[4] Although initially seen as a longshot due to the Liberal Party's weakness in the Toronto area at the time, as the campaign progressed he appeared to have built a stronger than expected chance of winning; however, he was defeated on election day.

[9] He also attended law school,[10] remained active within the Liberal Party, and was manager of George Hislop's campaign for Toronto City Council in the 1980 municipal election.

[11] On December 11, 1980 Maloney led a delegation from the Canadian Association of Lesbians and Gay Men, consisting of himself, Christine Bearchell,George Hislop, Paul-François Sylvestre, and Monique Bell, before the Special Joint House and Senate Committee on the Constitution of Canada, advocating for the inclusion of sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination in the Equality Rights provisions of Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

[10] He attributed the loss to his sexuality, claiming that party insiders had dismissed him as a "single issue candidate" who could not win over non-gay voters in the district.

[18] The police were opposed to Eng's leadership of the board, and Julian Fantino, at the time a superintendent within the force, continued to consider Maloney a security risk.