Every democratic nation has its own version of the story: a competent, admired citizen decides to run for high public office, originally with much excitement about their candidacy, only to fail to live up to the billing. Canada has had a few. Names like Robert Stanfield, Joe Clark and John Turner come to mind. However, we now have the absolute perfect example. For some reason I don’t fully understand, expectations were immensely high for John Tory, and he did not come within a mile of meeting them.

While having immense success in the private sector (bringing about the Rogers monopoly of communications), nearly everything he touched in the public sphere withered and died. After spending much of the 1980’s working in the offices of Ontario Premier Bill Davis and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Tory had gained credence in the old Progressive Conservative Party. He was given the task of directing the 1993 reelection campaign for Prime Minister Kim Campbell. Now, granted, I doubt anyone could have saved the PC’s that year. But Tory ruined any slim chance they may have had. Tory was the one who approved the much-criticized ad making fun of Jean Chretien’s facial impairment. With his first crack at taking a lead in politics, John Tory achieved a world record: he was the campaign head for the largest electoral earthquake in democratic history. No incumbent government in any democratic nation has been crushed as much as the ’93 PCs. That was strike one. With that notorious mark on his record, Tory returned to the private sector for a decade, serving as CEO of Rogers and the Commissioner of the Canadian Football League.
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