Who stands for Toronto?
For weeks, the most substantial pushback to Premier Doug Ford’s unprecedented decision to blow up Toronto’s election, in the middle of the campaign, came from a single lawyer who wants to be a city councillor.
Rocco Achampong launched the first legal action against the province’s move to cut the Toronto council from 47 to 25 wards.
Then last week, the City of Toronto — urged on by thousands of citizens — joined the legal fight. And so did three other individuals — a candidate, an elector and a representative of an organization that supports women running for municipal office.
The route through the courts, starting Friday, is an uphill but necessary battle. But where are the civil society organizations that have the city’s best interests at heart?
Now is the time for an articulate champion willing and able to bring forward the diverse voices in our community. And, in particular, a group that understands the value of an open and democratic system where citizens can participate fairly, and see themselves reflected, should be speaking up.
And there’s no better group set up for that than CivicAction. Concern about Toronto and its surrounding region is embedded in the organization’s very DNA. And yet, on Ford’s dictatorial move against the city, they’ve been all but silent.
CivicAction holds a summit every four years to identify and tackle the issues that “are keeping the region up at night.” It released its upcoming agenda on the very same day that Bill 5, which undermines municipal government, passed into law two weeks ago. Their five critical issues: skills development for youth, unlocking diversity, sex trafficking, re-framing the housing debate and adapting to extreme weather.
In normal times, that’s a decent agenda. But these are not normal times.
How can the willingness of a premier to slash Toronto council in half and remove the right of citizens in four regions to elect a chair, instead of having one appointed — all without warning, consultation or debate — not be something that keeps civil society leaders up at night?
When pressed for a position by a Star reporter, CivicAction CEO Sevaun Palvetzian said this: “We need to figure out a new deal for cities that allows them to work on a more even playing field with the province. And we should do it in a way that allows for transparent debate, evidence gathering and a more trusted approach.”
We certainly do need all that. But what impetus is there for any of that to happen under this government, in power for the next four years, if it can impose its will on the city in such an egregious fashion as this and a group like CivicAction stands quietly on the sidelines? And they’re not the only group standing there.
The Toronto Region Board of Trade has plenty to say on some of the city’s biggest issues including transportation and property tax. And it has even seen fit to comment on issues as small as a proposed new neighbourhood and housing in laneways.
Living under a provincial regime with no certainty about how the city will be governed is not good for citizens or businesses. Indeed, businesses get nervous when governments change the rules mid-game, and the board knows well that Ford’s purported savings of $25 million over four years for gutting council is nothing in the way of a solution to Toronto’s problems. And yet, it has said nothing publicly about any of this.
The Ford government has effectively hobbled Toronto — a city of nearly three million people with an economic contribution to Canada that tops many provinces. In doing so, it has demonstrated how little progress we’ve made in asserting the right of municipal government to determine its own destiny.
The big issue at stake here isn’t whether 47 or 25 is the right number of council seats. This is about who gets to decide and how that decision is made. And that’s what CivicAction and others should be fighting for.