Ontario Premier Doug Ford is applauded by his PC Party members during Question Period at the Ontario Legislature in Toronto on Monday, July 30, 2018.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO — By slashing the number of councillors at Toronto’s city hall Premier Doug Ford says he is saving trees and paving the way for more police officers.

In a vicious question period on Monday, Ford went toe to toe with NDP Leader Andrea Horwath to defend his government’s most controversial move to date.

Having not mentioned cutting municipal councillors once in the spring election campaign, Ford announced on Friday that his government would reduce the number of wards in Toronto from 47 to 25.

[READ MORE: NDP say Ford’s focus on Toronto shows he’s settling scores]

The plan comes midway through an election period where dozens of candidates had already signed up to run in the 47 seats. It makes Toronto the only city in Ontario to align its number of municipal ridings with the number of federal and provincial ridings it has.

For example if the same were done for Ottawa, its 23 councillors would be reduced to eight.

In question period Ford told Horwath she would never have to worry about acting like a leader while she called him interchangeably a bully and a dictator.

In response to a question from Horwath in which she accused Ford of “trying to control Toronto city hall from the premier’s office,” Ford said the $25 million in savings the changes will realise over four years will be a boon for the environment.

“I can assure you that when we have 25 councillors, it’s going to be 500,000 less sheets of paper,” he said. “I’m protecting the environment. I’m protecting trees. Because there’s going to be less bureaucracy, it’s going to make the mayor’s job easier. It’s going to make fellow councillors’ jobs easier. It’s going to make the Clerk’s job a lot easier, because right now, with 47 people, it would be dysfunctional.

“Nothing gets done at city hall. There’s gridlock on our streets, and there’s gridlock at city hall,” he said.

[READ MORE: Toronto mayor not ruling out legal action against province over council size]

The opposition dedicated every single question for the government on Monday to Ford’s Friday decision to change elections and end the planned elections of four regional chairs, who will instead be appointed.

At another point where Horwath asked Ford why he is “acting like a dictator,” Ford suggested the two go door-knocking in Toronto together to see what residents want.

“Do they want 25 more politicians that they weren’t consulted with, or do they want less politicians?” he asked.

“Do they want more police or do they want 800 less police than when I was there to protect the streets? Do they want more transit or do they want less transit? Do they want higher taxes or lower taxes,” he added.

Horwath then hit back saying his answer “just indicated that this really is all about him,” before she reminded the legislature that “this premier could not get elected as mayor of Toronto.”

To which Ford said his party got more votes in Toronto than the NDP. A stat that the NDP says is wrong.

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