John Tory says he's resigning as Toronto's mayor. What questions do you have?

Toronto Mayor John Tory said he is resigning after having a relationship with a formeremployee in his office, something he called a "serious error in judgment" and something that in his view risked "tarnishing" the city's top job.

Tory made the announcement late Friday. Here's what he said if you haven't read it yet.Now we're learningTory will stay on to pass the city's 2023 budget, setting up what will surely be a tense meeting Wednesday.

To me, someone who has covered the mayor and city hall,this is a stunning situation. It probably is for you, too.

CBC Toronto has you covered as this story develops. We want to know: What questions do you have about Tory's resignation? Let us knowby emailing Ask@cbc.ca

Why is Tory stepping down?

The Toronto Star's city hall bureau broke the story of Tory's relationship with a 31-year-old former staffer. CBC News Network spoke with its bureau chief, David Rider, on what went into the reporting and what comes next. You can see that in the player below:

Toronto Star journalist Dave Rider breaks down the John Tory story

2 years ago

Duration 11:10

The newspaper's city hall bureau chief explains how his team broke the story and what comes next for city hall now that John Tory has resigned.

A bunch of people have asked questions about: Why now? I can't answer that,but it will certainly warrant more scrutiny in the coming days.

There's also the question about why Tory ran for re-election knowing that this relationship may be exposed. Tory, who, to his credit, takes questions from reporters all the time, did not address this is in his comments Friday night and has still not held a news conference as of Monday afternoon.

Someone asked how old Tory is: He's 68.

When will he step down and what happens with the budget?

Theseare now probably the biggest questions at city hall.

If Tory sticks with the plan to stay on and approve his budget Wednesday he could potentially vote on that, then extend the meeting to tender his resignation. (Note: I am not a city clerk, so it's possible there's some wonky procedural reason why this can't work.)

Here's what his office said in a statement on Monday afternoon: "This morning, Mayor Tory met with Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie and City staff, including City Manager Paul Johnson and City Clerk John Elvidge, to talk about how best to ensure an orderly transition.Further details on the transition will be announced following the budget meeting."

Either way, once Tory formally files his resignation city council can get moving on next steps.

The first step will likely be a 60-day window for city staff to figure out how to run a mayoral byelection, which will be no small feat considering it's a city-wide vote.

On Monday morning, two councillors expressed their hope on CBC Radio's Metro Morning that such an election wouldn't happen until the fall. You can listen to that conversation in the player below:

One reader asked if the new mayor will be able to make changes to John Tory's budget after it is passed?

The answer is yes, but the next mayor likely won't be re-elected until late spring so they'll probably focus on the 2024 budget, especially if the election is later in 2023.

Can Tory backtrack?

Yes.

That said, he would likely face tremendous criticism from his critics on council.

The "orderly transition" language in Tory's latest statement suggests to me he will still resign.

Who will be in charge once Tory resigns?

Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie, a Scarborough councillor who was re-elected to a second term in last October's election, will take over until a new mayor is elected.

McKelvie was at a conference in Ottawa when Tory made his announcement. CBC Toronto has reached out to speak with her about how she plans to govern in the interim.

Who is the woman?

OK, so, ask yourself: Is this relevant to the story?

CBC Toronto is seekingcomment from the woman, in case she wants to share her story. That could change things.But the focus for nowshould be on Tory and his actions, not hers. He was the person in a position of power.

She is also not, we should note, an elected official.

As Tory said himself: "I recognize that permitting this relationship to develop was a serious error in judgment on my part."

Emphasis on the last three words.

WATCH | Here's what Tory said as he announced his resignation:

Toronto Mayor John Tory announces resignation

2 years ago

Duration 2:31

Toronto Mayor John Tory says he will step down from his office after admitting to a relationship with a former staffer.

What does it feel like in Toronto?

Normally, approaching people on the street to talk about local politics is, well, a challenge.

Not today.

All reporter Meg Roberts had to say was "John Tory" and Torontonians had plenty to say. Some said they wanted him to stay on, others are hoping his resignation opens space for a better leader.

You can read more about what people had to say here.

Was the resignation necessary?

A lot of you are asking this question and I am in zero position to answer it.

Here's what I can tell you based on my reporting experience, without veering into speculation land:

Tory's office is a powerful political machine and he is an experienced politician, as well as a trained lawyer. There is no way this was an easy decision. Zero chance.

What is clear is that this revelation undermines Tory's reputation as a calm, consistent (yes,verging on boring) leader.

As Western University professorZachary Taylor told The Canadian Press: "He had this image of being the only grown up in the room while council squabbled around him. Now we've seen that image kind of blow up."

What happens now?

Brace for a byelection. The timing is still unclear, but Torontonians should certainly be planning to go back to the polls in 2023.

You can read more on that here.

You've also been asking: What will a byelection cost the city and will taxpayers be on the hook? We may be able to get an estimate from Elections Toronto in the coming days, but yes, I'm pretty sure the city will pay for the election.

Could Tory be sanctioned for this?

One reader raised this excellent question: "Did his former employee make a formal complaint against him?"

That's not clear based on the Star's reporting. What we can tell you is that Tory said he has notified the city's integrity commissioner about the relationship.

Does the new interim mayor have strong mayor powers?

This is a great question, thanks to whoever wrote in asking it.

My initial guess was yes, but this is a complex situation where there's multiple pieces of legislation at play think: City of Toronto Act versusStrong Mayors, Building Homes Act.

So this is to be determined.

We've reached out to the City of Toronto to confirm. "My sense is this information will come from the City Manager in the coming days," a city spokesperson said in an email.

If you're looking for a backgrounder on how "strong mayor" powers work, check this story out.

Cancity businesses continue to function properly without the mayor?

Yes. The mayor is the boss, but the majority of the ways you interact with the city fromswimming lessons to snow-clearing are all run by city staff.

Who might run to replace Tory?

Considering 31 people ran for mayor in the last election there will likely be plenty of candidates to choose from.

Urbanist Gil Penalosa, who finished 2nd in 2022 election with 98,525votes (Tory had 342,158), announced his intention to run in the byelection on Saturday.

Former police officer Blake Acton, who finished fourth in 2022, also announced his plans to run again.

The CBC's Mike Crawley reported Sunday that the Ontario PC machine had its eye on current councillor Brad Bradford and MPP Stan Cho, although the latter ruled out a run Monday.

Former Coun. Ana Bailao told CBC Toronto Monday she's "seriously considering" a run for the top job.

You can expect many more names to emerge in the coming days.

"When can we get a female mayor please?" one reader wrote in. Toronto has had two female mayors: June Rowlands and Barbara Hall, but both led the city pre-amalgamation in the 90s.

The big question here is: who will have the funding and political power to launch a winningcampaign on zero notice?

Is Doug Ford considering running?

Yes, people have been asking this. His office sent this three word statement: "He is not."

Are we living in a broken version of The Matrix where nothing makes sense?

Uh, don't know but totally get the sentiment.

Our Shawn Jeffordstried to wrap his head around what's going on this morning on CBC Radio's Fresh Air.You can check that discussion out in the player below:

Why is it any of my business?

Whether or not you think Tory's affair is any of your business, Tory himself said itrisked "tarnishing" the city's top job and so he stepped down.

Here's his full quote:"I think it is important for the office of the mayor not to in any way be tarnished and not to see the city government itself put through a prolonged period of controversy, arising out of this error in judgment on my part, especially in light of the challenges we face as a city."

And he's right that Toronto has challenges.Let'sjust look at what's happened inlast few weeks.

We've had fierce debates around whether or not to open 24/7 warming centres for people who don't have a home. City staff are putting forward hugely important changes to the rules around zoning in a bid to make housing more affordable. Transit riders are still keeping a close eye on the safety of the TTC's system.

So there's a lot the mayor should be working on.

Now, it's possible you don't live in Toronto.You might still care. Toronto is, as Tory has said thousands of times, the "economic engine" of Canada. People love to hate the city (I'm from Newfoundland, I get it!) but I think it's undeniably important for the country that this place runswell.