Passage of bill closer
Protesters rally outside Ontario legislature during rare midnight sitting
A rare overnight session at the Ontario legislature that saw protesters and politicians gather for debate on a bill slashing the size of Toronto’s city council has moved the government closer to passing the legislation, which has thrown the municipal election in Canada’s largest city into chaos.
The Progressive Conservatives, who’ve been rushing to push through the reintroduced bill after a judge ruled an earlier version unconstitutional last week, said they expected to bring the matter to a final vote on Thursday — barely more than a month before Toronto goes to the polls.
Premier Doug Ford said Monday’s overnight session was an indicator of the government’s commitment to passing the controversial legislation, which shrinks Toronto’s electoral map to 25 wards from 47 before the Oct. 22 election.
“We were here last night, like tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people around this province - the police officers who have to work at night, the nurses who have to work at night and factory workers who have to work at night,” he said. “We were fighting for the taxpayers of this great city.”
The midnight session had drawn crowds of protesters to the legislature.
Some heckled Progressive Conservative politicians with cries of “shame, shame,” inside
the House until the Speaker cleared the public galleries. Others protested outside, chanting “Let us in!” and “Our city, not Ford’s!” as police officers stood in front of the doors.
By midday Monday, the majority had left, but protest signs remained scattered on the grounds outside the legislature.
Ford, who has drawn much criticism for invoking a rarely used constitutional provision to forge ahead with his councilcutting plan, maintained that the majority of Ontarians supported him.
“We are the only ones listening to the people — not the disruptors,
not the professional activists that we’ve seen over the last few days. And when you stand up for the people, the people will stand with you,” he told the legislature. “The people are behind us, and I can tell you my friends, we will never, ever back down.”
Later in the day, the government downplayed suggestions there hadn’t been enough debate on the bill that’s dubbed the Efficient Local Government Act.
“We feel like we’ve heard from all sides on that debate,” said government house leader Todd Smith. “We want to provide
that certainty to the City of Toronto and the clerk there as quickly as we possibly can.”
The New Democrats, meanwhile, said the protests at the legislature indicated many oppose the government’s move.
“I would prefer to be here even longer debating this bill,” said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.
“But the government is going to ram it through because, just like they didn’t want to hear the voices of those hundreds of people through the wee hours of the morning, they’re not interested in hearing our voice either.”