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Downtown councillors blast plan, suburban reps praise it
Councillors draw battle lines,
Toronto city council is debating going to court to fight Premier Doug Ford’s abrupt plan to slash city seats almost in half.
No decision was made Friday evening — council voted to recess till Monday — but several options were on the table, including Mayor John Tory’s motion to request a referendum before the October municipal election, Councillor Paula Fletcher’s motion to consider if the proposed legislation is valid and constitutional, and Councillor Joe Cressy’s motion to take legal action.
“This is an attack on our institution, our proud city and three million residents we serve,” Cressy said, as some of his colleagues clapped and thumped their desks.
Some councillors’ ire was directed at Tory, who told reporters Friday morning that Ford mentioned the possibility of cutting council almost in half for this election in their meeting more than two weeks ago.
Tory said he didn’t think it was possible and didn’t realize until Thursday that Ford was actually going to do it.
“I am floored he knew about this (plan) and didn’t tell anybody. That’s not what a strong mayor does,” Councillor Gord Perks said. “He neglected to tell Torontonians their entire election was at risk. It’s terrible.”
When Councillor Mike Layton asked who knew about Ford’s plan in advance, appearing to aim the question at Tory, the mayor objected.
“Get up if you have the balls to do it and say it,” Tory told Layton.
Hundreds of residents descended on city hall Friday evening to protest Ford’s plan. Chants of “Our city, our council!” and “Democracy now!” broke out as community organizers, city councillors and dozens of municipal candidates spoke against Ford’s announcement.
Lisa Douglas said it was “outrageous” for the premier to dictate the size of the city without taking into account people’s views about their representation.
“All those councillors speak for us people,” she said. “It is important for us to stand up and raise our voice. Doug Ford cannot rush these changes in the middle of a civic election.”
Concerned citizens also filed into what became the standingroom-only council chamber, consistently ignoring warnings from Speaker Frances Nunziata to hold their applause.
“Don’t think for a minute this is done and the so-called king in Queen’s Park can have his say,” Cressy said, praising the audience members. “We will stand up. We will fight and, if we don’t win in the course of the next couple months, you better believe we will win in four years when he’s kicked out of office.”
Progressive councillors voiced their deep disappointment in Tory’s idea to hold a referendum.
“What good is a referendum? That is a meek response,” Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam said. “You can’t respond meekly to a bully from Queen’s Park.”
She also called for a legal challenge.
Councillor Janet Davis said Tory “completely capitulated. He simply rolled over” to Ford. She questioned whether Tory was working in tandem with Ford in order get more mayoral powers, which Tory said earlier in the week he was pushing for.
Councillors were drawing battle lines even before their meeting began at 9:30 a.m. Friday.
Councillors representing downtown wards, which would be most impacted by the proposed boundary changes, said they were concerned that less wards would negatively affect their constituents.
“By expanding the wards we won’t be accessible to residents,” said Councillor Sarah Doucette. “We deal with what you touch, smell and feel. We are the grassroots. We are the ones people contact for their day-to-day lives. I don’t believe 25 councillors can represent the residents the way residents should be represented at this level.”
Some councillors were skeptical that Ford’s plan would cut costs, despite the provincial government’s claim of $25 million in savings. Twenty-five councillors would need far more staff support than 47 councillors would, said Councillor John Campbell.
“In the end you’re going to let the bureaucracy run the show down here and it’s going to wind up costing money,” he said.
“From a governance standpoint it’s a really, really bad move.”
But 11 councillors outside the downtown core insisted in a joint statement “all taxpayers citywide” believe more would get done with a “cohesive unit” of 25 councillors.
Councillors Jim Karygiannis, Stephen Holyday, David Shiner, Nunziata, Michael Ford, Glenn De Baeremaeker, Justin Di Ciano, Giorgio Mammoliti, Michael Thompson, Vince Crisanti and Cesar Palacio gathered at lunch break Friday to applaud Ford’s decision. They denied their support is about maintaining suburban control.
“This is not an urban-suburban issue,” Di Ciano said, adding it’s about quickly equalizing the number of residents in wards across Toronto, instead of waiting several years as would be the case with 47 wards.
Di Ciano previously and unsuccessfully challenged the 47ward option at the Ontario Municipal Board. On Friday, he said the process that produced more wards, which included public consultation and a council vote, was “fundamentally flawed” and Ford would be right to sweep it away with legislation.