Ontario Premier Doug Ford 'not in favour' of York Region becoming one city

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he is “not in favour” of consolidating York Region into one big city.

“It's not up to the one mayor to go up there and say you want to build your empire. This is about all the seven different cities,” Ford said at an unrelated news conference in Whitby, Ont. on Thursday morning.

Ford's remarks come after Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti issued a statement on Wednesday pushing for the amalgamation.

“Consolidating into one city would result in significant savings in both operating and capital budgets,” Scarpitti said.

York Region is made up of nine municipalities—Markham, Aurora, East Gwillimbury, Georgina, King Township, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, and Whitchurch-Stouffville.

Several mayors told CTV News Toronto they “fundamentally disagree” with an amalgamation and were never consulted prior to Scarpitti publicly putting forward the idea.

“We listen to the people, we listen to all the mayors,” Ford said on Thursday.

The government dissolved Peel Region earlier this month, making Mississauga, Brampton, and Caledon independent, single-tier municipalities.

After Ford introduced legislation to break up Peel Region, he said his phone was “ringing off the hook” with other mayors who want independence from wider regional governments.

“Everyone wants to call their own shots and I don’t disagree with them,” Ford said at the time. 

With files from CTV News Toronto's Katherine DeClerq