Is Doug Ford Trumping John Tory?

Doug Ford is certainly making waves in his first days in office as Ontario's new premier. In a style that is all Ford, but which may be labeled "peremptory and Trumplike", he has decided to cut Toronto City Council in half.

www.theglobeandmail.com...

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has thrown this year’s Toronto municipal elections into turmoil announcing just hours before Friday’s deadline for candidate registration that his government will dramatically cut the number of city-council positions, to 25 from 47.

Mr. Ford also announced the outright cancellation of four other municipal campaigns already under way – the elections of regional board chairs in Peel, York, Niagara and Muskoka.

During the campaign Mr. Ford said he promised to cut the size of government and that no voter he met supported more politicians, he said when asked why he didn’t include the radical reform in his campaign promises. Mr. Ford says having fewer city councilors “will dramatically improve the decision-making process at Toronto city hall” and save taxpayers $25 million.

Toronto's mayor, John Tory, is upset at what is going on and is seeking to have a referendum on this initiative.

As a member of the public, I am shocked at the premier's abrupt and peremptory action. This is pure "Ford" politics. Brother Rob would have had a good chuckle at this.

Doug Ford says that this will save money and the Fords, traditionally, have been all about saving taxpayer's money.

I don't know enough about cash flow and taxes in this jurisdiction to really comment on that. I have a feeling that money that doesn't go into salaries and overhead at Toronto City Council may very well be sucked up into the public, most likely provincial, coffers in some other way. Time will tell.

John Tory doesn't like this idea and his objections seem to be mainly about process. His proposal for a referendum is an outright attempt to block what the premier is doing. In the worst case scenario for Tory, the premier will get his city council reduction (but slower and perhaps smaller).

I can see both sides of this issue. I think to have things moving along inefficiently and slowly benefits Tory personally because his nature is to muddle along cautiously. To be perfectly frank, I don't think the mayor is the sharpest knife in the drawer and people like that are often obstructive because a slower pace aids them in grasping issues.

This can be galling to sharper knives, but such people have to remind themselves that Tory's intellect is more representative of the majority of the population, the voters, than the intellect of a hypothetical "Mr. Brilliant", or "Premier Brilliant". There are more of those people and they do most of the work and most of the implementation associated with government policies.

It is an interesting move, though, on the part of Mr. Ford. It's one I hadn't thought of myself, during the last couple of mayoralty elections in Toronto, when I was a strong supporter of his amazing brother. Money is always the fundamental issue in politics. Everything else boils down to money.

Can Mr. Ford win over Mr. Tory?

nationalpost.com...

“I am a lawyer, and the City of Toronto Act creates the city as an entity…. It is a creation of the province. I do understand that, whether I like it or not, that the province has a very large latitude to do as it wishes.

“What we don’t need is change being rammed down our throats without a single second of public consultation and on top of that done in the middle of an election period. You don’t change the rules in the middle of the game, it is not right, it is not fair.”

Mr. Tory is clearly not happy with the process but says that he would accept a reduction in the size of city council if a referendum's result supported it.

I think Mr. Ford has a sales job to do on this, obviously, if there is to be a referendum.

I hope he realizes that personality and psychology should be part of his calculations in this matter. People don't like having medicine shoved down their throats, even if it is good for them.

The Toronto Star had a front page editorial this morning urging that Mayor Tory fight the Ford council cutting move with everything he's got. Its title was "Toronto must stand and fight" but it could easily have been titled "First he came for the councilors."

There is joy in Starville, I think. They appear to be launching yet another "Fordic War", like the ones they conducted against the premier's brother, Mayor Rob Ford.

This one will be a war on two fronts. They will also be fighting to keep the current mayor, John Tory, fighting fit and combative. (Ever tried to pick a lock with a wet noodle? Nothing daunts the Star.)

a reply to: ipsedixit

Of course the Star will fight Ford. Liberal rag. It's funny though. Both are conservatives. Is it in Ford's purview though to limit anything in municipal politics?

a reply to: intrepid

I think Tory represents one faction of the Conservative Party in Ontario and Ford another.

We are in for interesting times. John Tory is going to be opposed vigorously for the mayor's job this time around. Personally, I think that if Doug Ford had entered the race two weeks earlier, he would have beaten Tory last time. (This was during the period of uncertainty that culminated in Rob Ford's withdrawal from the race.)

I think the premier of the province has a lot of power in relation to municipal politics in Ontario, but it is possible that this will be contested in the courts. Threats along that line have been made.

What research and studies back up Ford's proposed changes? Nothing, I'll bet.

originally posted by: InTheLight
What research and studies back up Ford's proposed changes? Nothing, I'll bet.

I'm holding off judgement on Ford until I see something concrete to either support or not. I've heard that he want to allow a free market for the weed issue. That's a positive. If that's his attitude towards other things this might be all right.

originally posted by: intrepid

originally posted by: InTheLight
What research and studies back up Ford's proposed changes? Nothing, I'll bet.

I'm holding off judgement on Ford until I see something concrete to either support or not. I've heard that he want to allow a free market for the weed issue. That's a positive. If that's his attitude towards other things this might be all right.

"Consumption may simply not increase in proportion to our ability to grow." Robin Cordell, owner and grower at Oregon Girl Cannabis Company, said she saw the influx of supply coming on social media that would choke out her farm. "I saw just massive fields planted on Instagram, just huge acres and I just knew that was going to be the result," she said in an interview. While she once sold her pot to a wholesaler for $2,200US per pound, she said that dipped to $600 per pound.

As I said before where is Ford's research?
www.ctvnews.ca...