Majority of Toronto councillors reject minority-rule mayor

In a letter Tuesday, 15 councillors urged the province to halt a bill that would let bylaws be passed with the support of only eight councillors.

Thestar.com
Dec. 7, 2022
David Rider and Ben Mussett

In a rare public rebuke for Toronto Mayor John Tory, a majority of his city council colleagues are publicly urging the Ontario government to deny him the “strong mayor” powers that he sought and is expecting to get this week.

Fifteen of 25 councillors issued a joint letter Tuesday, as Tory was meeting with his executive committee at city hall, urging Premier Doug Ford and Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark to halt a bill that would let the mayor pass bylaws with the support of as few as eight councillors.

The councillors’ letter was released after Tory refused calls for an emergency meeting of city council where his colleagues could have asked questions and voted on motions whether he should have such powers. It appears efforts by opponents to get a majority of councillors to trigger an emergency meeting failed.

Signatories include three executive committee members and some others who routinely vote with Tory.

The letter states: “Bill 39 is moving quickly through the Ontario Legislature and is expected to pass this week, but Toronto City Council has not had an opportunity to debate or consult with residents on this fundamental change in our governance.

“We are writing to you today because we are concerned that we have not had the chance for input on the governance of our city, or to weigh in on the impacts on the checks and balances of power that would result from the loss of majority rule at Toronto City Council.”

The signatories say they are committed to working with the Ontario government in a spirit of “mutual respect, consultation and co-operation” and “ask that you reconsider Bill 39. Toronto City Council should be governed by majority rule, and any changes to Toronto’s governance should be decisions made by City Council and local residents.”

Signing the letter were councillors Amber Morley (Ward 3 Etobicoke-Lakeshore), Gord Perks (Ward 4 Parkdale--High Park), Anthony Perruzza (Ward 7 Humber River--Black Creek), Mike Colle (Ward 8 Eglinton-Lawrence), Alejandra Bravo (Ward 9 Davenport), Ausma Malik (Ward 10 Spadina--Fort York), Dianne Saxe (Ward 11 University-Rosedale), Josh Matlow (Ward 12 Toronto--St Paul’s), Chris Moise (Ward 13 Toronto Centre), Paula Fletcher (Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth), Jaye Robinson (Ward 15 Don Valley West), Shelley Carroll (Ward 17 Don Valley North), Lily Cheng (Ward 18 Willowdale), Michael Thompson (Ward 21 Scarborough Centre) and Jamaal Myers (Ward 23 Scarborough North).

The letter ratchets up pressure on Tory and Ford to abandon the plan to give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa the unprecedented power of minority rule to pass bylaws on issues of “provincial priority” including housing and transit.

Matlow said it’s not too late for Tory and Ford to back down.

“We don’t want Toronto city council to become the only elected legislative body in the world that can make decisions by minority rule, because that’s not democracy,” said the veteran midtown representative.

Tory “made the wrong choice, and he knows it,” Matlow said, “and he doesn’t want to be held to account.”

“We see democracy eroding in places around the world, and many of us couldn’t have imagined this happening right here at home. But Doug Ford and John Tory are assaulting our local democracy, and we need to take a stand. And that’s what we’re doing.”

The signatories do not include some Tory allies who said they oppose him getting strong mayor powers, either publicly or in communications with constituents.

They include councillors Stephen Holyday, Paul Ainslie and James Pasternak. If they had signed, Tory would have been opposed by two-thirds of his council.

Reached Tuesday, Holyday declined to comment, saying the Star should speak to his colleagues who did sign the appeal to Ford.

Ainslie told the Star he is in Ottawa and hadn’t seen the letter before it was released, adding: “I really don’t know what weight the letter carries. Doug Ford has been doing whatever seems to suit his goals ... I think he has his perspective on how things should operate and he makes the changes whether some people like them or not.”

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has said he doesn’t need and won’t use the new powers. Toronto’s five living former mayors have released their own letter calling the proposed powers “profoundly undemocratic and a formula for poor decisions” while dramatically sapping the powers of democratically elected councillors.

At a Nov. 23 city council meeting, Tory promised he would impose minority rule on council only if necessary to advance housing and transit policies of “citywide importance”-- and only after getting city staff advice and failing to find a consensus on council.

He has said he needs to be able to force density into neighbourhoods now dominated by single-family homes, many of which are in wards represented by his suburban allies on city council.

Tory’s staff did not make him available to reporters as the executive committee ended, but later released a statement from him saying he looks forward to a staff report and “reformed and respectful” debate on the powers at next week’s city council meeting -- after they have been enshrined into law.

“Even with the provincial changes set to be approved at Queen’s Park this week, my determination to always try to reach a Council consensus on the issues our city faces remains steadfast,” he said in the statement.