Who is Jennifer McKelvie? She’s poised to take over as mayor of Toronto — for now

With the sudden resignation of Mayor John Tory after the Star revealed he had a months-long relationship with a now former member of his office staff, deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie appears to be the new mayor of Toronto - for now.

Under the new Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, which passed last September, if a vacancy occurs in the office of head of council, the city shall ... require a byelection to be held ... to fill the vacancy."

The law says such a byelection must be called within 60 days after a declaration of vacancy is made."

That means Toronto could have a newly elected mayor this spring.

In the meantime, who is McKelvie? An environmental geoscientist by profession and former president of the Scarborough Community Renewal Organization, McKelvie was first elected to represent Scarborough-Rouge Park in 2018, narrowly beating the incumbent councillor on her second try for the office. She was appointed deputy mayor by Tory last year after being re-elected by a significant majority.

According to Star contributor Matt Elliott, she voted with Tory on significant issues more often than any other council member, siding with him more than 95 per cent of the time.

With files from the Star's Robert Benzie

Alyshah Hasham is a Toronto-based reporter covering city hall and municipal politics for the Star. Reach her via email: ahasham@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @alysanmati