There’s nothing wrong with right-sizing local government.Provided it’s done right. In good faith and with good sense.A sweeping review of grassroots governance, announced by Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives this week, aims for better services and greater efficiencies. Admirable goals — as long as the goalposts aren’t pushed back, and there’s a level playing field at the local level.Our inherited hodgepodge of municipal boundaries and services is surely not sacrosanct. Regional government is long overdue for a rethink, given that its roots go back half a century.But let’s not be naive about the potential to make municipal matters worse in search of ephemeral savings. And let’s not forget Doug Ford’s penchant for issuing edicts from on high about governments at ground level.Torontonians are still smarting from last year’s thoughtless meddling in mid-campaign, when Ford slashed the size of city council. The leader of Ontario’s Government for the People ignored years of public consultations and weeks of public protests.Read more: Ford government’s regional review could be a good thing — or a very bad thingFord’s ‘growth plan’ encourages more sprawl in Toronto areaBy the numbers: the regions under the Ford government’s reviewHas Ford learned any lessons from the political, legal and constitutional battle that erupted, paralyzing Queen’s Park and sapping his credibility? Have his supine cabinet ministers, who defended the indefensible, stiffened their spines?The premier not only rewrote Toronto’s boundaries unilaterally, he is redrawing the Greenbelt willy-nilly. He has rewritten the rules for election fundraising, and reinvented cronyism by hiring his pal as OPP chief.Now, a premier who doesn’t respect boundaries wants to redraw them.Restructuring local democracy requires consultation, because governance is about process as much as substance. And ...
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