Will we see council and city unions taking some of those thousand cuts? I doubt it......
T.O. Warns Residents: Big Service Cuts Coming
Picture the City of Toronto with fewer police officers patrolling the streets, reduced garbage collection days and weeds running rampant in the parks. Not a pretty picture? It could be the one coming into focus, as Toronto City Council contemplates making drastic cuts to compensate for the tax hikes that failed to go through in last month's big budget vote.
Those in charge are bracing for a coming report outlining which services could be gored as the "billfighters" at City Hall take drastic measures to keep T.O. from going broke. "You name it, you'll see less of it," warns Councillor Adam Vaughan. "Parks. Lighting in the streets. Action on crackhouses. Action on daycare centres. School pools. All of it is at risk. Every single thing is at risk!"
The worst case scenario ranges from cutting the number of police to stopping some bus and subway service. The best outcome - there could be fewer flowers planted around town, reductions to trash pickups, shorter hours at pools, and cutbacks to snow clearing. Councillors are worried about just what's on the chopping block. "It's like death by a thousand cuts, and that's what I'm really concerned of," admits Etobicoke Centre's Gloria Lindsay-Luby.
The mayor's not looking forward to the bad news, either. "It's very, very regrettable, you know," David Miller emotes, after losing a battle to impose land transfer and motor vehicle levies. "We need to invest in this city, not cut. It needs investment. But at the moment we have no choice."
Miller blames the province for not contributing its fair share and urges voters to make it a campaign issue in the October election. Still, not everyone's buying the 'gloom and doom-it's not our fault' scenario. "Complete fear mongering to threaten to close a subway, to close a park and to close the libraries," fumes Councillor Karen Stintz. "Those aren't the kind of thoughtful strategies that this public is looking for."
She believes blaming Queen's Park is just a deflection of the real problem - profligate and out of control spending at City Hall. But the mayor has his own warning for residents - things will get a lot worse until Ontario pays up. And so far, the powers that be have shown no intention of doing anything close to that.
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