Toronto Star

Even before he succumbed to cancer on the weekend, Toronto's chief planner, Ted Tyndorf, never had an easy go of it. Appointed to the position in 2004, it fell to him to implement the city's new Official Plan, a thankless task if ever there were one. Despite the optimism of the moment, Tyndorf knew the job would not be easy. "We're at a watershed moment," he told the Star after delivering his inaugural State of the City address in December 2004. "We have a new mayor and new council." Tyndorf understood that it would take years to pull together the "different planning cultures in Toronto." But he insisted he was committed to that and, more important, the beautification of the city. Perhaps not even Tyndorf, a career planner who could walk backward and blindfolded through the terrifying maze of municipal building regulations and bylaws, knew how difficult change would be.