Redefining wards mid-campaign would create civic ‘chaos’ as ‘amalgamation 2.0’: councillors

Thestar.com
July 26, 2018
David Rider

Premier Doug Ford’s unprecedented plan to vaporize the ongoing 47-seat Toronto civic election by slashing the number of wards sent shock waves through city hall Thursday as councillors and staff learned of the pending political earthquake.

“Meddling in democratic decisions by thousands and thousands of Torontonians, local government and the courts in the middle of an election would throw us into chaos,” Councillor Gord Perks (Ward 14 Parkdale-High Park) told the Star. He said it’s not clear yet what recourse, legal or otherwise, council has as it continues to meet Friday.

If Premier Doug Ford’s plan goes ahead, Toronto city council would go from 47 seats to 25.

“Politically, people will fight back against this.”

More than 220 candidates, including 35 who have knocked on doors and spent campaign funds since May 1, would suddenly cease to be in a collection of races that no longer exist.

Ford’s plan to cut the number of wards to 25 to match federal and provincial boundaries, and move the deadline for nominations from Friday to mid-September, would essentially create a new Oct. 22 civic election and throw the current process into chaos.

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Councillor Joe Cressy, who represents the current Ward 20 (Trinity-Spadina), called the move “anti-democratic.”

“This would be amalgamation 2.0,” Cressy said. “It would do a tremendous disservice to the residents of the city of Toronto, residents who have rightfully come to expect a level of high-quality representation.”

The move would erase a four-year process to redraw the city’s ward boundaries for this election, which survived both an Ontario Municipal Board and court challenge, and boosted the total number of seats by three for this election: from 44 to 47 wards. That change was earlier triggered by council and a need to equalize the number of residents per ward to ensure more effective representation.

Also cancelled would be the biggest shakeup to date of Toronto council that, thanks to the new wards along with deaths and retirements of sitting councillors, would have sent at least 10 fresh faces to the council chamber.

Almost certainly gone -- in a development likely welcome to Ford’s Progressive Conservative government -- would be an expected tilt in power at city hall from suburban councillors to progressive downtown representatives. Most new wards would have been in the core due to population growth.

Instead, Ford is setting up the equivalent of cage matches between incumbent councillors across the city.