TORONTO (Torstar) -- Lacking a reliable map, and even a real destination, Toronto’s executive committee is embarking on a sweeping cost-cutting exercise that could profoundly damage the character of this city. Despite the gravity of what’s at stake, the process has been hasty, vague and devoid of vision.

Councillors are being asked to reshape Toronto in a fog, without any clear conception of what sort of community is likely to emerge when the downsizing is over.

That should worry anyone who uses municipal services, but especially those who rely on them the most — children, the destitute, the sick, the vulnerable and the working poor. They beyond all others are at risk as the committee meets Thursday to consider what to chop.

On the block are services that include libraries, public health programs, breakfasts for hungry children, police, school crossing guards, grants for arts and culture, drug prevention programs and bus routes.

Mayor Rob Ford and his backers dismiss the implications of that agenda, pointing out that not all the cuts being proposed need be carried out. They describe their goal as merely finding “efficiencies.”

But it’s not so simple. Context is essential. A program’s efficiency depends on its purpose, not just its cost. For example, Councillor Doug Ford has little use for libraries so he has indicated that closing a branch in his ward would be a worthwhile money-saver. But if the city were serious about giving disadvantaged children every opportunity to thrive, closing an Etobicoke library serving such kids would be an exceedingly inefficient way to proceed.

That critical context is utterly missing as the executive committee settles in to debate what services to axe. The city did hire a consultant, KPMG, in March with instructions to review Toronto’s operations. But KPMG was required to report in July and was paid $350,000 — a fraction of what an in-depth analysis would have cost. The result is a shopping list of programs deemed non-essential, without any real recommendation on just where to cut. Sorting through that is now up to city councillors working in a policy void.

The only vision motivating the Fords appears to be penny-pinching — a better city is one that’s cheaper to administer. Period. Full stop.

But that’s not how most Torontonians live in this city, and how they assess their community’s worth. Services matter to people — as members of the Ford administration will soon discover as the cost-cutting they put in motion comes closer to slicing into valued programs.

Well over 130 speakers have asked to address the executive committee on the cuts. No doubt the vast majority will make a powerful case for preserving services they regard as essential. Pressure will surely build before the full city council, at a crucial meeting in September, finally decides on cuts.

The Fords have dismissed such opposition as the work of union agitators and assorted municipal freeloaders who are eager to pocket public money. They don’t seem to grasp that people have every right to worry about recalibrating Toronto’s goals and priorities without deeper discussion about what sort of city will result.

Providing that overall vision should have been the first — and essential — step, had the Fords been serious about building a city that is both better and cost-effective. Instead, council finds itself contemplating service cuts that the mayor, less than a year ago, explicitly promised not to make. No wonder people are upset.

Toronto today has a well-deserved reputation as a safe, green, creative city where innovation thrives; where immigrants and the disadvantaged are offered protection; and where people of diverse backgrounds have to come together to forge a strong community. That’s not to say that improvements can’t be made. There’s certainly scope for more efficiency at city hall. But let’s not mistake the deep service cuts put before the executive committee for progress. They represent an attack on what’s made Toronto great.

It may be too much to expect members of Ford’s hand-picked executive committee to stand up vigorously for the city. But council as a whole will get its chance to challenge this agenda and save what’s best about Toronto when it considers cutbacks in the fall. Those with the community’s best interests at heart must speak up.