Ford government ‘may not be good for Toronto:’ Coun. Wong-Tam

Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam is already expressing concerns over the new provincial government, saying Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet has very little downtown Toronto representation.

Only two members of the PC cabinet, Ford (Etobicoke North) and Raymond Cho (Scarborough North), represent the city, and Wong-Tam believes Toronto needs a stronger presence at Queen’s Park.

“For us in the City of Toronto, we have very significant needs,” she said. “We’ll be there once again to advocate for the things that we are looking for, but not having advocates supporting and actively knowing our files is going to be a concern.”

Wong-Tam worked with Ford when he was a councillor during his brother Rob’s tumultuous tenure as mayor. The Toronto Centre-Rosedale councillor wasn’t impressed with what she saw.

“He does not pay attention to the details — that has been my experience,” she said from Queen’s Park on Friday as Ford was sworn in. “He will make lofty statements. He will just project out there and declare everything as if it was going to be happening. And someone else has got to clean up the mess.

“During the four years that I worked with his brother (Rob), it was chaotic. And (Doug Ford) was on the floor of council (in) the middle of all that chaos.

“My experience with Premier Ford is it may not be good for Toronto.”

Ford also ran against John Tory in a failed mayoral bid and often berated and belittled Tory on the campaign trail.

But campaign strategist Amanda Galbraith doesn’t believe there’s any lingering bad blood that could affect the political relationship between the premier and mayor.

Galbraith told CityNews that Tory has already met with Ford privately and that the two text and speak regularly.

“I think the one thing we’ve seen from the mayor during his time in office, be it Harper in Ottawa or Trudeau, or Premier Wynne and now Premier Ford, he’s been able to reach across the aisle and work with those people for the better of the city.”

Galbraith also countered Wong-Tam’s fears that Ford would be bad for Toronto.

“People may not believe in Premier Ford’s vision of Toronto, (but) he was a Toronto politician and understands the city.”

Tory tweeted out his congratulations to Premier Ford on Friday, saying he is “committed to working with” him and his ministers “to get things done for the people of Toronto.”

Ford and Tory will have to work together closely to achieve Toronto’s ambitious transit plans.

While campaigning, Ford promised $5 billion more than what has already been allocated to build a regional transportation system, including subways, relief lines, and two-way GO Transit to Niagara Falls.

He also vowed the province would absorb responsibility for building and maintaining Toronto subway lines, leaving the TTC responsible for day-to-day operations.