Tory told CP24 that all he knows about a plan detailed in the Toronto Star to give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa new powers to more unilaterally control staff appointments and financial matters is what he read in it the report. “Right now there’s nothing written or done that I know of that you can comment on,” he said. But during a June 27 meeting between Ford and Tory, the mayor said a proposal to give Toronto’s mayor stronger powers came up. “It came about almost by accident in the context of housing construction. There were never any detailed discussions between me and the Prime Minister about this.” Doug Ford has long admired the municipal system of government used by some US cities, where a mayor can act alone on financial matters and sometimes reject or veto council proposals. Tory said he agrees there is a need for the council to work faster. “There is definitely a need, we need to speed up the way we get things done at city hall. The bottom line is that we need to do things, more and faster, and that includes building houses.” Asked about plans to change the City of Toronto or Municipal acts to give mayors stronger powers, a spokesman for Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark did not deny the Star’s report. “We know that in Ontario today, too many families are locked out of the housing market,” said Chris Poulos. “That’s why we have a plan to build 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years and continue to explore ways to help councils build more homes faster.” Tory said that whatever change is made, he doubted it would involve any kind of veto or override where he could decide something against the wishes of most of the council. “I would be very surprised if any proposal that came forward was one that involved me having that veto that you mentioned, where I could say this is my way and this is it.” If the Ford government is indeed considering new powers for the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa, it will mark the second straight municipal election season where the province has meddled in Toronto’s affairs. But Tory downplayed the impact on city affairs since the council’s halving in 2018. “You can’t do these jobs alone, no matter how much power is given on a piece of paper, you have to work with colleagues across the city to get things done.” “They changed the size of the council last time and I think I’ve worked more closely with the council since the change.”
