Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti says he is planning to table an emergency motion to get Doug Ford appointed as the next representative for Ward 2, Etobicoke North.
The mayor’s office has previously said that council will wait until their next meeting on May 3 to officially declare Rob Ford’s seat vacant but Mammoliti told CP24 on Friday afternoon that he is planning to pre-empt that move by tabling an emergency motion of his own at the same meeting to get him appointed to the post.
Mammoliti’s says his reason for doing so is to ensure that Ward 2 residents have proper representation when a report that is expected to propose major changes to Toronto’s existing ward boundaries comes before executive committee on May 24.
“How does a review take place when the representative is in the hospital with cancer and how does it come out for a debate when that representative passes away. Is it an attempt to get rid of Ward 2 and Ford Nation because if it is I have a lot of questions as to why,” Mammoliti said.
Last August a city-commissioned consultant’s report found that the existing ward boundaries are “unbalanced” and put forward five options for how the wards could be redrawn to create greater voter parity.
The options ranged from redrawing the boundaries for the 44-exisitng wards to creating 58 smaller wards or 38 larger wards.
Speaking with CP24, Mammoliti said that he fears holding a byelection for Ford’s seat would mean that Ward 2 residents won’t have a voice when council begins discussing the final staff report on electoral boundaries later this spring.
“Making it vacant in May equates to an actual byelection perhaps in the fall. I don’t think we can wait that long. Not given this potential change in ward boundaries,” he said. “I think we need to do this right away.”
Doug Ford served as councillor for Ward 2 during his brother’s mayoral tenure but in an interview with CP24 on Thursday he refused to say whether he would be interested in the job.
Mayor John Tory also poured cold water on Mammoliti’s call for an immediate appointment while speaking with reporters at city hall on Friday afternoon.
“I love Councillor Mammoliti because he can invent an emergency motion for any particular instance. The fact of the matter is that it is an important and urgent matter for us to get some representation for Ward 2 but there is an established process in place,” he said. “We will move ahead with that process and I say this without any disrespect to Councillor Mammoliti but his emergency motions will not speed that up.”
Once council declares Ford’s seat vacant they will have 60 days to decide whether to appoint someone to fill the seat or hold a by-election. If council opts to hold a byelection, the city clerk would then have another 60 days to set a nomination deadline for the byelection. Voters in Ward 2 would then head to the polls 45 days after that.
According to a spokesperson for the city, Mammoliti’s emergency motion to appoint Doug Ford as Ward 2 councillor would be technically feasible if he proceeds with it.
