Mayor of Toronto

The role and powers of the mayor of Toronto are set out in the 1997 City of Toronto Act, an Ontario statute, and its update in 2006. It outlines the mayor's role as head of council and chief executive officer of the City of Toronto. In September 2022, the province passed legislation known as the Strong Mayors, Building More Homes Act, 2022, followed by the Better Municipal Governance Act, 2022, both of which expanded the executive power of the mayor. As head of council, the mayor is responsible for ensuring business is carried out efficiently during council meetings. This has been delegated to the speaker of Toronto City Council, however, the mayor retains the ability to take over as chair during council meetings. The provincial priorities are set by the Executive Council of Ontario (provincial cabinet), through issuing regulations. == Deputy mayor ==

City councillors may be appointed by the mayor to exercise statutory powers assigned to the mayor, or on an honorary basis. Statutory deputy mayor The first deputy mayor performs the statutory roles and functions assigned to the "deputy mayor" as defined in various chapters of the municipal code. Non-statutory deputy mayors In 2014, city council approved the creation of three additional non-statutory deputy mayor positions. Non-statutory deputy mayors are members of council, appointed by the mayor, who advise him/her on local issues and represent him/her at events and ceremonies. Each (along with the first deputy mayor) represent a geographic area of the city, and are responsible for a specific policy role. The deputy mayors and the mayor meet each month to discuss efforts to bring the city together. ==History==

From 1834 to 1857, and again from 1867 to 1873, Toronto mayors were not elected directly by the public. Instead, after each annual election of aldermen and councilmen, the assembled council would elect one of their members as mayor. For all other years, mayors were directly elected by popular vote, except in rare cases where a mayor was appointed by council to fill an unexpired term of office. Prior to 1834, Toronto municipal leadership was governed by the chairman of the General Quarter Session of Peace of the Home District Council. Through 1955 the term of office for the mayor and council was one year; it then varied between two and three years until a four-year term was adopted starting in 2006. (See List of Toronto municipal elections.) The City of Toronto has changed substantially over the years: the city annexed or amalgamated with neighbouring communities or areas 49 times from in 1883 to 1967. The most sweeping change was in 1998, when the six municipalities comprising Metropolitan Toronto—East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, York, and the former city of Toronto–and its regional government were amalgamated into a single City of Toronto (colloquially dubbed the "megacity") by an act of the provincial government. The newly created position of mayor for the resulting single-tier mega-city replaced all of the mayors of the former Metro municipalities. It also abolished the office of the Metro chairman, which had formerly been the most senior political figure in the Metro government before amalgamation. Since the creation of the "megacity" of Toronto, its mayor has been elected by the largest single-member electorate in Canada. Fourteen out of the first 29 mayors were lawyers, and 58 of Toronto's 64 mayors (up to Ford) have been Protestant, white, English-speaking, Anglo-Saxon, property-owning males. There have been two women (Hall and Rowlands) and three Jewish mayors (Phillips, Givens and Lastman). Art Eggleton is the longest-serving mayor of Toronto, serving from 1980 until 1991. Eggleton later served in federal politics from 1993 until 2004, and was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 2005. David Breakenridge Read held the post of mayor of Toronto for the shortest period. Read was mayor for only fifty days in 1858. No Toronto mayor has been removed from office. Toronto's 64th mayor, Rob Ford, lost a conflict of interest trial in 2012, and was ordered to vacate his position; but the ruling was stayed pending an appeal, which Ford won to remain in office. Due to his substance abuse admission and controversy in 2013, Council stripped him of many powers on November 15, transferring them to the deputy mayor. From May until July 2014, Ford took a leave of absence from the mayoralty to enter drug rehabilitation. ==Post-amalgamation mayors of Toronto==

The current City of Toronto was formed in 1998 from the amalgamation of Metro Toronto and its constituent municipalities. The following is a list of mayors of the current post-amalgamation Toronto. ==See also==