The dust has yet to settle in Doug Ford‘s fight with Toronto city hall but he’s already setting his sights on what comes next.
In an interview with the West Block’s Mercedes Stephenson, the Ontario premier rejected criticism that he is using the “nuclear option” to bypass the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by using the notwithstanding clause to slash the size of Toronto city council. Ford said he plans to hold local governments’ feet to the fire to make sure they get projects like transit and infrastructure construction done.
READ MORE: Ontario PCs to hold Saturday sitting to speed up passage of Toronto council bill
“We’re going to actually hold people accountable,” he said, without specifying how exactly he plans to do so.
“We’re going to hold governments accountable in over 460 towns in this province to make sure they maximize their budgets in the best way they can to respect the taxpayers.”
WATCH BELOW: Public gallery shouts down Doug Ford, interrupts question period at Ontario Legislature
In July, Ford introduced a bill to cut the size of Toronto city council to 25 wards from 47.
That decision came as the municipal election campaign was already underway, causing critics to cry foul and accuse him of changing the rules mid-game.
READ MORE: Toronto council votes to challenge law that would slash wards amid election day uncertainty
Legal challenges quickly emerged and in a decision last week, a judge ruled against Ford’s plan to cut the council size in the middle of an election, saying it violated candidates’ rights to freedom of expression.
In response, Ford said the judge was thwarting the will of the people and announced he would use the notwithstanding clause to override the ruling.
WATCH BELOW: Trudeau backs Toronto City Council in legal fight with Doug Ford
Late last week, he reintroduced the bill to cut council size at Queen’s Park, prompting protests that resulted in citizens being barred from the public viewing galleries and NDP MPs being removed from their seats in the chamber.
Ford dismissed criticism of the bill, saying his critics were just concerned with saving their friends’ jobs.
“My opposition, they’re protecting downtown NDP jobs, politicians’ jobs. That’s all they’re worried about,” he said. “Protecting their friends’ jobs and specifically, NDP downtown councilors.”
Toronto city council is not made up of official political parties the way Queen’s Park or the House of Commons are.
Candidates run as individuals and the divides between them typically break down along urban and suburban lines.
COMMENTARY: Doug Ford dropped a constitutional bomb by invoking notwithstanding clause
Ford, who was formerly a councillor from Etobicoke when he sat on Toronto city council, frequently butted heads with the councillors representing urban wards on issues like public transit and bike lanes.
Since being elected, he has been accused of using his premiership as a “settling of accounts” against those who opposed him while he was a councillor.
But Ford said that’s not the case.
“I’ve sat down at city council and we’ve debated shark fin soup for 12 hours. You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said.
“We need a partner we can work with, not a partner that is dysfunctional. City hall is the most dysfunctional arena in the entire country.”