Send this page to someone via email While voting to formally reject the Ontario government’s proposed legislation to dramatically reduce the number of councillors in Toronto, city council has asked for a referendum to be held on the issue. During its session Monday afternoon, city council also passed a motion to meet on Aug. 20 to hear from the City of Toronto’s solicitor on the “validity and constitutionality of any provincial legislation, including its potential violation of the rights of the citizens of Toronto to fair and effective representation, the practicality of conducting the election, the Clerk’s capacity to implement the changes, and any errors or flaws in the legislation.” On Monday, the provincial government tabled legislation that would see the number of city council seats reduced to 25 from 47 in the October municipal election. The plan was announced by Premier Doug Ford on Friday. Votes and motions for Item MM44.128 – The Provincial Government's Plan to Reduce the Size of City Council are available: https://t.co/JERoTobK9i #tocouncil — Toronto City Clerk (@TorontoCouncil) July 30, 2018 Story continues below advertisement “I think we should be taking a look at every possible legal avenue, really to hit the pause button,” Mayor John Tory told reporters following a transit announcement outside East York Town Centre Monday morning. “I don’t think there’s any way we can stop it, necessarily in the context of having the province not able to move forward with changes to the City of Toronto Act on this or other areas, but I think we can sure call into question the process here.” READ MORE: Toronto council hopeful Rocco Achampong wants court to stop Ford from axing wards Premier Doug Ford‘s announcement prompted the mayor and city councillors to question the lack of consultation on the move. “I believe that the suggestion I have made that we should have a referendum and put the legislation on pause while we seek the views of the people that will be accompanied, of course, by a full debate, is the right way to go about this,” Tory said. READ MORE: Toronto council hopeful to ask Ontario court to stop Doug Ford from shrinking council 0:44 Toronto council hopeful to ask Ontario court to stop Doug Ford from shrinking council Toronto council hopeful to ask Ontario court to stop Doug Ford from shrinking council – Jul 29, 2018 Among the other motions being discussed at Monday’s city council meeting include formally voting to oppose the legislation, to ask the city solicitor to examine the constitutionality of the bill, and to ask the province to allow a question on the council seat reduction plan to be included on the election ballot before the legislation is imposed. Story continues below advertisement “I recognize the fact the province has broad powers when it comes to the matters affecting the city of Toronto, broad legislative powers,” Tory said. “I think it’s important for us to see the bill, but I think in the meantime there can be research done on constitutional matters.” The premier said the reduction in council seats would save the city $25.5 million over four years. The proposed legislative changes, which have been included in the Better Local Government Act, would also eliminate elected chair positions in the regions of Peel, York, Niagara and Muskoka. Progress Toronto, a pro-democracy advocacy group, has since launched a petition asking the public to “stop Ford’s takeover of Toronto politics.” — With files from Nick Westoll Advertisement<doc-sep>Send this page to someone via email More efficiency, $25 million saved and more getting done at Toronto City Hall. That’s the pitch from Premier Doug Ford’s government with the introduction of The Better Local Government Act. The bill, in addition to a number of other changes, moves to overhaul Toronto City Council, slashing the number of councillors from 44 to 25. The bill was brought to the floor of the legislature Monday, where it received first reading, during which the purpose of the bill was explained. The premier claimed the proposed law will streamline city hall. “There isn’t too many people that I know that wouldn’t want to trade in a bunch of politicians for $25 million,” Ford said. First reading carried without a formal vote. Story continues below advertisement Second reading could prove to be a lengthier process — during this stage it is debated and amendments are put forward. On Tuesday, the NDP tabled an amendment that could delay passage of the bill. The amendment read, in part, “This bill be NOT now read a second time but be referred back to the government with instructions to first provide a report to the house outlining the method and scope of public consultation measures that informed the drafting of the bill.” When questioned by Global News on what else her party can do to stop the bill, NDP leader Andrea Horwath said, “We don’t have very many arrows in our quiver, very many tools to use, but we will use every tool we have to try to push this back.” READ MORE: Ontario to introduce legislation to cut Toronto city council seats by nearly half The opposition leader blamed past administrations for giving majority governments too much power. “We have very few tools to use, because as oppositions became much more effective at using those tools, they became expunged from the standing orders, which is the rules by which we engage here,” she said. If the bill passes second reading, it will head to the third and final reading where it will be voted on. Story continues below advertisement Like the NDP, city council has few tools to block legislation. Council voted Monday to ask the Ford government to conduct a referendum on the number of city wards before moving ahead. Whether a legal challenge will be mounted by the city is unknown right now. Council requested city lawyers explore options and report back by Aug. 20. The city clerk’s office expressed concern they may not be able to run the municipal election in October due to boundary, ward and candidate changes. Government sources told Global News the Ford administration plans to have Elections Ontario step in if local officials say they have insufficient resources to run the fall election. READ MORE: Toronto council hopeful Rocco Achampong wants court to stop Ford from axing wards Toronto lawyer and Ward 13 candidate Rocco Achampong said he is going to step up and fight Ford in court if the city won’t. On Tuesday, he filed an application with Ontario’s Superior Court to block the legislation for the 2018 election cycle. “I would love for the city to stand up for the citizens of Toronto. I don’t see why it is left to me as an independent candidate for Ward 13 Eglinton–Lawrence to be fighting for everyone’s democratic right in this city,” Achampong said. “I understand some people might think I’m in opposition to that act, but the extent of my opposition is to the fact that it should not apply to the 2018 election.” Story continues below advertisement In his application, Achampong said, “The controlling law, rules and regulation that have been operative since the start of the election cycle have now been thrust into a state of ambiguity and uncertainty, as the legislature is currently looking to amend and repeal provisions that govern elections to municipal office in the province of Ontario.”<doc-sep>Let’s get something out of the way here, premier: You like to say you haven’t met anyone who wants to see the size of Toronto City Council increased. Fair enough. In fact, there seem to be very few people who want the status quo preserved at all costs. But you announced massive changes to the makeup of Toronto City Council right in the middle of an election campaign. That strikes a lot of us as rash, risky and unnecessary. The people who are saying “Let’s talk about this” are not necessarily opposed to the idea of reducing the size of council — including Mayor Tory. We’re just baffled by the timing. It’s like shaking someone awake at 6 a.m. and telling them to blow out the candles on a birthday cake two months before their actual birthday. It’s not that they don’t like birthdays, premier, it’s just that your timing is way off. But you know this, of course. You just came off a terrible week of bungling on the sex-ed file. In fact, in every announcement so far, you and your ministers have looked disorganized and out of your depth. So this is an attempt to change the channel, to distract people and to get control of the narrative. It’s working, I guess, but it’s like lighting a fire to distract from a fire. There are a lot of unanswered questions. Share your thoughts Opposing view: Should Doug Ford cut Toronto city council in half? Yes For example — what about all the candidates who have raised money and paid out of their own pockets to run for races that no longer exist? What happens when they get together to take legal action for the costs they’ve incurred and the damage to their reputations? The millions you want to save through this may, instead, become the millions you — and by that I mean taxpayers — have to pay in damages for changes you rushed through to achieve a short-term political goal without fully understanding the cost. Ask the Liberals how that went with the gas plants. Premier, you’re making a fundamental change to the way people are represented in the City of Toronto. But the whole plan looks like it was cobbled together last-minute. We know this because, in the provincial campaign, the words “let’s reduce the size of Toronto city council” never crossed your lips. What you did say — over and over again — is that important decisions require consultation with the people. It’s inconsistent to demand provincial consultations on the sex-ed curriculum and marijuana sales but not on sweeping changes to local government. The other major change you’re making is to the Regional Chair elections. In Muskoka, Niagara, Peel and York Regions — home to 3 million Ontarians collectively — the people want to do away with the old, undemocratic method of appointing a regional chair from within council and elect them directly instead. You’re rolling that back — and now those people don’t get to vote on who gets to be their top municipal official, responsible for delivering the most services of any government. Coincidentally, some of your political rivals were running in those elections — Patrick Brown in Peel, for example, and Steven Del Duca in York. THE BIG DEBATE: For more opposing view columns from Toronto Star contributors, click here. In the end, Ontario’s municipalities are “creatures” of the province and you can do to them as you please. But they rely on stability and a good working relationship with Queen’s Park as they work to build economic growth and new job opportunities. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... At a time when Toronto and the regions are working hard together to attract investment, create jobs and keep taxes as low as possible, we need calm, prudent and stable leadership at all levels of government. We don’t need political and economic uncertainty, which will scare away new investors and job-creators. In the end, premier, this may be good short-term politics. If you want to deflect attention away from other matters, then mission accomplished. No one is talking about the poor performance of your government — but they are wondering if every morning for the next four years, we’re going to wake up to some new surprise, and with something else on fire. Lloyd Rang is a Liberal political strategist, speech writer and communications consultant. Read more about:<doc-sep>If your head is spinning over Premier Doug Ford’s plan to chop Toronto city council almost in half, to just 25 councillors, you’re not alone. The Star plans to investigate the most pressing questions and most dubious claims swirling around Ford’s surprise move. Star reporters will be updating this story over the coming days and weeks. Last updated Aug. 2, 2018. How much will it cost the city to redo ward boundaries in the middle of an election? Ford says cutting council’s size will save the taxpayers $25 million, but Councillor Gord Perks insisted in council this week that the cost to the clerk “of having to set up a second election will eat up all the savings.” The Star has reached out to the city for a number on how much it will cost, and this fact check will be updated once they get back with response. We do know that $17.5 million was budgeted for the election, and the clerk’s office was already knee deep in planning. City clerk Ulli Watkiss described last week what would need to be redone, including numbering new voting subdivisions, recalculating spending limits for candidates, creating a new plan for communicating boundary changes and preparing new preliminary voter’s lists. Guelph city clerk Stephen O’Brien said it would be very tough to even provide a ballpark figure on how much it will cost Toronto. But he said his own city budgets about half a million dollars for their municipal election, and if they had to redraw their ward boundaries at this point “a significant portion” of that budget would be affected. For example, vendors would have to be paid again in full to redo work they’d already done. Speaking generally, he said, “When you make significant changes to the structure, like is being proposed, some of those costs may have to be incurred in whole again.” Do more than half of Torontonians support Ford’s plan to reduce the size of council? In the legislature on Aug. 2, Ford said he read a “poll” in the Star that “showed 68 per cent of the people are in favour of reducing the size and cost of government.” Ford appears to be referring to a tweet from a Toronto Sun columnist, who on July 31 referenced results at that time from a reader survey on the Star’s website. His tweet said that there was 68.77 per cent (3,711 votes) support for cutting the size of council, according to that survey. The Star surveys readers online to get their feedback and engage them in the stories. These surveys are not random, nor are they scientific, unlike those done by polling companies that independently gauge public opinion. Anyone can take the survey regardless of whether they live in or outside Toronto. The Star’s surveys also aren’t weighted to be reflective of the makeup of Toronto, meaning they don’t produce results that consider the age or other variables. Looking at the reader surveys the Star has posted about Ford’s plan to cut council, there have been widely varying results. The survey with the most participation, nearly 18,000 responses as of Aug. 2, was posted in a July 26 article, and found 46 per cent of votes were against cutting the size of council while 43 per cent were for it. Another embedded in a July 31 opinion piece supporting the cuts, which it appears the tweet referenced, saw 72 per cent of votes for the cut (out of more than 6,900 total votes). Another posted the same day in an opinion piece against the cuts saw 54 per cent of votes opposed the plan (out of more than 1,100 total votes). In total, the Star has posted five surveys on the topic of cutting the size of council since news of Ford’s plan broke. About 17,500 votes in total have been for the cuts, and nearly 15,000 have been against them — but, again, the Star’s surveys are not meant to be scientific. A recent scientific poll on the question found a plurality of Torontonians oppose Ford’s plan: Forum Research conducted an interactive voice response telephone survey of 1,328 randomly selected Toronto voters on July 27. It found 47 per cent of those surveyed were “strongly” or “somewhat” opposed to the reduction in council’s size and 35 per cent were “strongly” or “somewhat” in favour. Another 19 per cent were indifferent or didn’t know. The results are considered accurate plus or minus 3 per cent, 19 times out of 20 (a standard measure). The methodology for the survey notes: “Where appropriate, the data has been statistically weighted by age, region, and other variables to ensure that the sample reflects the actual population according to the latest Census data.” Did the PCs win more votes than the NDP in Toronto? On Monday, July 30, Ford said in the legislature that his PC party “ended up getting 88,646 more votes than the NDP, all combined, in the city of Toronto” in the election. That’s not true. The official results of the June election, posted by Elections Ontario for the 25 Toronto ridings, when tallied, show Ford was way off. The NDP actually received 40,534 more votes than the PC party. In total, irrespective of which party won the seat, the NDP received 400,443 votes in those 25 wards and the PC party got 359,909. What would other Ontario cities look like Toronto’s new councillor-to-citizen ratio? If each Ontario city or town had an equal number of municipal, provincial and federal representatives, as Ford says is best for Toronto, many would have a single councillor. These places include Waterloo, Guelph, Milton, Newmarket and Oshawa, all of which have one MP and MPP and populations exceeding 100,000. Currently, these municipalities have a total of 47 councillors plus mayors. Larger cities would see dramatic cuts to their city councils as well. Ottawa, with nearly one million residents, would see its 23 council seats reduced to eight. Hamilton’s half a million residents would be represented by five councillors, down from 15. Further north, Muskoka and Parry Sound would have to share one councillor.<doc-sep>
Toronto city council voted Monday to express its opposition to a controversial bill that would cut the council nearly in half to the Ontario government. Council also voted to request that the provincial government conduct a referendum on the number of wards and their boundaries before proceeding with legislation that would cut the number of councillors to 25 from 47. "Today, city council sent a strong message to Queen's Park that it opposes the process around the change to Toronto's ward boundaries," Mayor John Tory said in a release. "City council approved my call for the province to hold a binding referendum before proceeding with any changes to the Toronto ward boundaries," Tory said. "Change of this magnitude should always happen with a degree of consultation that allows the public to be heard and I believe a referendum will ensure that opportunity." The vote followed heated debate at Toronto City Hall as local politicians weighed whether to wage a legal battle against the Progressive Conservative government. Premier Doug Ford introduced the legislation on Monday, stating that the plan would streamline the decision-making process and save Toronto taxpayers $25 million in councillor and staff salaries. Ford stunned both politicians and residents last week when he announced the plan to cut council, just months ahead of the fall municipal election. Speaking in the legislature Monday, Ford said he campaigned on reducing the size and cost of government so this move should come as no surprise. "I talked to tens of thousands of people across this province, I talked to thousands of people in Toronto, and every single person I spoke to in Toronto said that city hall is dysfunctional," Ford said. "We don't believe in bigger government. We don't believe in more politicians or more bureaucracy. We're going to make sure the City of Toronto finally runs more efficiently." He also highlighted other potential benefits to reducing the number of council seats. "I can assure you that when we have 25 councillors, it's going to be 500,000 less sheets of paper. I'm protecting the environment. I'm protecting trees," he said. One city councillor and longtime Ford ally suggested Monday there may be another motive for the move. "There's going to be less left-leaning politicians in the City of Toronto and that means it's a great thing and it's a great day for the taxpayer," Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti said in a news conference to defend the plan. While Mammoliti and a handful of likeminded councillors showed their support for the bill at the provincial legislature, their peers at city hall discussed their options to oppose the plan, which many have said was foisted on them unexpectedly after the city had already ruled against a similar proposal. Municipal staff have suggested they could not make all the necessary changes in time for the Oct. 22 election, though Ontario's municipal affairs minister said he had reached out to them and is confident they can work out any "transitional issues." Scholars and lawyers have said that one of the ways to delay Ford's plan from taking effect during the current campaign is to mount a legal challenge against the measures and seek a court injunction. Tory said council has asked the city solicitor to examine the validity and constitutionality of the legislation. "I will continue to advocate that the province pushes the pause button on this process and let the municipal election already underway proceed," he said. "I don't think there's any way we can stop it necessarily in the context of the province not able to move forward with changes to the City of Toronto Act ... but I think we sure can call into question the process here," Tory said earlier in the day. Ford has faced similar criticism from the opposition parties, who argue he did not campaign on the issue or hold public consultations as he pledged to do on key policy changes. The premier promised Monday afternoon to go knocking on doors in the Toronto area and as far as Timmins, Ont., over the next week to hear what people think of his proposal, though his office did not immediately confirm the plan. The bill introduced Monday amends several existing laws to realign Toronto municipal wards with provincial and federal ridings, extend the nomination period for those seeking a council seat to mid-September and cancel elections for regional chair in Peel, York, Muskoka and Niagara regions, turning them back into appointed positions.