{"id":7793,"date":"2009-11-16T13:02:47","date_gmt":"2009-11-16T17:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=7793"},"modified":"2013-01-21T13:12:45","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T18:12:45","slug":"lorinc-tuning-in-tory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2009\/11\/16\/lorinc-tuning-in-tory\/","title":{"rendered":"LORINC: Tuning in Tory"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Is John Tory in a conflict of interest with his daily drive-time radio show on CFRB?<\/p>\n

This past week, the question became impossible to ignore when he “interviewed” George Smitherman, now a declared candidate for mayor, in CFRB’s studio.<\/p>\n

Tory, for now, is playing coy for obvious tactical reasons. And when he does announce, I’m anticipating he’ll relinquish his mic, in the way that Sue-Ann Levy temporarily vacated her Toronto Sun column to run provincially.<\/p>\n

The issue is what happens between now and then.<\/p>\n

His testy on-air exchange with Smitherman — who resigned as energy minister over potential conflicts between his government responsibilities and his political goals — should cause Torontonians to wonder whether Tory’s current on-air statements are journalistic or partisan in intent.<\/p>\n

I’m not trying to be a prude about the early innings of a long race.<\/p>\n

Everyone knows that megacity campaigns begin well before the earliest formal declaration date (January 4, 2010). Further, there’s nothing wrong with political self-promotion: after all, these individuals are in the business of putting ideas out into the world and no one should expect them to take vows of silence.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For context, it’s worth remembering that David Miller announced his bid for mayor half a year before the start date, and no one yelped about him resigning his council seat so as not to foment confusion in the minds of voters.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Tory’s fingerprints were all over David Pecaut’s Toronto City Summit Alliance<\/a>, which went public in 2002 and provided him with an opportunity to debut before the urban chattering classes.<\/p>\n

But then there was Friends of Barbara Hall (FOBH), the Smitherman-hatched scheme to build a launching pad for her campaign and fundraising efforts. Intended to elbow aside Miller, FOBH turned out to be a lethal depth charge because it raised and then spent money on her campaign before the formal start date specified by the municipal elections act.<\/p>\n

Here’s my concern about the radio show.<\/p>\n

With Smitherman running, he’ll be facing reporters’ questions about his take on municipal business. His answers, in turn, will make news and thus become fodder for commentators, Tory among them. If Tory’s plan is indeed to run, his punditry is not disinterested.<\/p>\n

Trouble is, his listeners don’t know. Only he knows for sure, and his studied ambiguity on this matter is problematic.<\/p>\n

It’s also quantifiable. There’s a precise monetary value to the air time he commands every afternoon. If Tory does throw his name in the hat, he will have dedicated a measurable amount of prime radio time broadcasting opinions about the race and local matters.<\/p>\n

In hindsight, could that block be regarded as an in-kind campaign contribution that was incurred before the starting gun goes off?<\/p>\n

The related concern is that by holding off an announcement, he keeps potential donors sitting on their wallets (or at least on their promissory notes). Again, by continuing with the show without stating his intentions, he gains a tactical advantage over Smitherman.<\/p>\n

At minimum, Tory should forego any coverage of campaign and city business while he’s making up his mind. Better yet, he should immediately disclose his plans: run and hand over the show, or state unequivocally that he’s going to bow out and then go to work on critiquing Smitherman’s candidacy.<\/p>\n

John Tory has always stressed transparency and fairness in public service.<\/p>\n

Now is the time for him to raise the blinds…just like Smitherman did.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is John Tory in a conflict of interest with his daily drive-time radio show on CFRB? This past week, the question became impossible to ignore when he “interviewed” George Smitherman, now a declared candidate for mayor, in CFRB’s studio. Tory, for now, is playing coy for obvious tactical reasons. And when he does announce, I’mContinue reading “LORINC: Tuning in Tory”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4051,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[94,2268,3362,13615,425,4685,13616,1371,12098,6245,444,426,1078,1642],"class_list":["post-7793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-2010-election","tag-barbara-hall","tag-cfrb","tag-cfrbs-studio","tag-david-miller","tag-david-pecaut","tag-david-pecauts-toronto-city-summit-alliance","tag-energy","tag-energy-minister","tag-george-smitherman","tag-john-tory","tag-mayor","tag-sue-ann-levy","tag-toronto-sun"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLORINC: Tuning in Tory - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2009\/11\/16\/lorinc-tuning-in-tory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LORINC: Tuning in Tory - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is John Tory in a conflict of interest with his daily drive-time radio show on CFRB? 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