Mayor John Tory will present an emergency motion for a referendum on Doug Ford's plan to reduce the size of the Toronto board

Mayor John Tory will present an emergency motion to counter Prime Minister Doug Ford's brusque plans to halve the size of the council by holding a referendum

"My job is to defend the interests of Toronto, "said Tory in her town hall office." You do not change the rules in the middle of the game. It is not fair and it is not fair. "

But according to provincial rules, the deadline for sending a referendum question has already pbaded.

Tory's comments come after the Star published its intentions to remake Council to mid-campaign and restart the nomination period later this summer, extending until mid-September.

On election day, the Star was said, would still be the October 22.

The mayor's reaction does not require staff to pursue a potential legal challenge to Ford imposing a new neighborhood structure on the most populous city in the country without consultation

The Mayor told the Star Thursday night that he had had a "very lively" conversation with the Prime Minister after hearing the news.

His early morning press conference preceded Ford's announcement at Queen's Park.

"I promised to reduce the size and cost Government, "Ford said at its press conference on Friday. "Nobody ever told me, Doug, we need more politicians."

"It's time to reduce the size and cost of municipal governments," added Ford. "Begin here in Ontario.We will introduce legislation that, if pbaded, will significantly improve the decision-making process at Toronto City Hall."

Ford has termed the Toronto City Hall of "The country's most dysfunctional political arena"

hall for four years, "said Ford, who was adviser from 2010 to 2014 for Etobicoke North." I was there when we were taking 10 hours to make a decision and then we found that everyone voted together after 10 am. "

Council may vote to add a question to the electoral vote, under provincial rules … But the law states that a council decision must be taken "no later than March 1 of the year of a regular election at which it is intended to submit the issue to the electors", which means that the council is too late to add a question. The province could odify these rules

Tory suggested in his comments that a referendum could be held on the ballot or by other means, but did not specify what he wanted say.

He also revealed that Ford mentioned that he was dreaming about cutting the size of the board in half for this election at a one-to-one meeting between the two leaders he more than two weeks ago. But the mayor said that he had dismissed it as something that Ford was not really pursuing.

If enacted, the changes would turn council chaos into chaos, removing new neighborhoods created under a council-approved 47-district structure and opposing councilors to each other in the city.

The plan would also give more time to potential opponents to mount a mayoral campaign against Tory. By law, the deadline to register for the election is 14 hours. aujourd & # 39; hui. This morning, Tory was not facing any great candidate.

A 47 wards option approved by the board was the result of a four-year process. It followed a multi-year study and extensive public consultation by external experts who recommended 47 neighborhoods as the best way to achieve effective representation and achieve other goals [19659019]. information sessions involving more than 2,000 people.

By considering an option of 25 neighborhoods aligned with federal and provincial boundaries, the city's consultants concluded that voter parity – the principle that all votes should have the same weight – was problematic after 2018, even if a 26th district had been added. Currently, the population of all neighborhoods is very unbalanced.

"This option was poorly supported at public meetings and board members," said the consultant's final report in his report with federal / provincial boundaries.

An online survey found "substantial" but not overwhelming support for this option from respondents, the report said.

Tory said Friday of his referendum plan: "The people should decide."

Board, in the middle of the meeting for the last time this term, will meet at 9:30 am today.

More to come

With records of Robert Benzie

Jennifer Pagliaro is a Toronto journalist covering politics in the city. Follow her on Twitter: @jpags