Voter Unity? Too Bad It Didn't Occur At The Polls

City trying to strong-arm citizens on taxes
May 10, 2007
Judith Andrew

Revenue tools are taxes and no amount of doublespeak will change that. And, as the City of Toronto discovered Monday night, asking two very narrow questions does not constitute proper public consultation.

The city's consultation on new taxes got off to a rocky start when participants refused to be shoehorned into a meeting format that offered no chance for discussion or dissent. A little planning and consideration on the city's part could have avoided what turned out to be a tense and unpleasant exercise.

In his presentation, Toronto's chief financial officer Joe Pennechetti assured us the city reduces spending with every budget. Some of those savings must have been in communications because this was a textbook example of how not to conduct public consultation. It left participants feeling that the city had no real interest in their views.

Organized on only a couple of days notice, the meeting provided no opportunity to ask questions and restricted public comments to answering two questions: Which new taxes should be imposed and where should the money be spent? Participants rebelled and forced two public discussion periods onto the agenda.

Torontonians are deeply concerned about the state of their city's finances and more than willing to provide suggestions to solve the problems.

In return, they expect the city to demonstrate that money is being spent carefully. Many people I talked to Monday night had expected to discuss a range of options, including reducing spending and getting better value for the money that is spent.

They had arrived feeling skeptical about how their tax dollars were being spent, and, when they saw they were being asked to rubber stamp the city's plan, many refused to discuss taxes at all. If taxes – sorry, I refuse to call it revenue tools – were part of a broader discussion, the consultation could be much more productive.

Participants felt insulted that Mayor David Miller and other members of the executive committee did not attend the meeting. After all, they were all on hand when the City of Toronto Act was declared. Now that the act is being used in unpopular ways, most are nowhere to be found.

Toronto's elected officials showed a real lack of leadership in leaving their staff to face the brunt of taxpayer anger.

While the staff may work out the details for a budget or a taxation program, the spending priorities and decision to levy taxes are political choices.

The mayor and council need to stand up and take ownership of their decisions.

If I could offer the city some free public relations advice, I'd say: Torontonians do not appreciate being strong-armed into going along with your plans. If you continue to run your consultation process in such a ham-fisted way, you will rapidly lose what little public goodwill you now have.

Stop trying to rush this so-called consultation through in the summer months. Extend it into the fall and open up the discussion for alternatives to new taxes.

Torontonians are feeling jittery about the state of their city. They see businesses fleeing for the 905 region and are deeply concerned about the salary increases and tales of loose spending at city hall. Rightly or wrongly, they don't believe their city is being well managed and they need some real, concrete reassurance that every penny of their money is being well spent.

Monday night saw people from opposite ends of the political spectrum united in their opposition to new taxes.

If that isn't a message to try another way, I don't know what is.