

Chris Fox, CP24.com





Mayoral candidate Jennifer Keesmaat is calling on John Tory to “come clean” about conversations he may have had with Premier Doug Ford about the size of city council, though the mayor says those conversations amounted to "exactly one meeting" where it was briefly mentioned.

Keesmaat made the comment to reporters at a news conference outside city hall on Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after Ford announced that he would use the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to push through legislation cutting the size of Toronto council nearly in half despite a judge’s ruling calling it unconstitutional.

The notwithstanding clause has never before been invoked in Ontario and has only been used a handful of times elsewhere in Canada.

“I think this is a moment in our city’s history when we need to stand strong and we need to act and what concerns me greatly is that it is clear that there are things our mayor knew that he didn’t act on,” Keesmaat said. “It is time for John Tory to clear the air and open the files on this one. Will he release any and all text messages, emails, notebooks, direct messages, phone logs and other forms of communication between himself or his staff and Premier Ford, Patrick Brown or their staff in the last year?”

Tory has previously said that he had a brief conversation with Ford about slashing the size of city council but “didn’t take it seriously” at the time because it was “put forward in the category of musing.”

Meanwhile, Ford has contended that Tory did have advanced knowledge of his plans and hinted that he may have even given them his implicit endorsement, telling reporters on Monday that the mayor “says one thing behind closed doors and then says something totally different in front of the cameras.”

“The critical issue here is that we should have taken Doug Ford seriously and John Tory has made it clear that he didn’t,” Keesmaat said on Tuesday. “Standing up for the residents of this city when this kind of proposal came forward behind closed doors should have happened. The residents of this city should have been notified immediately and this should have been flagged as the critical issue that it is instead of being a passenger and waiting until this erupted into

Tory says Keesmaat is prioritizing own interest

Tory has called Ford’s decision to invoke the notwithstanding clause an “extraordinary curtailment of rights” and has promised to hold a city-wide referendum on the size of council if re-elected.

He has also called a special meeting of council for Thursday to discuss the city’s legal options.

Speaking with reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Tory said that he has always been “very open” about his past dealings with Ford regarding cuts to the size of council and has nothing to hide.

He said that the premier mentioned it to him exactly one time during a meeting the two had at Queen’s Park and then didn’t bring it up again until he called him one night before announcing the changes.

“I am disappointed quite frankly that at a time when Toronto is facing a real challenge with this matter Ms. Keesmaat has chosen to insult me. She has chosen to attack me as opposed to being on the team and saying it is all for one and one for all in terms of advancing the city’s interests,” he said. “She has put her own interest ahead of the city and that to me is extremely disappointing.”

Keesmaat calls for new community councils

Tory said that while he is not ruling out any measure when it comes to stopping Ford’s use of the notwithstanding clause, he conceded that “there are very, very limited options” available to the city and that it would be a “uphill challenge of the highest order” to challenge it in court.

For her part, Keesmaat said that Ford’s intention to use the notwithstanding clause to alter the size of council is “deeply concerning” and will likely have “implications across the entire country.”

She said that while the Oct. 22 election is now likely to be held on the basis of the 25-ward model backed by Ford, city council should nonetheless look at tools to enhance representation in the city, including the possible introduction of new community councils.

“We need to do everything within our power to stand up for local democracy,” she said.