Standing up for Toronto

While Toronto and its citizens haven’t stopped, and shouldn’t stop, fighting, Premier Doug Ford has shown himself willing to go to such extreme lengths that he’s all but certain to win his battle over the size of city council.

So the issue increasingly becomes where to go from here, and who can best navigate the city through the next four years of undoubtedly turbulent Ford waters. It’s already been an instructive early lesson.

Mayor John Tory has faced scathing criticism for not being a strong enough leader, particularly from his main challenger for the job, Jennifer Keesmaat.

Indeed, the city’s former planner says she was motivated to enter the mayor’s race because Tory’s reaction to the province’s move against the city was so weak. It’s a theme she has returned to regularly, at times seeming to spend more energy blaming Tory than focusing on the politician actually responsible for this mess: Ford himself.

It’s easy for a political rival to criticize Tory for not being tough enough. But on this issue those critiques really come down to style far more than substance.

Tory doesn’t rage, fists in the air, when he’s angry. That’s simply not his style. He’s a measured speaker, whether he’s talking about the latest development in transit or an appalling act by the province to disrupt local democracy and sweep aside charter rights.

For some people that tone can indeed feel inadequate, especially in the circumstances the city now finds itself in. Keesmaat has defined herself differently.

She came out strongly at the start — so strongly that she tweeted out an over-the-top call for Toronto to secede from the province. She later walked that back, saying she was capturing the frustration of Torontonians in the face of Ford’s outrageous action.

That may be, but none of that bluster moved the city forward one iota vis-à-vis the province. She has since moved on to suggest Tory was involved in secret discussions to gut local democracy, calling on the mayor to “come clean” about his communications with Ford.

This is seriously over the top. It would be no surprise if Tory didn’t take Ford seriously when he mentioned cutting council in passing, and that certainly doesn’t amount to acquiescing to such a plan. Until Ford actually did it, the idea of the province blowing up an election already underway was an outlandish idea that had never been mentioned during the provincial election or to Ford’s own cabinet.

Just as the federal Liberals are struggling to deal with a president as volatile and arrogant as Donald Trump, there’s no playbook for the mayor of Canada’s largest city to deal with the kind of premier Ford is proving to be.

The reality is this is just the first of many battles that will be fought between Toronto and Ontario over the next four years. After the Toronto election — whatever form it winds up taking — Doug Ford will still be premier. And the mayor, whoever that is after Oct. 22, will have to deal with him on a host of matters.

When the issue of council seats is finally settled, voters will need to turn their minds to choosing the leader they believe will best stand up for the city in very difficult times.

There’s no playbook for the mayor to deal with the kind of premier Ford is proving to be