John Tory has saved a major announcement for the last day of the mayoral election campaign: he is being endorsed Sunday by former mayor David Crombie.

Crombie, a widely admired Toronto figure, served as mayor from 1972 to 1978 and then as a minister in the Progressive Conservative federal governments of Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney. His first endorsement since he left public office was in 2010, when he backed George Smitherman in the last week of that campaign.

Smitherman, of course, lost to Rob Ford (open Rob Ford's policard). Tory is facing Ford’s brother, Doug Ford (open Doug Ford's policard).

Tory has touted himself as a competent consensus-builder, and he has used a steady stream of endorsements to strengthen his case. He was endorsed on Friday by outgoing Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion.

Despite Crombie’s Smitherman endorsement, he spoke positively of Rob Ford as recently as May 2012, when he told the Toronto Sun, “I think his contribution to the democratic process has been really impressive.”

Tory has always picked Crombie when asked during the campaign to name the mayor he most admires. The two men are appearing at the Bagel World restaurant in North York at 10 a.m.

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