Canada: NDP leader Horwath compares Ontario premier Ford to 'dictator' over his political shakeup
Toronto, July 28 (IBNS): New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Andrea Horwath has compared Ontario premier Doug Ford to a "dictator" over the latter's political restructuring by reducing the number of Toronto council seats, media reports said.
Horwath, who is Ontario's opposition leader, has been quoted by CTV News, "Mr. Ford seems to believe that he is the king of Ontario. He’s behaving like a dictator."
"For the Premier to cancel elections where his political rivals or enemies of the past are running is deeply, deeply chilling. It is an assault on democracy.”
Ford on Friday unveiled his plan to reduce the Toronto council seats from present 47 to 25.
He said he will introduce a legislation "as soon as Monday" to reduce the number ahead of Oct 22 municipal election.
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.
Reaction also came from former Toronto city councillor and mayoral candidate Olivia Chow, who called Doug "King Ford, or Emperor Ford for that matter".
Chow told CTV News,"It’s really not fair for the city of Toronto," by citing the new step will make each councillor represent more than 100,000 people.
(Reporting by Suman Das)
Image of Andrea Horwath: twitter.com/AndreaHorwath
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