2 councillors square off on Doug Ford's new plan to slash their ranks
Some councillors herald new plan to cut council seats, while others ardently opposed
For some, it's an affront to the pillars of democracy. To others, it's a welcome shift away from inefficient processes that plague city hall.
City councillors are starkly divided on Premier Doug Ford's new bill to redraw Toronto's ward boundaries and cut the number of council seats from 47 to 25 ahead of this fall's municipal election.
Ford told reporters last week that council has "failed to act on the critical issues facing the city," calling it the "most dysfunctional political arena" in all of Canada.
In a fierce back and forth with NDP leader Andrea Horwath during question period Monday, the premier said "people love the idea," adding "out of everything I've done in politics, I've never had a better response."
The councillors who say they can do this with a ward double the size are either doing a poor job or don't understand their job.- Coun. Janet Davis
CBC News reached out to two councillors who stand on opposite ends of the issue — Coun. Stephen Holyday (Ward 3, Etobicoke Centre), and Coun. Janet Davis, (Ward 31. Beaches-East York).
Their responses could not be more opposed, showing the gulf that exists within council itself for a decision that will irrevocably change the way municipal government functions in Toronto.
Does city council need to downsize?
Davis is ardently opposed to Ford's move, calling it "reckless" and "antidemocratic."
"This government has stomped all over the people of Toronto right now, and they're going to have to be accountable for it — if not now, they'll have to be in four years," she told CBC News. Many other councillors share her viewpoint, and slammed the move as soon as it was announced last week.
This is a gross misuse of power that overturns the decision of the residents of TO and their duly elected officials. City has jurisdiction on # of seats and boundaries and held extensive consultations. <a href="https://t.co/F0Oip1F5e4">https://t.co/F0Oip1F5e4</a>
—@Janet_DavisBut other councillors are celebrating it. A group of councillors including Holyday and Giorgio Mammoliti appeared at Queen's Park Monday to voice their support for Ford's plan.
Holyday told CBC News that slashing the amount of council seats is the right move, in his eyes.
"I think this is something many people have discussed for many years, so I'm supportive. It's a good idea," he said.
Is city council dysfunctional?
Depending on who you talk to, city hall is either a self-serving mess where councillors eschew essential discourse to focus on their own pet projects, or the most accessible avenue of government where the voice of the people can truly be heard.
Holyday is decidedly in the camp of the former. He says member motions bog down political discourse, as councillors try to ram through bylaws that serve "their agendas." That leaves council with less time to focus on issues that truly matter, he says.
"In order to have very focused decision making, I think you need to have less people in the room, keeping a focus on the issue at hand," he said. "We dilute ourselves often, because there are just so many people trying to achieve their own agenda here."
Davis, for her part, told CBC News that councillors tend to bring forth the types of ideas and initiatives that represent the priorities of their wards. With fewer councillors, she said, the voices of minorities and other groups that already struggle to be heard will be drowned out even more.
"I believe that councillors are able to address many of the issues that wouldn't be addressed if there were fewer of them," she said.
Making the most of your working hours
A ward councillor's office is often a resident's first point of contact when someone calls with a complaint about their area, be it garbage collection, snowclearing or otherwise. Holyday says councillors could easily mitigate a swell in those calls brought on by a changing ward by hiring more staff.
"If you have to add another person because the ward has become larger that's fine," he said. "And if a councillor just has to do more work just to make sure everything gets done, in my view, that's fine.
"I'm glad to take on more work. I really am."
Davis called that idea disingenuous. "The councillors who say they can do this with a ward double the size are either doing a poor job or don't understand their job," she said.
Where a ward is situated really matters, too. There's a clear disparity between the size of a meeting agenda for Toronto and East York Community Council, versus a smaller community council, like Scarborough.
Davis says all that's happening here is some councillors are "rolling over," and jumping into the "cloying [and] buddying up that takes place when there's power at hand."
"We by far are more open, transparent and productive than any legislature in this country," she said.
"We are not dysfunctional."
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