Martin Regg Cohn: With Doug Ford in the premier´s office, why bother with democracy?
(The Star Movies)

Let’s take the premier at his word.Never mind that Doug Ford never uttered a word on the campaign trail about cutting Toronto’s city council in half (and certainly nothing about halving it halfway through an election campaign).Listen to his latest arguments, after the fact. Even if Ford does not hear or heed the other side, why not give him the courtesy of listening?Let’s see what the takeaway is — and what it might take away from us. Consider the scenarios as the premier:Overrides a judge’s verdict and derides the judiciary;Rams through legislation after midnight while a city sleeps;Dismisses and diminishes the opposition;Counts his 2.3 million voters and discounts the remaining 11 million Ontarians;Vows he will override Charter protections at will.If the self-styled “Government For the People� does all these things in its first few months in office, what does that mean for Ford’s next few years in power? If his objective, stated and restated, is efficient government and democratic accountability — even at the risk of disrupting an election and curtailing advance voting — what next?Why bother deferring to the authority of Lieutenant-Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell, who is also unelected? After all, she is a political appointee — much like the judge he publicly condemned. Should she be unable to fulfil her duties, does the premier know that the (equally unaccountable) chief justice of Ontario fills in for her — making the premier answerable to the judiciary he keeps questioning?Why bother going through the motions of filing legal motions in court, notably his government’s appeal of the ruling that his plan was unlawful? While there is every possibility the government will win a stay of the verdict after Tuesday’s hearing before the Court of Appeal, why seek to overturn a decision if you can routinely override it by invoking the Charter of Rights’ “notwithstanding� ...