Councillors reignite ward boundary debate

Politicians challenge redraw approved last year, causing issues for election deadline

Thestar.com
July 11, 2017
By Jennifer Pagliaro

Two city councillors are challenging a redrawing of ward boundaries in a move that could put at risk Toronto council’s desire to have new wards in place for the 2018 municipal election.

Both Councillor Justin Di Ciano (Ward 5, Etobicoke Lakeshore) and Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West) have officially appealed a bylaw, which would redraw ward boundaries and bring the number of wards to 47 from 44, at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), the Star has learned. They are joined by several city residents who have individual concerns with the boundaries and the more than two-year consultative process to determine the shape of the new wards.

On Monday, lawyers for the appellants argued over potential dates for a full hearing at the OMB - the judicial tribunal that deals with land-use disputes. The city has said all the appeals need to be resolved by Jan. 1 in order to have the new boundaries in place for the 2018 general election next October.

The OMB adjudicators at the hearing, Hugh Wilkins and Karlene Hussey, said the only window for a lengthy hearing available before that deadline begins Oct. 10. But Di Ciano’s lawyer, lawyers representing other residents and Mammoliti, who was representing himself, argued that date did not give appellants enough time to gather the evidence to make arguments. Another prehearing is scheduled for Aug. 21.

Council approved the new boundaries in a 28-13 vote in November. The process began after a 2013 challenge that the current boundaries do not achieve voter parity. Because the current 44 wards, which haven’t changed since 1999, are disproportionately populated, especially following residential booms downtown and elsewhere, the concern is that all votes are effectively not equal. The 47-ward option approved was the one recommended by a team of cityhired consultants. 

In a letter dated March 30, Di Ciano references concerns about his own ward and that the new boundaries remove a “large area at the western portion of the ward and force its realignment” into the neighbouring Ward 3 (Etobicoke Centre). That realignment of the area west of Hwy. 427, he wrote, would be “improper.”

“The important relationships of where residents travel, commute, shop, daily activities and recreate is being negatively affected without proper justification,” the letter reads.

Redistributing that part of Ward 5 would also mean Di Ciano would no longer be a resident of his own ward, which is not mentioned in his letter. The Laurel Ave. home Di Ciano purchased in 2014, according to public records, sits north of Bloor St., beyond where the new boundary of the ward would be moved.

The city’s election rules do not require that candidates live in the ward they are running in, just that they be residents of Toronto. In contentious election races, whether a candidate lives within the community they are seeking to represent has become an issue for debate.

In an email, Di Ciano noted several current councillors don’t live in the wards they represent and still serve their constituents well.

“My preference would be to live in and represent Ward 5, but ultimately that is not an argument I intend to advance before the OMB, and my appeal is not about whether I live in the ward,” he wrote.

Mammoliti did not outline wardspecific concerns in his letter to the board dated May 5.

“The bylaw was rushed and has many flaws,” Mammoliti’s letter reads, outlining what he called “minimal” consultations with the public. “Geography, community history, community interest and the representation of minority groups are issues that were not given adequate weight.”