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The City of Ottawa wants to review the size of its 23 wards, while giving the Ontario Progressive Conservative government fair warning in case Premier Doug Ford has plans to trim more municipal councils.

“I don’t want this to be an exercise to add seats and I think given what the province did to the City of Toronto, we’re probably best to at least state up front exactly what the boundary review is going to be about,” Mayor Jim Watson said Monday.

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The PCs cut the size of Toronto city council last year. A ward boundary review in that city increased the wards from 44 to 47 before the provincial government slashed the number to 25.

Toronto was the only municipality the provincial government targeted for a council reduction, although there are ongoing reviews of regional governments.

Ford and other PC MPPs have suggested they aren’t interested in touching the size of Ottawa council, but since municipalities are at the mercy of their provincial masters, nothing is guaranteed.