It has been said of the late Robert Stanfield that he was "the greatest prime minister Canada never had."

We can't help but think when the the account of this period of the province's history is written some years in the future, John Tory will be regarded as "the greatest premier Ontario never had."

Tory has proven himself over the years to be a sharp, effective man of business, who was also able to offer some inspiration in the field of politics. But despite that inspiration, it was clear that he was lacking a certain amount of political smarts.

Or maybe was it just political inexperience?

Did he really need to run in a Toronto riding in the 2007 general election, when he already had what could be considered a safe seat right in this area? And even if he thought it important to run in Toronto, did he have to go up against a Liberal heavyweight in Kathleen Wynne, a woman who cut a lot of her political teeth 10 years earlier, battling the Mike Harris Progressive Conservatives over the municipal amalgamation that resulted in what is commonly referred to as the megacity?

During the 2007 campaign, Tory put forth the idea of funding for faithbased schools. That's probably not a bad idea, and it's also one that will likely come to reality in the not too distant future. But what Tory forgot was he also had to sell it to the voters, and too late did he realized just how tall an order that was.

Perhaps if he had won last week's byelection, Tory might have had a chance to learn from those previous mistakes, and lead his party to success at the polls. That's not unrealistic. Let not forget that Bob Rae, Mike Harris and Dalton McGuinty all lost the first general elections they contested as party leaders.

But the fact is Tory lost last week's byelection fair and square, and observers are left to ponder about what might have been.

But what ever all of us might think about John Tory, there is no denying that this is a highly intelligent, motivated, energetic individual, who values integrity and is interested in serving.

Perhaps there might be another day for him to lead his party again. There has also been talk that he might take another run at being mayor of Toronto. There are other ways he could be of service too.

But we should all hope that Tory remains in action. Any society can always benefit from a person like that. We just wonder if this society is worthy of him