QUALIFYING WORDS
Ford tells AMO he has no plans in the ‘near’ future to cut other municipal councils
TORONTO — No other cities in Ontario will see the province shrink their councils like Toronto’s in the “near future,” Premier Doug Ford assured municipal politicians Monday.
The comment came as Toronto’s council — which will be cut almost in half in the midst of the Oct. 22 election campaign by Ford’s controversial Better Local Government Act — held a special meeting to decide what action to take.
“I occasionally get asked if I have plans to introduce a similar law here in Ottawa or elsewhere in the province,” Ford told councillors from more than 400 cities and towns at the annual convention of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario in the nation’s capital.
“Many of Toronto’s issues are specific to Toronto,” added the premier, who has described Toronto council as too large to make efficient decisions.
“These were unique decisions. And no — I repeat — we do not have plans for similar legislation in our near future.”
His use of the word “near” was an impromptu addition to the speech that was not in the text provided to media. Toronto was the only municipal council targeted in the legislation.
Toronto residents were to elect 47 councillors on Oct. 22, but that has been scaled back to 25 with wards matching the boundaries of federal and provincial ridings under the Better Local Government Act, which Ford’s government introduced by surprise during a rare summer sitting of the Legislature.
The law passed last week.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath — who calls the last-minute shrinking of council “interference” and a “blatant abuse of power” — said her party will introduce a private members’ bill to block the province from taking such action, particularly without consultation.
“This is not about whether or not you like Toronto or think its council is too large,” she told the municipal conference earlier in the day.
“The premier’s decision shows a fundamental lack of respect for municipal governments and local decision-making,” she added.
“It should leave every mayor, every councillor, every chair, every warden and local elected leader wondering: what else is the premier going to do to municipal governments that he never mentioned during the (provincial election) campaign?”
The NDP bill will be proposed after MPPs return to the Legislature for the fall session on Sept. 24, but is doomed to fail given Ford’s Progressive Conservative majority.
Ford’s municipal legislation also scrapped planned elections for regional and district chairs in Peel, York, Niagara and Muskoka in local elections across the province on Oct. 22.