Ontario premier to slash size of Toronto city council nearly by half
TORONTO — Doug Ford’s surprise decision to dramatically cut the size of Toronto’s city council just months before the fall municipal election drew immediate backlash Friday from the city’s mayor and other critics, who accused Ontario’s new premier of circumventing the democratic process.
Ford said his Progressive Conservative government will introduce legislation to cut the number of council seats from 47 to 25, aligning city wards with federal ridings — a plan that wasn’t outlined during the spring election campaign or mentioned in the province’s throne speech earlier this month.
The premier, a failed Toronto mayoral candidate and single-term city councillor, said he has wanted to make the change since his days at city hall.
“I promised to reduce the size and cost of government and end their culture of waste and mismanagement in government,” he said. “This is something I fought for at city hall, something I continue to believe in today.”