Ford denies ‘trampling on democracy’

Premier says person held accountable should have power, hints Brampton’s Brown may be next

It’s the votes that count.

So says Premier Doug Ford, insisting it’s not “trampling on democracy” to give Toronto Mayor John Tory the power to ram through bylaws with the backing of only one-third of city council.

On the defensive as his contentious legislation, Bill 39, is set to pass Thursday, Ford said the mayor deserves the additional authority.

“Mayor Tory got more votes than all the councillors combined,” the premier said Wednesday in Brampton. “And so having a councillor that scrapes in with 3,000 votes and has the same voting power as the mayor, that’s what’s trampling on democracy.”

On Oct. 24, Tory received 342,158 votes while the 25 councillors elected received a total of 306,041.

The councillor who won the most votes was Josh Matlow (Ward 12, Toronto—St. Paul’s) with 22,670, while rookie Jamaal Myers (Ward 23, Scarborough North) was elected with 5,315 votes.

“They all want to hold on to their power, I get it, I’ve been down there,” said Ford, a city councillor when his late brother, Rob Ford, was mayor from 2010 until 2014.

“But at the end of the day, it’s the mayor standing in front of the microphone — like I do — answering all the tough questions, being held accountable,” the premier said.

“He’s responsible for running the city and for him to have one vote, that’s just not acceptable.”

While Tory requested the additional power, which was not in the original strong-mayor legislation that passed in September, he has insisted he can be trusted not to abuse it. On Tuesday, 15 of 25 councillors sent a joint letter to Ford and Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark, urging them to halt Bill 39.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, who is the only other chief magistrate to be granted the same extraordinary powers, has said he would not use any of the strongmayor authority.

Ford, who maintained the changes are needed to expedite the construction of 1.5 million new homes in the next decade to alleviate Ontario’s housing crisis, hinted that Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown could soon enjoy similar privileges.

The premier praised Brown for the “pro-growth perspective we need as we look to expand strong mayor powers to select municipalities.”

But Ford had some choice words for “disingenuous” Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, who has expressed concern about Bill 23, the Progressive Conservatives’ changes to housing policy that could hurt municipal coffers because development charges are waived for affordable housing construction.

“We have a few mayors that … don’t want to play in the sandbox and one being Mayor Crombie,” he said.

For her part, Crombie said she’s “not whining” when she sounded the alarm on city finances by distributing informational pamphlets to Mississauga residents.

“I’m simply doing my job as mayor to stand up for our residents and taxpayers,” she said, warning Ford’s changes “will force us to either put the brakes on these (growth) plans due to lack of funding or significantly raise taxes by up to 10 per cent a year for the next decade.”