Toronto Mayoral candidate Karen Stinz addresses the media as she announces her withdrawal from the race at city hall on Aug. 21.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
A group of Karen Stintz's key strategists have moved their support behind her former mayoral rival John Tory.
Paul Brown, a close advisor who Ms. Stintz thanked personally in her speech Thursday where announcing that she was dropping out of the mayoral race, said Friday that he and a group of four of Ms. Stintz's core supporters will now be working on Mr. Torys' campaign.
The others who have moved their support are Chris Loreto, Bev Hammond, Cal Bricker and Peter Zakarow.
"The issues Karen ran on that she championed, he'd be the best person to carry them out," Mr. Brown said of Mr. Tory.
"Fiscal accountability, getting the Bloor-Danforth subway into Scarborough, protecting greenspace and providing leadership at council…between Olivia and John, there was no question," he said.
After Ms. Stintz dropped out of the race Thursday, she surprised City Hall-watchers by choosing not to throw her support behind any of her rivals, saying she wanted for them to choose for themselves who to back.
As a result, Mr. Brown said, he met with the group Thursday night, where they decided they'd back Mr. Tory – who Mr. Brown has known from working on various campaigns dating back to the 1970s. "I phoned John, I talked to him, and I told him I would be supporting him." He said.
And Mr. Brown added that Ms. Stintz – with whom Mr. Tory had an abrasive relationship with on the campaign trail – was fine with the decision too.
"She was fine," he said. "It's really important now that she's decided not to run, that many of the ideas and proposals she put forward be considered seriously by all the candidates."
Ann Hui