partner at Torys LLP. His father, James M., built the firm into a corporate law powerhouse
Liz (née Bacon) Tory
A former nurse turned philanthropist
Barbara Hackett
Tory’s wife has been running her own design and build firm, Stratheden Homes, for 20 years
John A. Tory
With twin brother James M., took over his father’s law firm (now Torys LLP) before becoming chief advisor to the Thomsons
Jennifer Tory
Tory’s sister is head of personal and commercial banking at Royal Bank
Jeffrey Tory
Tory’s brother is chair of the Montreal investment firm Pembroke Management
Michael Tory
The youngest Tory is head of London financial advisory firm Ondra Partners

 

Philanthropy
Tory has volunteered for a boatload of causes alongside some of the city’s leading power brokers
Brent Hawkes
The pastor who performed the city’s first same-sex marriage is a good friend
Ron White
Tory and his wife emceed the shoe entrepreneur’s 2013 wedding at Casa Loma
Ratna Omidvar
Met Tory through DiverseCity, which she co-founded and later co-chaired (with Tory)
Gary Slaight
The radio and music kingpin has known Tory for years. The pair regularly team up for arts initiatives
Rod Phillips
The former CEO of OLGC is now chair of Postmedia and CivicAction, and was vice-chair of Tory’s transition team
Anne Golden
A director at Ryerson’s new City Building Institute and a key ally in Tory’s plan to solve Toronto’s transit woes
Art Eggleton
Tory picked the senator and former Toronto mayor to lead a six-person task force looking into problems at the TCHC
Alan Broadbent
The chair of Maytree and CEO of Avana Capital knows Tory through CivicAction and DiverseCity

 

Entertainment
In his roles as CFL chair, TIFF fundraiser and talk radio host, Tory has rubbed many a celebrity elbow
Larry Smith
Smith was commissioner of the CFL while Tory was chair. Tory succeeded him as commissioner in 1996
Michael Landsberg
Tory met the TSN host during his CFL days; often works with him to raise awareness on mental health issues
Pinball Clemons
The former player, head coach and now vice-chair of the Toronto Argos is a close friend of Tory’s
Ivan Reitman
The Hollywood director and his sisters donated the land for the TIFF Bell Lightbox; Tory headed up fundraising for the building

 

Business
Tory’s time at the family firm and at Rogers yielded some big-gun close personal friends
Gord Nixon
The former head of RBC is a director of BCE and George Weston Ltd; knows Tory through business, as well as CivicAction and TRIEC
David Peterson
Fellow director at Rogers; chair of Cassels Brock; director of St. Michael’s Hospital; chancellor emeritus of U of T; chair of the Pan Am Games
Rob Prichard
Chair of Torys LLP. Met the mayor when he was a student at U of T. Tory later served on the school’s governing council when Prichard was president
Alan Horn
A long-time Rogers executive and chair of the board; director of CCL Industries and Fairfax Financial
Loretta Rogers
Ted Rogers’s widow is a long-time friend of the Torys; sits on the board of Rogers Communications and is a member of the UHN Foundation
Phil Lind
A Rogers veteran and fellow board member. Also on the boards of the AGO and Business for the Arts, and on the President’s Council of the Power Plant
Geoff Beattie
A former Torys partner and protégé of John A. Tory; replaced him as consigliere to the Thomsons when he retired. Now chair of Relay Ventures

 

Politics
He made some formidable political allies on the long road to becoming mayor
Christine Elliott
The MPP and PC leadership race contender says Tory helped inspire her first run for head of the party
Bill Davis
The former premier is Tory’s chief political mentor and friend. Tory served as his principal secretary from ’81 to ’85
Kathleen Wynne
Met Tory when she was education minister and he was leader of the Opposition. They became friends after duking it out over her home riding of Don Valley West
David Crombie
A good friend since Tory managed his 1976 mayoral campaign; co-founded CivicAction with Tory and David Pecaut
Nick Kouvalis
The mastermind behind Rob Ford’s 2010 election joined Team Tory as a political strategist in 2014, then as a member of the mayor elect’s transition team
Brian Mulroney
Tory served as campaign operations director to the PM during the 1988 election
John Capobianco
The veteran Conservative organizer co-led the coalition that convinced Tory to run for mayor a second time
Mitzie Hunter
The MPP and junior finance minister co-chaired Tory’s 2003 mayoral bid. She later became CEO of CivicAction while Tory was chair
Kim Campbell
Tory managed the PM’s disastrous 1993 election campaign

(images: John H. Tory by Markian Lozowchuk; Liz Tory, Slaight, Phillips, Peterson, Horn, Lind, Crombie, Mulroney, Campbell by Getty Images; Hackett, Smith by Reuters; Hawkes, Golden, Clemens, Rogers, Davis, Elliott, Kouvalis, Hunter by Getstock; Reitman by Raina And Wilson; Wynne by Luis Mora)