A Message That Falls On Deaf Ears Of City Mayors

THERE IS ONLY ONE TAXPAYER and if you gave him a fair shake at the municipal level he/she might be more supportive of having the province/federal governments tive more to municipalities. Bring your operating costs under control, have services provided in a more competitive manner, reduce office expenses, get rid of job for life clauses in union agreements, etc.

Dion's rejection stings
June 05, 2007

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion have little in common, but regrettably they stand united in rejecting a call by mayors of Canada's largest cities for a share of the federal Goods and Services Tax.

Harper's lack of support was expected given his government's hostility to the urban agenda. Dion's slap, though, has more sting because urban advocates have come to expect more from the Liberal party.

Under former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin, the government gave cities a share of the federal gasoline tax, freed municipalities from having to pay the GST on their purchases and dramatically increased funding for public transit. In light of that record, Dion's rejection of a final, key measure sought by mayors is disappointing.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has endorsed a campaign to have cities receive one cent out of every six cents collected by Ottawa through the GST. That would give municipalities just over $5 billion a year, with Toronto receiving about $400 million.

The money is sorely needed to restore crumbling urban infrastructure. But, rather than sharing the GST, Dion said he wants to use these funds to fight child poverty. Improving the lives of destitute children is indeed a worthy objective. Dion errs, however, in regarding this goal as trumping cities' desperate need for permanent new funding.

Surely Ottawa can attack child poverty while at the same time giving Canada's municipalities the help necessary for them to prosper.

the star.com