“Toronto’s government has no party system. That means that each councillor is effectively a party of one – motivated to speak (at length) on every issue to show that she is serving her constituency, whether or not she has anything to say. “Everyone comes with a different tactical view,” Mr. Thompson says. “Every one of us can come up with a new subway plan and every one of them has to be discussed. We can’t form a collective view.”
“The gridlock over public transit is the biggest victim of council’s inefficiency. But countless lesser matters – the casino debate, the garbage debate, the debate over King Street – get bogged down in endless process. Endless reports are commissioned that are never read. Councillors use their positions to stall and bargain for concessions on other issues. Mr. Thompson is convinced that fewer councillors would improve democracy, not diminish it. Doug Ford’s plan is to reduce them to 25 – close to the number of Toronto MPs in Ottawa and MPPs at Queen’s Park – and to adopt the same geographic boundary lines.”
