Toronto city council to Ford: Respect us, stay in your lane

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R-E-S-P-E-C-T: What does it mean to Mayor Olivia Chow?

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Toronto council on Thursday evening debated not just the removal of bike lanes, but also the nature of democracy in Ontario’s capital, at the behest of the mayor.

“No matter where you stand,” Chow told council, “whether you support bike lanes or don’t support bike lanes, I think it’s important that this council and the people of Toronto have the respect they deserve, and that … once a decision is made, we deserve the respect because we are a level of government. Each councillor is duly elected by your constituents.”

It’s debatable, however, that councillors were showing much respect to Premier Doug Ford.

Deputy Mayor Mike Colle, expressing concern about voters seeking a “scapegoat” on gridlock related to cycling, brought in an amendment that would place signs on any road work to remove bike lanes reading, “This road congestion and traffic delay is the result of Premier Ford’s Bill 212.” (The amendment passed 14-11.)

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“That’s a Mike Colle special,” Etobicoke councillor Stephen Holyday quipped to The Toronto Sun. “Perhaps another set of signs should go up that shows the vote of who put the lanes in.”

Bloor St. serves as a southern border of Holyday’s Etobicoke Centre ward and also serves as a major west-east artery for his constituents. It is one of three Toronto streets, along with Yonge St. and University Ave., recently singled out for the removal of bike lanes by the provincial government.

Holyday told the Sun the Bloor bike lanes are “by far” the biggest issue in his ward today, and probably the biggest gripe in the central Etobicoke area during his career as a city councillor.

“Why wouldn’t you just take the win here and let the provincial government deal with any heat about removing them, and give the people what they want?” Holyday asked Chow during Thursday’s council meeting. “We are headed to such a fracture point, and this seemed like a great way out. I just don’t know why we’re fighting it now.”

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“I think that Torontonians, the people of Toronto, and members of council deserve respect,” Chow replied. “I respect all the work that has been done” at City Hall on planning and approving the bike lanes, she added.

“The voters don’t feel respected,” Holyday said. “How do we fix that?”

Chow’s 10-point plan, which passed with overwhelming support of councillors, largely directed the city to take stances against the province’s Bill 212. Walking councillors through the item, Chow talked up collaboration with the province, but shortly after floated the idea of litigation. And should the province interfere with city infrastructure, the mayor said, “we should not pay for any of it.”

Notably, Chow’s item, dubbed “Respecting Local Democracy and Cities,” made no mention of bike lanes before Colle’s amendment.

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Councillor Jon Burnside asked Chow if she had spoken to Ford himself about these issues. She replied that in her recent conversations with the premier, her “priority is building more housing.”

“In terms of the relationship between the city and the province, do you not see those private conversations you have with the premier as probably more worthwhile than maybe a motion from council?” Burnside asked. “I’m just trying to understand the focus of your efforts to roll this back.”

Chow replied that a “private conversation” wouldn’t “satisfy” other councillors who want to sound off on Bill 212.

Councillor Dianne Saxe had put forward a motion of her own that sought to protest “the overreach in Bill 212,” but that was sidelined by Chow’s item.

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“Fundamentally, the province has no business sticking its big foot and its lies about evidence into how we allocate public space,” Saxe told council.

“Yes, there are adjustments we need to make and can make, but tearing out the bike lanes so that Mr. Ford can sit in the cushy back seat of his giant limousine, paid for by all of us, and not have a nurse ride by him with her kid on her bicycle, that’s unacceptable, and we need to stand up for the people of this city.”

Josh Matlow complained about the province’s power over City Hall, and made one of the references heard in the council chambers that night about Ford’s move to shrink the number of wards in Toronto in 2018.

“It’s about providing effective local government, the kind of government that I think most residents assume that we can provide, and are surprised when they find out that Doug Ford can do whatever the hell he wants with us,” Matlow said. “In fact, Doug Ford tomorrow could change the name of Toronto to Ford Nation – but don’t tell him about that idea, because he might just do it.”

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Ford didn’t appear interested in council’s barbs, as his office referred a request for comment to Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria.

Dakota Brasier, Sarkaria’s director of media relations, told the Sun the city’s “current approach is not working” and has only made gridlock worse.

“As we’ve said many times, less than 1% of people shouldn’t be making decisions for the majority of people who travel on our busiest roads and sit in gridlock every day,” Brasier added.

Holyday told the Sun he thinks council’s focus was misplaced.

“I can assure you,” Holyday added, “the number of people that have written me in support of the provincial legislation on this matter and the number of people that have contacted me recently and over time about how upset they are with the Bloor bike lanes far outnumbers the others by many, many times over.”

jholmes@postmedia.com

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