TORONTO?-? Mayor Rob Ford lost his deputy mayor Thursday night but helped the provincial Progressive Conservatives gain a foothold in Toronto.
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Doug Holyday won the Etobicoke-Lakeshore byelection Thursday beating out fellow Councillor Peter Milczyn. It's the lone Tory win among the five byelections.
Holyday's win over the Liberals comes with a helping hand from the mayor and his brother Councillor Doug Ford. Mayor Ford - who campaigned hard for Holyday - downplayed the role Ford Nation had in the win.
"The Fords aren't taking any credit for this whatsoever, we just helped out a friend and Doug (Holyday) did all the work," he said.
Ford was out pushing for Holyday right to the end on Thursday but he was confident he can still work with Premier Kathleen Wynne.
While he said the message from Thursday night's Tory win in Etobicoke is for Wynne to "get her act together", Ford thought he can still work with the Liberal government after the bitter byelection battle over the two Toronto ridings.
The summer byelections saw the Fords feud feverishly and publicly with the governing Liberals. In the final week, Mayor Ford campaigned openly for the PCs and compared the Liberals to bank robbers.
"(In) politics you lay everything on the table, after that it is over, you shake hands and get on with business," Ford said. "I sent a message to the hardworking people of this city and I think we did that."
Ford said he still "absolutely" wants Milczyn on his executive committee.
"He's a great guy," he said. "Unfortunately, he just chose the wrong party to run for."
With Holyday's exit, Mayor Ford will appoint Councillor Norm Kelly to take over as deputy mayor. That will likely open up a position on Ford's executive committee for another councillor to take over the chairmanship of the government management committee that Kelly currently chairs.
Council will have to decide whether to appoint someone to fill the empty council seat or hold a byelection. The mayor said he wants a byelection as soon as possible.
Standing on the stage with Holyday Thursday night, PC leader Tim Hudak heralded his newest MPP for cleaning up the mess at City Hall.
"Now he is going to clean up the mess at Queen's Park and put Ontario back on track," Hudak said.
Councillor Doug Ford said the mayor's administration proved Wynne's government can't push them around.
"We're there to work with them but we can't be bullied by Queen's Park and that's what they've been doing with us," he said. "Up to Ford Fest (in Scarborough last month) they were bullying us on subways, before that they took $150 million from the most vulnerable people in Toronto without a phone call.
"We want to work with them but we aren't going to bow down to them."
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Source: http://www.torontosun.com/2013/08/01/rob-ford-says-he-can-work-with-wynne-post-byelection
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