Further cuts to local councils not in cards, premier says

As Toronto mulls a potential legal challenge against Ontario’s decision to slash the size of the city’s council, Premier Doug Ford has told politicians from other municipalities across the province that he has no plans to cut their governments.

Speaking at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s annual conference on Monday, Ford said he has been getting questions about whether the province will chop the size of other civic councils. “No, we do not—I repeat—we do not have plans for similar legislation in our near future,” Ford told the gathering in Ottawa.

The premier’s remarks came as Toronto politicians and staff were meeting Monday to discuss whether to turn to the courts to oppose the legislation that will cut the number of city councillors from 47 to 25 ahead of the fall municipal election.

The Progressive Conservative government’s legislation — known as Bill 5 — passed last week and aligns Toronto’s ward map with federal ridings. Ford has said the move will help council make decisions and deliver services “more efficiently and effectively” and save taxpayers $25 million over four years.

The legislation also cancels planned elections for the head of council position in the regional municipalities of Muskoka, Peel, York and Niagara. The head of council in each region will instead be appointed.

Ford, a former Toronto councillor and failed mayoral candidate, said his time in city politics gave him insight into the problems of the municipality’s government, noting its challenges are unlike those of others in Ontario. “I would say that many of Toronto’s issues are specific to Toronto,” he said.

Toronto Mayor John Tory said the timing of the provincial legislation — coming before the Oct. 22 municipal election — put the city in an unprecedented situation. “The process by which this monumental change was made was wrong and unacceptable,” he said. “It is our duty to represent the people of Toronto and the best interests of this city at all times — and to make our position clear when we do not believe the actions of other levels of government are in our city’s best interest.”