Ford says cronyism behind foes of smaller T.O. council

TORONTO — Opponents of reducing the size of Toronto’s council only want to “protect a bunch of downtown politicians,” says Premier Doug Ford.

Ford, who is unilaterally reducing the number of councillors from 47 to 25 after the Oct. 22 municipal election, insisted that “we ran on reducing the size and cost of government.”

A one-term city councillor and 2014 mayoral runner-up, he maintained Toronto city hall is “the most dysfunctional political arena in Canada.”

“Nothing gets done but wasting money and increasing taxes,” the premier told the legislature.

But NDP MPP Peter Tabuns, who was on city council for seven years, said in the House that Ford was off-base.

“As a former deputy mayor of Toronto, I can tell you the premier’s plot will not streamline decision-making. It will steamroll the residents of Toronto who deserve to have their voices heard,” said Tabuns (Toronto-Danforth), whose party tabled a motion to try to derail the Tory efforts.

Ford lashed out at the New Democrat, noting his cuts would save $25 million over four years. “I know the member from Toronto–Danforth wants to protect a bunch of downtown politicians. They create their little fiefdom to protect all his political cronies and they increase taxes,” he said, staring across the floor of the legislature at Tabuns. “My friend, we aren’t going to protect your political cronies. We aren’t going to protect more politicians. We’re going to make sure that we take that $25 million and put it into priorities that people want. People don’t want more politicians. We have 25 MPs and 25 MPPs. Why shouldn’t we have 25 councillors?”

But the premier left it to Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark to explain the rationale for cancelling democratic elections for regional chairs in Peel, York, Niagara, and Muskoka.

“The Liberals imposed a piece of legislation on us that affected those four regions,” said Clark, referring to a 2016 bill that he supported while in opposition. “All we’re doing in this proposed bill is pressing the pause button in terms of … Niagara and also Muskoka, Peel, and York,” he said.

NDP MPP Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls) said “the people of the Niagara region want to have a say in who will represent them for the next four years.”

“I’m not from downtown Toronto. The anti-democratic action of this government is disrespectful to the people of Niagara,” said Gates. “We deserve to have our say on who is going to represent us. We will not go unheard.”

As previously revealed by the Star, the elections in Niagara, York, and Muskoka appear to be collateral damage because Ford wanted to cancel the vote for a chair in Peel. That’s because former Tory leader Patrick Brown was the front-runner.