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How hopeless is Toronto’s local government? The city has ruinous traffic problems, but has proven incapable of remedying them. Transit has been the No. 1 priority since Moses was in short pants, but — other than jabbering away endlessly about it — little ever gets done. Public housing is an utter disgrace and will continue to be for generations to come given the lack of willingness to address it. Housing prices are beyond reach, and the city bleats constantly about its lack of revenue, yet resolutely insists on taxing all that high-priced real estate at levels below every surrounding community. When a local man heard the city claimed it would cost $65,000-$150,000 to put some stairs in a local park, he built them himself for $550. The city tore them down and replaced them, for a mere $10,000.

The case against Ford’s move isn’t in the decision itself, but how he went about it. It appears he simply made up his mind and went for it, despite much concern among aides and caucus colleagues about the tumult it would create. Mayor John Tory said Ford casually mentioned the idea to him, but the mayor didn’t think he was serious. Though Ford made several promises during the election campaign, chopping Toronto’s council wasn’t one of them.

It’s fair to question any leader in a position as important as Ford’s who appears to act on impulse alone. We’re all too well aware of the turmoil the U.S. president is creating by trusting his own ill-informed, egotistical and shallow-minded opinions over anyone and everyone else. Ontario doesn’t need rule by fiat and the fact Ford won enough support to become premier doesn’t give him the right to remake the province according to whatever whim seizes his fancy.