Toronto councillors prove why they need their walking papers

I’d laugh if it didn’t make me want to cry.

Proving they really need to be shrunk from 47 to 25 councillors — and that most care little about anything but saving their political skins — the politicians at Toronto City Hall spent 6.5 hours altogether railing against Premier Doug Ford’s decision to downsize Toronto council.

Then they voted to support Mayor John Tory’s motion for a binding referendum 28-13 on the downsizing initiative, as well as a motion put forward on his behalf by Paula Fletcher to ask the city solicitor and her minions to spend (whatever time they need it seems) to explore the “constitutionality and validity” of the provincial legislation.

That legislation was tabled by Ford early Monday afternoon amid angry outbursts from NDP leader Andrea Horwath and her caucus.

According to Tory’s spokesman Don Peat, the mayor has been “clear” the process has not been fair or right and that the move should be paused until 2022 (when he is out of the picture or course.)

It didn’t take long for the self-preservationists to go off the rails when council began its session Monday. It happened right after Stephen Holyday put forward a motion that expressed support for the province’s plan.

It was as if he unleashed the hounds.

NDPer Fletcher kept trying to gang up on him, (retiring) Janet Davis berated him  and Anthony Perruzza, who with any hope will become obsolete under the new plan, repeated more than once in a highly professional and mature manner that Holyday was egged on by his “daddy” (the very capable Doug Holyday, former deputy mayor and MPP) to support the move.

“This action is distasteful to me … this is a decision council gets to make (and) not because Stephen and his ‘daddy’ wrote a letter to the premier,” Perruzza hissed, insisting with a smaller council no one will be around to take care of barking dogs or to fix curbs.

His comment was absurd because he and his colleagues don’t take care of barking dogs and curbs now.

Nevertheless, Holyday was cool throughout, and got very reasoned support from the likes of Glen DeBaeremaker (yes reasoned support,) Vince Cristani, Justin DiCiano and a few others, which seemed to get Perruzza agitated even more to the point where speaker Frances Nunziata almost recessed council to cool things down at 2:45 p.m. and nearly threw him out an hour later.

He wasn’t the only one to engage in theatrics.

Gord Perks, his voice near hysterical, suggested that Ford’s motive was to see councillors “fight amongst themselves” while he guts services. He told whatever leftists were watching him that he will always “protect the people” and that they all needed to get on the streets to fight this.

For heaven’s sake, Gord, is there anything more self-serving than admitting that councillors will “fight amongst themselves” or speaking with more passion about saving one’s political skin than about the terrible gun violence that has gripped the city?

Mary-Margaret McMahon, seeming rather unhinged, has probably done herself a great service by agreeing not to run again. She complained in the loudest voice I’ve heard her use in four years that she’s so busy she’s “never home” and her dog is friendlier with the postman” than her.

“I am suffering from a borderline heart attack,” she said, claiming she’s so busy, she has to bike or even hitch hike to events in her ward.

It was truly Theatre of the Absurd — and absurdly enough they gave the public every reason to axe council.

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