The Candy Store Is Not Open In Ottawa

And at Queen's Park you have to have keys to the back door (Giving Comrade Miller additional taxing powers) therefore municipalities should refuse to accept responsibility for social services that are the responsibility of the province and the feds.

Still No Money For Cities As P.M. And Premier Meet
Thursday November 8, 2007
CityNews.ca Staff

Say it ain't so! Mississauga with the highest taxes in the GTA? After years of boasting no real increases, the citizens of McCallionville woke up Thursday to the stunning news that they were facing a 5 per cent hike in levies to keep their town afloat.

If that sounds suspiciously like the dilemma Toronto finds itself in, that's no coincidence. Mayors Hazel McCallion and David Miller put the blame on two places - Queen's Park and especially the federal government - for not sharing the wealth.

So you can imagine the reaction when both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Finance Minister Jim Flaherty came to town Thursday and promptly got inundated with questions about their alleged failures in supporting municipalities.

It's not a real surprise that the major mayors are pointing the finger at Ottawa. The feds are swimming in cash - a $14 billion surplus - but they're not inviting big cities like Toronto into the pool. Instead, Flaherty chose to reduce income taxes and the GST in his economic statement last month. But critics charge there was nary a dime for cities.

The Fin. Min. doesn't agree. "[We've committed] $33 billion over 7 years," he defends. "This is unprecedented. Once it's leveraged with the private sector, with municipalities, with the province, we'll be over $100 billion in infrastructure investment in Canada over the course of the next seven years."

In an afternoon speech in Toronto, the P.M. was equally adamant that the financial seas are all sailing along smoothly. "The fundamentals of the economy are as solid as the Canadian Shield," he proclaims.

That didn't sit well with Premier Dalton McGuinty. Even though Queen's Park is also hoarding a $2 billion surplus of its own - with not a lot coming to cities - he's also blaming Ottawa for the plight of the economic engines of the country. In a face-to-face meeting with Harper on Thursday, McGuinty openly asked his counterpart for the cash.

How did that go over? "I think it would be fair to say he was not receptive to that approach," the Liberal boss notes dryly.

But there's reason to hope Harper may change his mind if - or more likely when - an election is finally triggered. The federal Tories have failed to win a single seat in the 416 since 1988. And if Harper hopes to get his long desired majority, he's going to need the support of the very cities who feel he's ignoring them now.