A Tale Of "Two Cities"

905 takes its tax medicine

Miller fiddles, money burns
April 23, 2007
Royson James

Toronto residents are sure to face tax shock by the end of the decade – a drastic hike in user fees and taxes to catch up on decades of underfunding. The surprise is that most are sleepwalking toward the abyss.

The quiet descent into near-bankruptcy is a deliberate strategy by Mayor David Miller and the ruling New Democrats at city hall. The bankruptcy isn't deliberate, of course. But the strategy of underplaying its dangers – of governing as if there is a viable plan to right the ship – is a carefully studied one.

If it succeeds, it will go down as one of the boldest and shrewdest political moves in Canadian history. If it fails, well, we all pay.

It started when Miller ran for mayor in 2003. His fiscal plan was laughable. He planned to balance the budget by getting money from Queen's Park. We bought it, or ignored it because we liked his other attributes.

Miller won and governed as if his wish list of provincial bailouts would be filled.

Even though Premier Dalton McGuinty sent buckets of cash and loads of praise and heaps of sympathy Toronto's way, the wish list remains unfilled. Why? Because the list is so long and so unrealistic.

Take this year's budget, for example. Even before it started, Miller had a post-dated cheque for $165 million. He got it in 2006 with a note from the province that this is budgetary aid for 2007. Subsequent to that, the province amended the amount to more than $200 million.

Still, Toronto entered this budget cycle stating a claim to a further $71 million. And when that didn't materialize, the Miller party masterminded a legal court challenge that threatens to damage a fairly good relationship between the McGuinty Liberals and the Millerites.

What exactly is the beef and why the strategy?

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