Clearly, Toronto isn\u2019t ready to let go of John Tory yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The incumbent mayor will now serve a second term in office after dominating the municipal elections<\/a> this month. He took\u00a063.5% of the vote despite competing against 34 candidates\u00a0for mayor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jennifer Keesmaat\u2014Tory\u2019s main political rival in the election\u2014took just 23.5% of the vote. This was after a passionate couple of months that included Keesmaat\u2019s consistent challenging of Tory\u2019s first term and leadership abilities throughout her campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Monday, Tory expressed his gratitude<\/a> for the major stake of the vote in this election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want to say thank you to the people of Toronto for your confidence, for your support, for their inspiration, and for this historic mandate that they\u2019ve given me tonight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his victory speech from downtown Toronto<\/a> on Monday night, Tory acknowledged his critics\u2019 concerns. \u201cI heard the message loud and clear that we must do more to speed up the increase in supply of affordable housing so people from every single income group will be able to live here and work here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Keesmaat\u2019s platform was put together at the last minute, it still forced Tory to address some key issues in the city, such as affordable housing and transit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tory\u2019s campaign platform focused on building upon what he\u2019s already accomplished as mayor. He says he will continue to implement the transit network plan<\/a> that he secured 9 billion dollars for and will combat gang violence and crime rate. He plans to do this by hiring 200 more police officers<\/a>, advocating for harsher bail laws and increasing a sense of community among Torontonians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also pledged<\/a> to build 40,000 affordable housing units over the next 12 years by working with private industries and developing city-owned land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keesmaat\u2019s platform, on the other hand, also addressed key housing and transit issues<\/a>. She pledged to build 100 000 affordable housing units and to implement a 50 billion dollar transit plan that would speed up construction of the downtown relief line. She also wanted to extend multiple LRT (light rail transit) systems across the city, including the Eglinton LRT to the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n