Reversing Doug Ford's 2018 cut to Toronto council not necessary, John Tory says
Toronto’s mayor appeared to dismiss a promise by the NDP to restore council to its pre-2018 size when asked Wednesday, saying revisiting the Ford government’s controversial council cutting exercise would be more trouble than it’s worth.
Toronto Mayor John Tory told CP24 that though he was opposed at the time to the move that cut council down from 44 to 22 councillors in 2018, he would not be in favour of revisiting the issue after the provincial election on June 2.
“If you said to me at this time would I be in favour of reopening that whole thing again, I am not sure that I would.”
In a move that Ford did not mention on during the 2018 election campaign, he brought forth a law that cut the size of Toronto city council and ended elections for regional chairs in several areas including Peel.
The move was very unpopular in Toronto and hampered the city’s own municipal election campaign, as it was introduced in the months leading to its own vote, causing confusion over who could actually run for council in 2018 and where.
“In a way you say to yourself look, I was very opposed to the way this was handled without consultation in the middle of an election campaign,” Tory told CP24.
He said a 44-seat council allowed councillors to spend more time dealing with everyday constituency issues.
“It allowed quite frankly for somewhat more numbers of councillors to look after people properly. The local level of government has quite a lot of very intense customer service type issues.”
The protests by opposition NDP politicians and members of the public protesting the move in the public galleries at Queen’s Park forced the speaker of the House to eject virtually everyone from the legislature in fall 2018 when the PC government voted on the measure.
Toronto’s legal challenge of the move ultimately failed.
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled Ford’s council cut was constitutional in a split 5-4 decision.
In the 2022 campaign, the Ontario NDP promised to reverse the cuts to council.
But Tory appeared resigned to the fact Doug Ford will win again on June 2, bringing up that Ford threatened to use the Notwithstanding Clause to pass the council cut at the time if courts found it unconstitutional.
“Again the likelihood is that Mr. Ford who indicated in the last go-round he would use the Notwithstanding Clause to force this on the City on Toronto, might do that again.”
He referred to the PC leader as the “premier” despite that outcome not yet being a certainty, although Ford is maintaining a significant lead in most polls.
“It’s my job to work on economic recovery, it’s my job to work with Premier Ford on getting people their jobs back, making sure the city is stronger than ever economically, and not get involved in these sorts of issues.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.