Municipalities outside of the Big Smoke can breathe easy in the wake of Toronto's council getting cut from 44 to 25 positions, as a local political science professor believes it's an isolated incident.
The political world was tossed upside down Friday morning when the Ford provincial government announced the decision. Municipalities across the province are wondering if they are next, but Lydia Miljan, associate professor of poli-sci at the University of Windsor, said it appears Ford's plan pertains to Toronto only.
"When he had his press conference today he was asked about other municipalities such as Ottawa and he said 'it's no comparison, it's not the same thing, you have to look at the same sized cities,' which confused everybody," Miljan said. "I don't think this is a wholesale change. This is really him focusing on how to change the way Toronto is governed and not necessarily the rest of the province."
Miljan added what happened in Toronto is tough to compare to Southwestern Ontario because it was simply reducing the size of council and not amalgamation, which is what this area has seen.
The professor said she doesn't think the amount of councillors in Southwestern Ontario is a problem and believes Ford's decision was made as more of a political strategy.
"The fact he is getting rid of elections in Peel Region, and I believe Niagara where they are going to be electing chairs... smells of political opportunity," Miljan said. "In one of those [former PC leader] Patrick Brown is running, which feels spiteful. He says it has nothing to do with Patrick Brown, but who knows."
Miljan added the decision seems strategic because while the PCs won the GTA, they didn't take the downtown ridings and this could be a way for the Tories to gain more power long-term.
"Ford's aligned with the municipal and provincial electoral boundaries," Miljan said. "If he gets his type of people in there, the conservative-minded politicians, for the next four years then essentially he is setting up a situation where they could potentially become MPPs."
The professor added it would give those politicians more name recognition and make it easier for them to run provincially.
Miljan said the situation has confused those in Ontario politics to such a degree that people aren't sure he knows which job he went for.
"Do you really want to be premier or do you want to be mayor of Toronto?" Miljan said.
