Canada: Ontario premier Doug Ford unveils plan to reduce Toronto council seat
Toronto, July 27 (IBNS): Ontario premier Doug Ford on Friday unveiled his plan to reduce the Toronto council seats from present 47 to 25, media report said.
Ford made the announcement by addressing a press conference on Friday.
He said he will introduce a legislation "as soon as Monday" to reduce the number ahead of Oct 22 municipal election.
Ford has been quoted by CTV News, "People tell me we have too many politicians, making it harder to get things done, making it harder to get things built,” he said. “We’re going to streamline Toronto city council.”
The premier even compared Ontario to Los Angeles, a city with a population of four million, which has only 15 city councillors.
Ford said the legislation, if passed, will save around $25 million of tax payers' money.
"I think Toronto taxpayers will be happy to trade a bunch of politicians at city hall for millions of dollars that can be reinvested in the city’s pressing priorities" Ford added.
The previous government, which was led by the Liberals, had increased the number of council seats from 44 to 47 in 2016.
Ford said his Progressive Conservative (PC) government is also planning to halt the previous government's decision to form elected regional chairs in Peel, York, Niagara and Muskoka regions.
Last month, the PC had swept the provincial election to end nearly 15 years of Liberal Party rule in Ontario.
(Reporting by Suman Das)
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