TORONTO

John Tory isn’t in the mayor’s race yet but he was getting whacked at City Hall Tuesday for his comments about women in the workplace.

The radio talk show host, CivicAction chairman and former Progressive Conservative leader suggested Monday on Newstalk 1010 that women should learn how to play golf to climb the corporate ladder.

“I’ll say to people right now, young women, learn how to play golf,” Tory said. “You will find it is immensely advantageous to your career that you can go out, and you know if you play a good game of golf as a women, I believe it is hugely helpful.”

Councillor Karen Stintz — who will be jumping into the mayor’s race later this month — teed off on Tory over the comment.

“My daughter she’s seven, I encourage her to do well in school and to pursue her passions and I would hate for her to receive the message that the way to get ahead in the world is to play golf,” Stintz said.

Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly said he raised both his son and daughter to “expect to be anything that they could be.”

“In the world that we live in today and we’ll live in tomorrow there should be no gender specific messages or conditioning,” Kelly said. “Sons or daughters in this world should have the same sense of opportunity, the same desire to succeed and — God willing and the creek don’t rise — expect equal results.”

Tory’s golf comment came after the much-rumoured possible 2014 mayoral candidate sparked controversy when he talked about pay equity and women’s negotiating strategies during an interview on CP24.

“I will say to you that the number of men who came to negotiate with me when I was running a law firm or a company was much higher than the number of women,” Tory told host Stephen LeDrew. “The women don’t come as often to complain. The men do, so my experience is a little different in that I do think that more men put a fuss up about their money.”

That original interview led to a barrage of outrage on social media from many.

On his Newstalk 1010 show on Monday night, Tory said the issue had been “manufactured” for political reasons.

Tory didn’t respond to a media request on Tuesday.