Doug Ford Reportedly Plans To Give Toronto Mayor John Tory More Power & Ottawa's Mayor, Too

Premier Doug Ford is reportedly planning to give additional powers to Toronto Mayor John Tory and Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, and changes could come within weeks.

A government source told CityNews that Ford plans on giving the mayors U.S.-style powers, which means city councillors would have less say on important matters.

According to CityNews, Tory and Watson would be able to make key budgetary decisions without the council's support, if this plan were to go through. This could allow the province to streamline certain decisions and deal directly with the mayors without going through the city council.

Tory chimes in

Tory told CP24 that Ford had mentioned the plan in passing in a meeting on June 27, but to his knowledge, nothing has been done or written down yet.

“It came up almost in passing in the context of getting housing built. There have been no detailed discussions between myself and the premier on this ever," said Tory.

However, Tory told CP24 there is a need to tackle things faster in the council.

"There’s definitely need, we need to speed up the way we get things done at city hall. The bottom line is we need to get things done, more of them and faster, and that includes getting housing built.”

Despite his need for speed, Tory said he would be "very surprised" if any proposal included allowing him to have a veto power where he could say, "this is my way and that’s it.”

Narcity asked Ford's office for comment on the reported plan and was sent a response from Chris Poulos, director of issues management for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

"We know that today in Ontario, too many families are frozen out of the housing market," Poulos said. "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 municipalities get more homes built faster."

City councillors react

Toronto city councillors Gord Perks and Josh Matlow have both responded to the news, neither are too happy about the prospect of having local government changed and their powers diminished.

Perks took to Twitter Tuesday night, writing, "I hope @johntory speaks out against Doug Ford changing the way local government works AGAIN!"

Matlow also took to Twitter last night as news broke, writing, "I like local democracy and accountability. Premier Doug Ford now intends to create a US-style Strong Mayor system in Toronto. It’s not like we’ve ever famously had a mayor who clearly demonstrated why this is a really bad idea."

On Wednesday, July 20, Matlow posted a members motion seconded by Perks recommending Ontario not implement a "Strong Mayor" system.

The motion claims a "Strong Mayor" system would "erode democracy by stifling local advocacy " on issues important to Torontonians.