Tory invites Chow and other candidates to join his team

John Tory has invited Olivia Chow and David Soknacki to join his transition team. It's a slick early move as mayor-elect, one surely designed to underscore his oft-repeated desire to diminish the divisiveness that plagued city hall for the much of the Ford mayoralty. There are few better ways to signal a change in governance style for Toronto than by inviting one's former competitors to join forces. It's also a rather transparent PR move, but I suspect one that residents will welcome given the Ford team's us-against-the-world rhetoric.

Tory told the Star that he has had phone conversations with both Chow and Soknacki, though neither has committed to joining up at the point in time. Tory says he is also open to a contribution from Karen Stintz. What exactly the former mayoral candidates roles would be is uncertain. To some degree it doesn't matter. The gesture is a significant one even as it is clearly a politically savvy move.