Christopher Katsarov/CANADIAN PRESS Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to reporters in Toronto on Sept. 10, 2018.

When Toronto city council voted 36-6 to strip its mayor Rob Ford of his powers in 2013, he promised war. "If you think American-style politics is nasty, you guys have just attacked Kuwait," the late politician said at the time. "This is going to be outright war in the next election." Ontario Premier Doug Ford was a city councilor at the time and his brother's closest political ally. He voted with him more than 90 per cent of the time and ran for mayor in Rob's place after he was diagnosed with cancer. City councillors, along with NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, have said that the premier's plan to slash the number of seats on Toronto city council in the middle of an ongoing election is a revenge plot.

Lucas Oleniuk/Toronto Star via Getty Images Premier Doug Ford speaks with his late brother, former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, in 2014.

"He just has this disdain, not just for Toronto City Council, but I would go one step further and say for a good deal of the citizens of Toronto," Coun. Mike Layton told HuffPost Canada. He said the first straw was council cutting the premier's brother's powers; the second straw was the mayoral election of 2014, which the premier lost to John Tory. "We suspended the powers of his brother because his brother was unfit for office," Layton said. "It wasn't the left wing stealing it from him, it was us recognizing that his brother was simply unfit for office at that time. Something needed to be done for the good of the city." Councillors were reacting to the mayor's admission that he smoked crack cocaine while in office. The leader of the NDP is here to protect her crony buddies: Mike Layton, Joe Cressy, Gord Perks.Premier Doug Ford Layton is one of three city councillors that the premier called out during question period at Queen's Park last week. "My friends, we're going to make sure that we take care of the housing crisis and make sure that we take care of the crumbling infrastructure underneath our feet and make sure that transit gets moving, unlike the leader of the NDP," Ford said. "The leader of the NDP is here to protect her crony buddies: Mike Layton, Joe Cressy, Gord Perks." He was cut off by the Speaker of the House because Members of Provincial Parliament are forbidden from speculating about the motives of their colleagues.

Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press Toronto Coun. Mike Layton hugs Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath at a labour day parade in 2011.