Thread by @g_meslin

1. Can we talk a bit about the referendum that @JohnTory keeps circling back to? #TOpoli #Bill5

https://twitter.com/graphicmatt/status/1039258846764527616

@JohnTory 2. In Tory's letter to Ford: "I urge you to consider putting the process on hold to allow for a referendum so we can let the people speak.”

@JohnTory 3. Let the people speak...

Conveniently walking past the consultation that has taken place, devaluing the input of those who participated.

@JohnTory 4. So to remind @johntory, there have been not one, not two, but three rounds of consultation on ward boundaries.

Let's recap...

@JohnTory 5. Round 1.

July '14 - Jan '15.
910 total individuals involved.
192 attended public meetings.
608 responded to a survey.

@JohnTory 6. The round 1 survey tested a spectrum of ward sizes.

Only 22% of responses suggested fewer wards.
Only 8% indicated 22-25 wards.

@JohnTory 7. Round 2:

884 people engaged.
112 attended public meetings.
717 completes surveys submitted.

@JohnTory 8. In round two, five ward boundary scenarios were developed and tested:

Minimal change
44 wards
Small wards
Large wards
Natural boundaries

@JohnTory 9. While there wasn't an explicit 25-ward option in round 2, large (fewer) wards scored the lowest total ranked score of the five options..

@JohnTory 10. After Round 2, the consultant team recommended a 47-ward option.

Tory's Executive Committee sent them back to look at 44 and 25 wards.

@JohnTory 11. So we have Round 3:

613 individuals and groups participated.
90 attended public meetings.
485 survey responses received.

@JohnTory 12. Round 3 did NOT test the 47-ward option. It only explored 44 wards and wards matching fed/prov riding boundaries.

@JohnTory 13. In that 3rd round of narrowly-focused consultation, more respondents expressed concerns with federal riding-sized wards than liked them.

@JohnTory 14. Also worth noting that of 38 councillors interviewed in Round 3, only two were recordes as liking the federal riding boundary option.

@JohnTory 15. Three rounds of consultation. Involving near 2,500 people
Testing ward size preferences & specific options.
But let the people speak...

@JohnTory 16. And I'll again call back to Tory's Executive Committee, which when presented with a recommended 47-ward option, tried to find an out.

@JohnTory 17. And I'll also note that when the recommended 47-ward option came to Council, after 'the people spoke', @JohnTory voted against it.

@JohnTory 18. So let's be clear:
The proposed referendum isn't about giving people a voice - it's about the theatre of consultation.

@JohnTory 19. Let's be clear:
That theatre of consultation is meant to gloss over the inconvenient outcomes of the process that's already taken place.

@JohnTory 20. Let's be clear:
A referendum would never be undertaken with the up-front public education campaign necessary to make it meaningful.

@JohnTory 21. And let's be clear:
Tory isn't standing up for Toronto.
He's standing up for his interest in a more conservative and compliant Council.

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