Just when Giorgio Mammoliti was becoming a bit predictable via his support of all things Ford, the York-West councillor is shaking things up. In light of expected job cuts for city employees — the Fire Department and EMS have been asked to trim their budgets by 10 per cent — Mammoliti's stance represents a rare departure from the mayor's program to reduce city-spending.

"[I] will not be recommending any grassroots layoffs, you can count on that," Mammoliti told the Globe. "If there are any cuts, they will not result in job losses for grassroots firefighters or paramedics. I will not let that happen."

In fact, Mammoliti wants more EMS workers for Toronto. "We are short of paramedics and as a result they are burning themselves out," he argued. "Sometimes we don't have enough vehicles to respond to all the calls. We need to hire more."