Mayor John Tory urges Premier Doug Ford in public letter not to cut council in half

Thestar.com
August 9, 2018
Jennifer Pagliaro

Mayor John Tory, sending a letter directly to Queen's Park, is urging Premier Doug Ford to reconsider his plan to cut the size of council.

“Something as fundamentally important as an election --a primary mechanism of civic democracy--should not be changed without public input and in the absence of a clear process or robust understanding of public impacts and costs,” Tory’s letter, sent Thursday night and forwarded to reporters Friday morning, reads. “In light of this lack of any public consultation, I urge you to consider putting the process on hold to allow for a referendum so we can let the people speak.”

He continued: “This was not raised as a campaign issue by any party and therefore in my view, no party has a mandate for such unilateral action.”

The letter strikes a more aggressive tone for Tory, who is seeking re-election, than his initial comments after the Star first broke the news of the council cut plan. He said then he was “angry at the process” not the premier, and downplayed the chances of a legal challenge. His response then helped convince Jennifer Keesmaat, Toronto’s former chief planner, to jump into the mayoral race to oppose Tory just before the deadline to sign up.

The costs of redoing an election and other questions on Ford’s plan to slash Toronto city council

The letter begins by saying it is to “formally communicate Toronto city council’s opposition” to the Better Local Government Act, which is currently being debated at Queen’s Park, but is expected to receive Royal Assent soon.

Tory said the 2018 election should be allowed to continue as planned, with 47 not 25 wards, noting the public was consulted on the council-approved ward boundary changes. He reiterated his belief there should be a referendum on the ballot for Toronto residents.

“While I voted against increasing the number of councillors, I at least respected the fact that the recommendation was the result of an extensive process including the public,” Tory wrote. “In contrast, Bill 5 proposes significant amendments to the City of Toronto Act and the Municipal Election Act without meaningful consultation of any kind with the public or stakeholders, including Toronto city council.”

He also suggested, for the first time, that other governance issues like term limits for members of council could be included as questions.

Tory, who has a long history with the Ford family and bested Doug for the mayor’s seat in 2014, tried to appeal to him by saying that “hitting the pause button is a sign of strength” and that following a “legitimate process” would increase the legitimacy of his government.

“It is always better to do something right as opposed to doing it quickly.”

Council is having a special meeting Aug. 20 to discuss possible legal challenges to the legislation.