TORONTO, July 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premier Doug Ford’s proposal to cut the number of Toronto city counsellors from 47 to 25 only three months before the October 22 municipal elections ignores four years of consultation with the City of Toronto and undermines citizens access to representation.
“The people of Ontario did not vote to have their voices silenced by changes like this one. Ontarians want responsible and effective representation from their governments,” said Ontario Federation of Labour President Chris Buckley. “Instead, Ford is slashing away citizen’s access to representation with an irresponsible plan that erodes our democracy.”
“Instead of undermining democracy, Ford should be fixing the real problem of our province shirking its funding responsibilities and downloading expenses to cash strapped municipalities. If he wants Toronto to do better and move forward, he should work to improve funding for municipal services, including transit and infrastructure projects.”
“This is nothing short of hijacking an election. Is this a grudge that Ford has over being defeated in the last election? It certainly has nothing to do with fairness,” said President of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council John Cartwright.
Toronto is not the only part of Ontario affected by this act. Ford is also cancelling the election of regional chairs in York, Peel, Niagara and Muskoka, undermining democracy in those regions.
The Ontario Federation of Labour encourages Ontarians to take action against this decision by signing the petition from Progress Toronto protesting these changes to city council.
Click here for more information about the petition.
The OFL represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. For information, visit www.OFL.ca and follow @OFLabour on Facebook and Twitter.
Meagan Perry, Director of Communications, Ontario Federation of Labour
Email: mperry@ofl.ca
Phone: 416-894-3456
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