Made-in-Niagara ideas needed

What if it’s all just an illusion?

What if Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his band of Tories really have no idea what to do with Niagara?

What if they know they don’t love it as it is now, but are all at sixes and sevens over what to do beyond that?

Maybe they would be satisfied with some tinkering to cut costs and elected positions. Perhaps something as simple as dividing the region in two and finding “efficiencies,” as they say, to reduce expenses.

It is possible. They really haven’t said.

But what if they’re not? That’s the thing. In hindsight, maybe there was some genius in their bold move last July — it looked so chaotic at the time — to redraw Toronto’s municipal ward map mere months before the Oct. 22 election.

Remember? They forced through changes that squeezed Toronto city council to 25 seats from 47, sending candidates, municipal clerks and lawyers into a tizzy.

First impressions are important. For Ford and his new government, it was something along the lines of, “Wow, they mean business.”

And it was vaguely similar to Richard Nixon’s socalled madman theory that went something like: he’s crazy, there’s no telling what he’s capable of, we’d better not mess around with him.

So now when Ford says Niagara is next (along with Peel, Halton, Durham and York, Waterloo, Muskoka, Simcoe and Oxford), no one here says: “Hey, wait a minute. Maybe we don’t want to change.”

Instead, the reaction is, well we’d better come up with our own changes, fast, or he’ll come up with some for us. And anyone who might have been satisfied trimming around the edges had better think again.

Crazy like a fox, that Ford.

Before the Tories took power, there wasn’t much talk around here of changing Niagara. Had the Liberals been re-elected, it likely would have meant four more years of happy status quo along with a directly elected regional chair.

Now, Niagara’s 12 mayors say they fully support “improving governance, transparency and accountability in local government.” They said so in a statement released recently.

In a nutshell, the mayors have climbed aboard the change train hoping they can choose a new direction before Ford tells them where to go.

“If we don’t come up with a solution, they’re going to hand us their solution,” said Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati.

And, he might have added, we need a solution quickly. The two officials Ford appointed to study change in Niagara and the other eight Ontario municipalities are expected to file a report this summer.

It’s February, and so far we know the mayors are preparing for change. So what are the possibilities?

Specifically, where do the mayors think money can be saved? A single overseer of all the roads? Same for water and sewer? Hard services is where the real money will be saved.

Let’s hear it, and don’t leave out the part about shrinking the number of politicians. Because that wily Ford is going to need some sort of trophy after all this dust settles.

Pointing to smaller water and sewer budgets five years from now and saying, “That’s what I was talking about!” won’t cut it. But a bunch of nice, empty chairs at a council table might.

So let’s hear what’s going on behind the scenes as some mayors are meeting with provincial representatives to discuss municipal reviews this week.

It’s time to get public feedback on this, as the clock ticks toward summer. And don’t think small, people.

We’re not sure just what exactly Ford wants out of all this. But if we don’t hit ourselves hard, he might, right?

Right?