On Thursday, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong announced he was going to make a motion to ask the province of Ontario to remove Rob Ford as mayor of Canada’s largest city.
As most everyone in the world knows by now, Ford has been involved in a major scandal since May when the American publication, Gawker, wrote there is a video showing the mayor smoking crack cocaine. During the last few days, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair announced police recovered a video during the course of an investigation that shows what Gawker claims and what two Toronto Star reporters say they saw—the mayor of Toronto with a pipe in his mouth, appearing to smoke crack.
Minnan-Wong intends to put his motion forward later this week. Perhaps Denzil should really be named Dunsel. Fans of the original Star Trek series will recall “dunsel” is a word the Federation uses to describe someone or something that has no function or useful purpose.
Under The Constitution Act, 1867, powers are given to the federal government and the provinces. Municipalities have no inherent powers; they can only do what the province specifically allows them to do.
So the province can indeed remove Rob Ford as mayor of Toronto by a simple majority vote. But the question is why would Dunsel even ask them to?
So far, Premier Kathleen Wynne has intimated she is not inclined to take such action. And so she shouldn’t. Despite the constant barrage of people telling Ford to resign or step aside and get some help, the sun is still rising in the east, setting in the west, the garbage is still being collected, every other street is broken up by construction and the still of the night is disturbed by the sounds of sirens emanating from police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances. Although Dunsel is being accused of seeking publicity, the motion is proof positive he and his fellow travellers are simply incapable of doing their jobs.
It is true Ford cannot be removed for anything he had done concerning drugs and alcohol under current legislation. A councillor can only be removed if they end up sentenced to a period of incarceration. Being charged with an offence or even convicted is not enough to get rid of a member of council. But the province does have the power to change the rules.
The kiddie counsellors should be careful about what they wish for; they just might get it. When the Liberal government at Queen’s Park decides to do something, they cannot control themselves. Their addiction to spending other peoples’ money far surpasses any addiction Ford as or might have. And once the Liberals started imposing their nanny state vision on Ontarians, like the Energizer bunny, the government kept going and going and going.
If the province does follow Dunsel’s advice, they may not stop at simply removing the mayor. And there is evidence that the provincial government might be justified in getting rid of the city’s municipal government altogether and simply run Toronto from the legislature.
Although the city is functioning, since the Ford scandal intensified with the mayor’s admission of smoking crack, the dysfunctional council has become more so. And the problems they have are in no way related to Ford himself.
Instead of doing their jobs, many councillors are spending way too much time telling the media over and over and over and over again that Ford should resign or at least step aside and get some help. Some of them, particularly his political enemies, are going way out of their way to point out they are only telling him to get help because they care about him. That anyone thinks Ford should go and get help is not even news anymore. The city mothers make these comments because they have an exaggerated view of their own importance. Ford may eventually take a leave of absence and seek treatment but it won’t be because the councillors and the mostly left wing media keep telling him he should.
And what does city council have planned in the next little while? Other than moaning on that Ford should quit, they have Dunsel’s motion asking the province to act. Minnan-Wong also has a motion filed asking Ford to resign or step aside. If passed, the mayor can ignore it but it makes Dunsel feel good.
Councillor John Filion also has a motion to strip Ford of his power to appoint and dismiss committee chairs and members of his executive committee. This is a power the previous administration fought for and was finally granted in 2006. Ford won’t be mayor forever and those who are in favour of this will one day regret it. This motion’s passage will be more proof to the premier and the government that the boys and girls at city hall simply cannot do what they are supposed to do.
Rob Ford is not a joke—the entire council is a joke. The mayor is merely the punch line.
