New city ward map would add three councillors
Consultants to recommend new ward boundaries in report released May 16.

thestar.com
May 15, 2016
By Jennifer Pagliaro

The city could welcome three new councillors in 2018 if a plan to redraw ward boundaries is approved ahead of the next election.

Consultants hired by the city to build an electoral map that gives voters more equal representation are expected to recommend an option that shifts existing borders and increases the number of councillors from 44 to 47, the Star has learned.

If council approves that advice, which will be released in a report on Monday, one of the most significant changes will be the subdividing of the downtown core into smaller wards as part of the so-called “minimal change” option.

That proposal would also see a new ward created in North York and would redraw the boundaries of both Davenport constituencies (now represented by Councillors Ana Bailao and Cesar Palacio) along with the eastern Parkdale-High Park area (currently represented by Councillor Gord Perks) to create two wards where there were previously three - what could pit incumbent councillors against one another in the upcoming election.

“What it means is that residents of Toronto who are living in wards that are in some cases more than double the average size, those residents will receive more effective representation,” said first-term Councillor Joe Cressy, whose Ward 20 Trinity-Spadina is one of three downtown wards that would be divided.

An area currently represented by three downtown councillors (Cressy, Kristyn Wong-Tam and Pam McConnell) stretching from north of St. Clair Ave. and Mount Pleasant Rd. to the waterfront, and from Bathurst St. to the Don Valley Parkway - would be split into six wards, according to the original minimal-change plan released last summer.

After consultations with the public and councillors pointed out several flaws and other hairsplitting over the division of neighbourhoods, some tweaks to the boundaries recommended are expected.

At city hall, some councillors, like Cressy, say making a change is paramount to performing their duties.

“The amount of work required is not simply related to the size of your ward (but also) the complexity and range of activities in your ward,” he said, adding Ward 20 currently includes 15 Business Improvement Areas, 92 active development proposals and many related neighbourhood meetings.

“The population size on its own makes redistribution necessary. But for the capacity to represent, for wards that have that added layer of complexity, it’s not tenable without redistribution,” Cressy said.

Others, including Mayor John Tory, have been more standoffish about the proposed changes.

When asked about the boundary review last year, Tory was adamant the city would not benefit from “more politicians.”

The boundary review began in 2013 after council recognized that the city faced potential challenges to unequal representation at the provincially legislated Ontario Municipal Board - which could see the lines redrawn without the city’s input.

The current ward system follows former provincial ridings dating back to 2000, which were then essentially split in half to create 44 wards (which are named in pairs). Despite growing populations, the wards have not been changed since then.

“A key focus of the Toronto Ward Boundary Review is making sure the number of people in each ward is similar to other wards in the city,” the consultant’s mission statement reads online. “This is the most important component of effective representation.”

At city hall, councillors have quietly questioned why an option to base the ward boundaries on provincial or federal ridings - arguably allowing better collaboration between governments and avoiding confusion amongst voters - was not considered.

A follow-up report from the consultants said that option wasn’t pursued “since it would not achieve voter parity” or solve the “discrepancies in ward populations sizes.”

Only one of the five proposed options would leave the city with 44 councillors. The others would see wards either grow slightly, creating as few as 38 seats, or shrink significantly by increasing by as many as 14 seats - expanding council by nearly a third.

According to feedback published earlier this year, the “minimal change” option was preferred by members of the public surveyed and was the first choice or second choice of a majority of councillors.

The recommended option will first go to executive committee, which meets May 24. But staff are expected to weigh in on the consultant’s preferred option before council makes any final decisions.