The province’s move to slash Toronto’s local representation could be turned on its head by city council, which experts say has the power to change how it governs without Queen’s Park’s approval.That means council could adopt a two-tier system like the one in Los Angeles, with 97 neighbourhood councils, or in New York City, with 59 community boards.“It’s not the end of democracy,” said Gabriel Eidelman, a University of Toronto urban policy professor. “Nothing in Bill 5 limits city council from rethinking and redesigning its own internal decision-making processes. On the contrary, it may actually wake council up to take action.”Read more: Mayor John Tory urges Premier Doug Ford in public letter not to cut council in halfToronto city hall exploring options to fight Ford’s council cutWhat do Toronto city councillors do? More like, what don’t they do?Premier Doug Ford surprised Toronto in July with his plan to reduce council from 47 seats to 25, now known as Bill 5. City staff are examining if and how the city can challenge the proposed legislation in court, but there remains a strong possibility Toronto will run its fall election under a 25-ward system, with each councillor representing on average of 109,000 residents. If there were 47 wards, each councillor would represent an estimated 60,000 residents. Council does not need the province’s approval to create a Toronto version of neighbourhood councils or community boards like those in L.A. and New York, Eidelman said. In those cities, the extra layer of government is another way for residents to have their voices heard. Speaking from L.A., Grayce Liu said the neighbourhood councils were created in the 1990s in response to areas wanting to secede from the larger city because they felt their interests weren’t represented at city hall. Liu, a general manager in the city’s department of neighbourhood empowerment, said the goal of the ne ...
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