Ford’s announcement that he’ll be looking to cut red tape and increase efficiencies leaves many unanswered questions. We take a look at what we know so far,

When Premier Doug Ford abruptly scrapped the election of regional chairs in York Region and three other communities last July, he casually signalled the move was part of a larger plan to review municipal governments.

That plan is now starting to take shape, as the province announced on Tuesday a review of regional governments, which have been in place for about 50 years.

Queen’s Park will begin consulting residents and businesses this spring, and it’s appointed special advisers Michael Fenn and Ken Seiling to conduct the reviews.

With 10 municipal governments — the Region of York and the towns, township and cities of Georgina, East Gwillimbury, Newmarket, Aurora, King, Whitchurch-Stouffville, Richmond Hill, Vaughan and Markham — York could be an area where the Progressive Conservatives are looking to make changes.

“I don’t think it comes as any surprise,” Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti said.

He suggested that drastic changes to the current model could force early municipal elections.

“Depending where the consultation ends up, depending on what their recommendation is ultimately, I’ll be bold enough to suggest they may have to relook at the mandate of our current councils,” Scarpitti said.

Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua didn’t dispute the need for a review, but said any change must be “thoughtful” and provide clear advantages over the existing model.

“The writing was on the wall,” Whitchurch-Stouffville Mayor Iain Lovatt said. Wayne Emmerson acknowledged pending changes to York’s structure when he was acclaimed as York Region’s chair last month.