Bill 5: The winners, the losers and the in-betweeners

Thestar.com
September 20, 2018

An MPP who emerged as a voice of reason. Two colleagues who will suddenly face off against each other on Oct. 22. A pair of politicians who won the day, but may pay a political price for doing so.

The winners and losers of this summer’s municipal-election battles became clearer on Wednesday, after a Court of Appeal decision virtually guaranteed that Toronto’s next election will be run with 25 wards, rather than the originally intended 47. But for two very key players, the long-term impact is still not so clear.

Government House Leader Todd Smith, who had to keep the legislature on the rails amid a chaotic all-night debate Monday, was one of the winners of this summer’s municipal-election battles.

Winners

Ontario Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark, who calmly steered both Bill 5 and Bill 31 through the House. Clark was methodical and unflappable throughout a crisis created by Premier Doug Ford and has worked with city clerk Ulli Watkiss to ensure the Oct. 22 election can happen with 25 wards.

Stephen Holyday and other Toronto city councillors who backed the 25-ward option. Those who embraced Ford’s mid-election intervention, including some who went to a Queen’s Park photo-op, were branded traitors and appeasers by some at city hall. But ultimately, they are the ones getting their wish.

Liberal MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers, the constitutional expert who has emerged from this crisis with a higher profile than she had as a cabinet minister in premier Kathleen Wynne’s government. Des Rosiers, co-editor of the 1,168-page Oxford Handbook of the Canadian Constitution, was a voice of logic and reason throughout the past weeks.

Government House Leader Todd Smith, who had to keep the legislature on the rails amid a chaotic all-night debate Monday. Smith and his hard-working staff never lost their cool during a tumultuous week after Bill 5 was struck down. They were able to schedule a rare Saturday session and even more unusual midnight sitting Monday and weathered the hundreds of protesters chanting outside.

Losers

Chris Moise and other rookie candidates who had campaigned since spring for an election that no longer exists. Some quit their jobs, others moved to new neighbourhoods, sought donations from friends and families and banged on doors in a 47-ward race that was pulled out from under them.

Paula Fletcher and other council incumbents who suddenly have to face off against friends, in her case Councillor Mary Fragedakis, to seek re-election. Incumbents normally have a big advantage but suddenly they have company on home turf and many will be forced out of local politics.

Ontario’s independent judiciary. Blindsided by Justice Edward Belobaba’s ruling that Bill 5 was unconstitutional, a rattled Ford attacked the judge as a Liberal appointee and suggested he was politically motivated. The unprecedented verbal assault on a judge by a sitting premier left some Conservatives concerned about strained relations with the judiciary.

Torontonians who expected an injection of fresh blood into city council. With 47 wards, the city was set for record turnout thanks to wards left open by retirements and deaths, plus new wards downtown and in Willowdale. Instead, the many young, ethnically diverse candidates who still plan to run face uphill battles against veterans of a council that doesn’t look much like Toronto.

In-betweeners

Attorney General Caroline Mulroney drew the wrath of many city councillors, legal professionals and Torontonians -- and disagreement with her former prime minister father -- when she backed the threat to use the notwithstanding clause to cut city council. The stay lets her back off a constitutional ledge while staying in Ford’s good graces, but she still suffered potentially long-term political damage by endorsing the invocation of the clause.

Barring an unforeseen twist, Premier Doug Ford will honour his late brother Rob’s wish to slash the size of Toronto council to 25 seats. Ford burned political capital to get it done but all that will matter to “Ford Nation” is that he won. Still, he looked inexperienced and heavy-handed when threatening to use the notwithstanding clause. Ford also came off as seeming vindictive because he never talked about shrinking the size of council during the provincial election campaign. His opponents accused him of settling old scores.