City council has voted overwhelmingly in favour of stripping Mayor Rob Ford of many of his powers, effectively reducing his role to that of a figurehead.
After a lengthy debate Monday afternoon, council voted 36-5 in favour of a wide-ranging motion that will slash Ford's office budget and remove him as chair of the executive committee. The vote also stripped Ford of his right to speak first or last at council and removed him as a defacto member of all committees.
"The powers and responsibilities normally assigned to the office of mayor have for the most part been transferred to Norm Kelly,” Coun. John Parker told CP24 following the vote. “This whole thing is a terrible thing and it is awful that it was brought upon us, but we acted on it and hopefully we can move on.”
Under the terms of the motion, the office of the mayor's remaining budget of about $1.3 million will be reallocated to the city clerk's office with oversight from Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly. Ford's reduced budget will be set at $95,000 for the rest of 2013 and $712,000 in 2014, plus the mayor's salary and benefits. Kelly will become chair of the executive committee and assume responsibility for the hiring and firing of staff. Ford's staff will be given the choice of being transferred to the city clerk's office.
"This is a sad time for democracy," Coun. Doug Ford told reporters following the vote. "I am calling on the people of Toronto to rise up and we will fight against this."
Other councillors felt differently.
“It’s not undemocratic," Coun. John Filion said of the vote. "It was done by a democratically elected council who combined got more votes than the mayor. And we exercised the powers that we're given to deal with a situation like we’re facing.
“What’s important is he’s lost the ability to bully councillors into shape (and) he’s lost the ability to control or sabotage the agenda," Filion added. "On a positive note, he’s caused members of council to start working together more.”
“Our job here is not to take care of the mayor’s personal life," Coun. Adam Vaughan added. "It’s not about us staging an intervention or conducting a group therapy session – our job here is to build a city with resilient neighbourhoods that support strong families so that we don’t end up with more Rob Fords in Toronto.”
While the motion removes most of Ford's powers given to him by way of city bylaws he retains his statutory powers, including the ability to declare an emergency, should such a situation arise.
Prior to the vote, Ford delivered an impassioned speech in which he lashed out at fellow councillors for trying to overthrow democracy and promised a "war" if they voted in favour of the motion.
Ford has threatened to take legal action against council and Doug Ford told reporters earlier Monday that individual councillors will be named in any lawsuit.
"This is nothing more than a coup d'état," Rob Ford said. "If you vote in favour (of the motion) you are telling everybody that their vote does not count."
The temporary measures will last until Nov. 30, 2014, the end of council’s current four-year term, and would not carry over if Ford is re-elected.
Meeting gets heated
Earlier Monday the meeting was temporarily put on hold after Ford and his councillor brother got into a heated argument with a number of people sitting in the public gallery.
Speaker Frances Nunziata ordered a 10-minute recess after the bizarre incident, in which Mayor Rob Ford and Coun. Doug Ford left their seats and got into some sort of argument with members of the public observing the meeting, who then chanted "shame" in the direction of the Ford brothers.
Previous to the exchange Ford bumped into Coun. Pam McConnell as he made his way toward the crowd, knocking the downtown councillor off her feet.
Ford later apologized to McConnell when asked to do so by Coun. Paula Fletcher.
Fletcher had told the chamber that McConnell suffered a "fat lip" as a result of the incident.
“I ran around because I thought my brother was getting into an altercation," Ford said. "Absolutely, I am sorry."
At the conclusion of the recess, Nunziata threatened to kick the public and the media out of council chambers if they caused any further disturbance.
Mayor makes drinking-and-driving gesture
At one point in the meeting, the mayor’s brother, Coun. Doug Ford, traded barbs with Coun. Paul Ainslie.
During that exchange, Rob Ford looked at Ainslie and made a mocking gesture to suggest he was drinking and driving.
Earlier this year, Ainslie was stopped by a RIDE spot check and given a warning that forced him to surrender his driver’s licence for three days.
Last week, Ford himself admitted he may have driven after consuming alcohol.
Before the meeting, Ford's staff circulated a letter from his lawyer, George Rust-D'Eye, who explained the grounds for a court challenge. Rust-D'Eye said the motion infringes upon statutory powers that cannot be taken away from the mayor.
"I respectfully submit that the council should not exercise its administrative powers in such a way so as to interfere with or infringe the statutory powers and responsibilities of its mayor," Rust-D'Eye wrote in the letter.
Rust-D'Eye said the Toronto Party for a Better City is willing to intervene and support the mayor's position in court.
City solicitor Anna Kinastowski disagreed with the letter, saying the motion doesn’t interfere with the mayor's statutory duties. The city has retained an outside law firm because it may face legal action.
Councillors who are spearheading the effort have been advised by the city's solicitor on the types of powers they can and cannot take away from Ford, and they are confident they are not overstepping their authority.
Rust D'Eye wrote a similar letter that was circulated Friday before council voted overwhelmingly to strip Ford of his ability to appoint and dismiss the deputy mayor and standing committee chairs, and remove most of his powers in an emergency situation.
The mayor’s brother claimed council’s bylaws are illegal.
“They’re going to lose in court, they’re going to lose with public opinion,” Doug Ford said of the councillors who vote in favour of the motions. “We’ll be taking (legal) action against the city … and each and every city councillor that breaks the law.”
Doug Ford suggested his brother’s opponents are going after him for his personal issues because they can’t touch his agenda or record at city hall.
“This is what you see in third-world nations, you don’t see this in Canada,” Doug Ford said. “We’re talking about a third-world nation overthrow here.”
He said the matter should be directed to the city's integrity commissioner instead.
Opponents 'don't like me saving money': Ford
Before the meeting, a fired-up Ford said the effort to limit his powers is a “coup d’état” and a slap in the face to Torontonians.
“The voters’ democracy is being trampled on,” Ford told AM640 host John Oakley.
The mayor claimed his opponents’ effort to weaken his influence on city business is in retaliation to his penny-pinching agenda at city hall.
“They don’t like me saving money, that’s the bottom line,” Ford said during his radio interview. “They don’t get all their free trips anymore … the party’s over and they know it’s over and they are livid.”
Several councillors dismissed Ford's claim.
“That’s just Rob Ford trying to change the channel,” Coun. John Parker said. “As the mayor spirals downward he’s not taking the rest of us with him.”
One-time ally Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong said the effort is in response to Ford’s admissions to smoking crack cocaine, buying illegal drugs within the last two years and driving after consuming alcohol, and making crude sexual comments on live TV, in addition to the mayor's associations with alleged gang members or drug dealers.
“This is about embarrassing the city,” Minnan-Wong told CP24 reporter Katie Simpson. “He’s the worst spokesman for the City of Toronto right now. It’s not about his agenda. I support his agenda. It’s about his conduct and his embarrassing comments right in front of the mayor’s office where he used the most vulgar of languages that couldn’t be repeated, where he reached a low for politicians across this country.”
Coun. Karen Stintz, who has declared her intention to run for mayor in 2014, said the mayor has broken the public trust and council is not taking the extraordinary measures lightly.
Before Monday’s special meeting, council resumed its regularly-scheduled meeting that began Wednesday and was interrupted by two special meetings Friday.
Shortly after the regular meeting resumed, Speaker Frances Nunziata asked Coun. Josh Matlow to leave after he refused to apologize for accusing Ford of obstructing council business during the drawn-out meeting.
Council voted 29-9 to allow Matlow to return but the debate didn't end. Coun. Adam Vaughan accused Ford of grandstanding and stalling the meeting.
Ford says support is still strong
The polarizing mayor dismissed recent opinion polls that suggest his popularity has dropped and a majority of Torontonians would not vote for him if an election were held today.
Ford suggested support for him is still strong, pointing to the reception he received in the stands at Sunday’s CFL playoff game between the Argonauts and Tiger-Cats.
“It was pandemonium,” said Ford, adding he wasn’t intending to toot his own horn. “If people hate me so much they wouldn’t be climbing over each other to get a picture or autograph.”
Stintz said Ford’s account of how he was received at the game is one-sided because there were people who didn’t want him there.
“He’s a celebrity for all the wrong reasons,” Stintz told reporters.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Ford said he one day wants to run for prime minister.
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