After a month of intense politicking, Toronto council yesterday set the stage for November's civic election by splitting the city's 22 federal-provincial ridings into 44 new municipal wards.
The changes reduce the number of councillors from 57 to 44, and even though some councillors are not going to run again, some will have to defeat other councillors in order to get re-elected, a situation that will pit election-day rivals against each other on the council floor in the coming months.
"There is going to be a complete change in the attitude of the politicians, the way that friends turn against each other, and that's what's going to happen," Mayor Mel Lastman said after the all-day meeting.
The final year of council could be rancorous, Mr. Lastman said, even though there are major issues to deal with, such as the budget.
"The meetings could be very strange in the future, and hopefully, we can control them. . . . We have to get the city's business done."
The election lineup for November will become clear over the next few weeks. Once the new boundaries are passed into law by the province, councillors will be able to file for election in the new wards.
Some councillors will enjoy an advantage in that their prospective wards will encompass a good portion of their existing ones, while others will be forced to scramble for a new home.
The political strains that this has caused were evident in the debate over the boundaries.
Councillor Kyle Rae launched an attack on his NDP colleague Pam McConnell over the proposal, later adopted by council, to split the Toronto Centre-Rosedale riding in a way that combines Rosedale with his political base in the gay community around Wellesley and Church Streets.
Mr. Rae said that the new boundary was selected only because Ms. McConnell had gone "weeping and sobbing" to other councillors in an attempt to keep Rosedale out of her ward. "Councillor McConnell cannot get elected if she has to run in Rosedale," he said.
Ms. McConnell said the new boundary was selected because it kept the gay community and Cabbagetown intact.
Ms. McConnell, one of council's chief advocates for the poor, said Rosedale should not be included with the poor parts of the city she represents. "Rosedale has less in common with St. James Town and Regent Park than any other area of the city."
Before the meeting, the council's administration committee had agreed on the division of all but three ridings: Eglinton-Lawrence, St. Paul's and Scarborough Centre. In the end, they were each split into east and west halves along a major street.