From time to time there are rumblings about Toronto separating from the province of Ontario. In the last provincial election a candidate even ran on such a platform.
The frustration that gives birth to such musings is real and justified. But it is hardly helpful to the cause – securing proper funding for Toronto and other cities buffeted by the financial burden of paying city costs and provincial costs from property taxes.
Mayors and reeves across Ontario have a much more potent weapon to help communicate years of underfunding and disrespect. They can speak directly to their constituents during this provincial election and urge them to Vote Welland, Vote North Bay, Vote Coboconk, Vote Toronto. In other words, think about your town, your city, yourself as you vote Oct. 10. Be a bit selfish, for once.
Put in the language of the Green movement that has captured so many imaginations worldwide, Think globally, vote locally.
Politicians often do us and themselves a disservice by practising the art of divide and conquer. They promise one thing here and something different over there. They pit one cause against the other, neighbour against neighbour. But the campaign for fairness in the way the province treats and funds municipalities is one that should unite Ontario cities and towns, not divide them.
Toronto's fiscal plight gets headline billing on the pages of the Star for reasons that often obscure the fact Toronto's money problems stem from the same source and have the same effect as those in Ottawa or Kingston or Kapuskasing.
The main reason for the money problem is a wrongheaded policy decision by the province to fix its own budget by dumping provincial costs onto cities and towns. Almost all Ontario cities and towns have been affected over the more than two decades of this oppressive policy. Some are slightly pinched; others are being crushed. We are all in the same overcrowded boat.
Toronto gets the focus because the impact of provincial downloading is most acutely felt here. People in need of social services in small-town Ontario often travel to the big city. More immigrants migrate to city than country. Because the impact of downloading is so great in Toronto, politicians scream the loudest here, the hurts are often felt soonest and, with the greatest concentration of media this side of New York, the cause gets airtime and front-page treatment.
The next five weeks give all Ontarians a great opportunity to demand this crushing policy be fixed before the start of the next decade. The fixes Toronto seeks will address the very ills of Sudbury and Chatham. And the way to secure them is for all urban areas to rise up with one chorus for change.
You may recall how Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion urged her city's voters to compare the record of the Mike Harris Conservatives with the promises of the Dalton McGuinty Liberals and vote according to the city's needs? The result was a political flogging for the Tories in Mississauga.
Now, imagine that across the province, if all mayors actively request their citizens to compare the three main parties and vote for the one with the best, realistic city/town-friendly platform?
The message? The provincial government cannot record billions of dollars in surplus while forcing your city or town to pay for welfare, housing and other provincial expenditures. On this, there is no animosity between Toronto and the rest of the province.
So, Vote Toronto. This may be one time that a selfish Toronto is good for the rest of Ontario.
Royson James usually appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
No comments:
Post a Comment