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If a metropolis of three million with a duly elected council and mayor can’t decide for itself about one thing as native and so clearly inside its jurisdiction as developing a motorcycle lane, what’s the level of even having a municipal authorities? Cyclists trip in north on Spadina Avenue, on July 30, 2020.Fred Lum/ Ontario Chronicle
Being premier of Canada’s most populous province looks as if a fairly large job. Not sufficiently big for Doug Ford, apparently. He desires to be mayor of Canada’s greatest metropolis, too. Not less than that’s the manner he’s appearing.
Mr. Ford, you’ll bear in mind, really ran for mayor of Toronto in 2014. He stepped into the marketing campaign when his scandal-plagued brother Rob, the incumbent, withdrew as a result of he was affected by most cancers. Doug ended up coming second to John Tory. Veteran NDPer Olivia Chow, who’s now mayor, got here third.
The loss clearly stung. Ever since, Mr. Ford has been making an attempt to avenge it. One of many first issues he did after turning into Ontario’s premier in 2018 was reduce the scale of Toronto metropolis council by almost half. Lowering the variety of councillors had been a pastime horse of the Ford brothers when Rob was mayor and Doug was his right-hand man – a part of their much-trumpeted marketing campaign to “stop the gravy train.”
Council refused to reply the trumpets and the Fords retreated to struggle one other day. When that day got here, Doug wasted no time. He didn’t even wait until the top of the municipal election marketing campaign, which was already underneath manner when he took workplace. He simply received out the previous meat axe. Slash, slash, hack, hack – council was decreased to 25 seats.
So started a sample of meddling and bullying that has gone on ever since. Mr. Ford, who grew up in a Toronto suburb, simply can’t appear to maintain out of his hometown’s enterprise. In 2022, emboldened by his second provincial-election victory, Mr. Ford determined to revamp municipal governance and provides Ontario’s two greatest cities (Toronto and Ottawa) “strong-mayor” powers. He later gave the identical energy to many smaller cities as nicely. Amongst different issues, their mayors got the authority to veto city-council votes that received in the way in which of provincial priorities, like constructing extra housing.
The most recent instance of Mr. Ford’s interference is the silliest and most flagrant. Final month, his Progressive Conservative authorities introduced in laws empowering it to take away bike lanes from metropolis streets if constructing them had eliminated a lane of automotive site visitors. The regulation is aimed initially at three lanes: on Yonge Road, on College Avenue and on Bloor Road West in Etobicoke, Mr. Ford’s dwelling turf.
Right here once more Mr. Ford is singing from an previous songbook. Again in 2011, underneath his brother, Toronto spent 1 / 4 of 1,000,000 {dollars} to take out a lane on Jarvis Road that had been put in solely a 12 months earlier than.
Eradicating bike lanes in an period when massive cities world wide are increasing their bicycle networks at a speedy charge is regressive to say the least. Paris, for one, simply introduced a plan to limit the entry of automobiles and vans into its historic centre, a part of a broadly praised multiyear plan to make what was as soon as an autocentric metropolis extra walkable and bikeable.
After all, not each bike lane is successful. If a lane slows site visitors with out attracting many cyclists, it might show smart to take away it.
However ought to the Premier of the province be making that decision for Toronto? After all not. If a metropolis of three million with a duly elected council and mayor can’t decide for itself about one thing as native and so clearly inside its jurisdiction as developing a motorcycle lane, what’s the level of even having a municipal authorities? The Affiliation of Municipalities of Ontario calls the federal government’s bike-lanes invoice a “significant overreach” – an influence seize, in different phrases.
As Mayor Chow factors out, Toronto’s bike-lane plans, together with the three lanes in query, are the results of a number of years of research and session underneath two majors. Now Mr. Ford comes alongside and says: Nope, not taking place.
If the invoice passes, says Ms. Chow in a council movement, “one government would, at tremendous cost to the taxpayer and without collaboration, undo another government’s work.” Toronto’s metropolis supervisor is already demanding that the province reimburse town for the expense. Whichever degree of presidency finally ends up paying, the invoice will land on the hard-pressed taxpayer that Mr. Ford is at all times claiming to symbolize.
Being premier of Ontario actually is an enormous job. Mr. Ford ought to keep it up.
