The South Bayview Bulldog

John Tory has won a tough battle to become mayor. At the age of 60 he has come back from a long string of defeats to claim the prize he lost a decade ago to David Miller. Speaking in victory on Monday night  Mr. Tory was the gracious, educated and charming man we know him to be. So much more finished and presentable than Rob Ford. So much more capable, as the mantra of his campaign had it, of bringing the city together. John Tory will be the very model of a big-city mayor and with any luck he will build us a transit system too.  Nonetheless, Doug Ford, the man who came second, was surging toward the end and he came closer than many thought he might. The quick count shows Tory taking 395,141 votes (40 percent), Mr. Ford 331,020 (33 percent) and Olivia Chow 227,096  (23 percent). There were 981,179 ballots cast so between them the three top candidates took more than 95 percent of the votes.  Why didn’t John Tory win with more than 40 percent of the popular support? Even though Olivia Chow ran  third it is an easy take on Ms. Chow that she is a political force whereever she appears. She was over her head this time but not without impact. It is the really quite unique quality of the Ford brothers when it comes to money that drove the substantial vote for Doug Ford. And it has to be said first that Doug Ford is different from his brother. Some will say he is just plain smarter. He is certainly more articulate. And yes, he can be combative, nasty and mean. But his belief in the value of money lives outside of his petty conduct. Forget Ford Nation. There are thoughtful voters who supported Doug Ford who don’t give a damn about the Fords personally. The Ford brothers have suffered not from bad politics but from bad behaviour. In the end, most people found they disliked the hideous conduct of Rob Ford enough that they elected John Tory. We do not know how many of Tory’s supporters might have preferred a tougher discussion about money. But for many of them, it seems, the election was a case of better safe than sorry when it comes to the Fords. We do know that the quite conservative Jane Pitfield worried publicly about John Tory’s capacity to stop sloppy waste. She may have nothing to be concerned about but it is a clue as to why Doug Ford came as close as he did. Photo: John Tory and wife Barbara Hackett greet happy workers — Twitter. 

John Tory is being declared the winner of the mayoralty election winning (at 8.30 p.m.) close to 39 percent of the popular vote against Doug Ford’s nearly 36 per cent. The closeness is reflective of the latest polls prior to election day which showed Mr. Ford surging. But in the end, John Tory, his campaign and his lead were unassailable. Tory organizers say they expect his lead to grow as the evening passes. 

Results show Jon Burnside a triumphant victor over John Parker as councillor for Ward 26.  At 8.45 p.m. with 100 percent of the votes counted, Burnside has 43 percent of the votes compared to Mr. Parker’s 28 percent.  Kristyn Wong-tam has emerged a popular candidate, re-elected by at much as 62 percent of the ballots. Megan McIvor has come second in Ward 27 with 17.59 percent. In Ward 25 Jaye Robinson has been re-elected with some 82 percent of the popular vote and Josh Matlow, as fully expected, is re-elected with perhaps 85 percent of the vote. 

Toronto Police are asking for the public’s help in locating a missing woman and her two children. It is described as a case of parental abduction. Rebekah Isaac, 34, Jonathan Isaac, 7, and Joylin Isaac, 5, were last seen on Monday, October 27, 2014, in the morning, in the Neilson Road and McLevin Avenue area. Rebekah Isaac is described as brown, 5’0″ to 5’2″, 120 lbs., with straight black hair and gold earrings. She was last seen wearing black pants, a red-and-white striped shirt and a light brown three-quarter-length hooded jacket. She was carrying a black and blue knapsack. Jonathan Isaac is described as brown, 4’4″ to 4’5″, with a slim build and short black hair. He was last seen wearing a pull-over sweater with brown and blue horizontal stripes and blue jeans. Joylin Isaac is described as brown, 4’0″ to 4’2″, 35-50 lbs., short black hair with gold dangling earrings. Police are concerned for the family’s safety.

Most of the messages at  #voteTO today are incoherent so we have linked you instead to the photos exclusively. If you can’t go there. here’s a selection posted today. They touch many of the bases in this stranger than most democratic exercises. The poster top right is a dirty piece of work. It depicts Tory as a hapless soul of some kind but perhaps you also noticed the demonic look on Mr. Ford’s face. Never worry friends. The City will be in the very best of hands.