Can't There Be A Happy Median

To many Toronto councilors $53K office budget is chump change but the reality is we are talking about an expenditure of over $2 million and I wonder if each councilor reduced his spending by $10K whether we could find a use for the $400K; ie: keep a food bank in Parkdale open, buy sports equipment for a few of those 1 in 5 kids who can't afford to play organized sports, give 33 single parent mothers a rent supplement so they can move their families out of subsidized housing, etc. You are way off base Ken.........

Public can't see the forest for the trees in Toronto

There's no accounting for creativity

Column, Dec. 9
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Former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray's luminous analysis of how the public's obsession with government accountability is killing creativity and economic growth in Canada should be a wake-up call. This misguided ideology is abundant in Toronto. While I'm as disgusted as anyone with bad decisions made by city councillors, the reactive public demand for ever more scrutiny is understandable but painfully short-sighted.

When we tell city councillors that we care about every single penny of their office expenses, we send the very clear message that councillors ought to be focusing on their $50,000 office budget rather than the city's $7.8 billion operating budget.

As it is, our councillors are already far too obsessed with minutia – accomplishing tiny successes like countdown pedestrian signals rather than crucial platforms such as economic development initiatives to attract and maintain employment in the city.

Toronto is going through the biggest condo development boom in its history, yet it has the lowest development charges in the GTA – a stunning missed opportunity to capture much-needed infrastructure capital to build the very road and transit improvements that are needed to support new development.

Do we really want our councillors fretting over postage costs rather than infrastructure financing? The more we back councillors in a corner about renting bunny suits, the less we should expect of them when it comes to innovation and city-building.

Toronto's council needs to find its way so it can inspire business and residents to build a great city. Councillors who aren't able to contribute to the growth and well-being of our city ought to be replaced by their constituents. But let's make that judgment call based on overall results without second-guessing their day-to-day spending. Canada's largest city needs leaders, not misers.

Do you think we could clone Glen Murray 44 times?
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Ken Ferguson, Toronto