It Is A Win-Win Situation

Two of Toronto's major issues will be dealt with.....homelessness and lack of money. It will provide housing for the homeless, allowing social housing to be allocated to some working poor families and it is being paid for by the feds.

T.O. Beach Residents Have Mixed Reaction To Housing Project
Monday November 19, 2007
CityNews.ca Staff
Residents of an east end Toronto neighbourhood have mixed feelings about a new community housing project that could be in operation by this time next year.

Under the plan a vacant banquet hall at the corner of Woodbine Ave. and Gerrard St. East would undergo a $4.4 million, federally-funded facelift to turn it into housing for the homeless and mentally ill.

The proposal was up for approval in city hall last week, the same time Beaches-East York Councillor Sandra Bussin found out about it.

That's drawn the ire of area residents who say they should've been better informed.

"We're not saying, 'Don't come here.' We just need to know who's coming here. There's a ton of kids around here," said one local man, Brett Heard. "A huge public school two blocks from here and a day care being put up the street. We just need to know who's here. It's the difference between sending my daughter to the streetcar or walking my daughter."

Others were less concerned, saying everyone has to learn to live together and get along in the community.

"I don't think it would affect me at all," said area resident Brendan Murphy. "I'm sure the decision wasn't taken lightly. I have no problems with it, no."

"I think it's great. They need help," agreed Gary Coughlan. "There's so many of them that are on the street now, they can't fend for themselves. So perfect. More help the better."

The housing plan isn't a done deal just yet but if it's approved it could be in operation by December 2009. A community meeting to discuss the project is planned for November 27. It's one of three housing initiatives pending approval.

Miller Follies Still Playing

David Miller's disaster
A year ago Toronto re-elected its mayor.
Is this what we expected?
By ROB GRANATSTEIN, EDITOR

Affordable housing plan more Miller HOT air
By SUE-ANN LEVY, TORONTO SUN

Message To Comrade Miller, City Council And The Citizens Of Toronto

Go Screw Yourselves!

Mayor will get no apology, transit union says
Tess Kalinowski Nov. 10, 2007

Transit union president Bob Kinnear won't apologize for last year's one-day wildcat strike, and neither he nor TTC chair Adam Giambrone are guaranteeing it won't happen again.

Miller Will Always Take Credit.....

.....for successes but his lackeys will always take credit for the screw ups. There have never heard of the "the fish always stinks at the head" concept in Miller's office. Is campaigns have always been based on begging from the province and Ottawa and he has been far from successful. But in fairness to The Star they probably hope the Stanley Cup will come back to Toronto.......

One year later: A Miller progress checklist
TheStar.com


CARLOS OSORIOS/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO
Toronto Mayor David Miller gives a thumbs up all-day debate in October over his controversial tax plan. November 10, 2007
Tuesday marks the first anniversary of the resounding election victory that gave David Miller his second term as mayor.

During the 2006 campaign, Miller’s critics charged that his first term was lacklustre, devoid of major policy directions or accomplishments, and that he didn’t deserve a second shot. When it comes to politics, that’s the nature of the beast.

Miller set out to prove them wrong, blazing the trail for a host of new ideas: a user-pay system for garbage pickup; an ambitious blueprint to fight climate change; Transit City, a huge streetcar network.

But the months-long battle over new taxes and the need to contain costs, both stemming from a looming budget shortfall, brought city hall to a virtual standstill over the summer.

Miller hasn’t announced any major new initiatives since the land transfer tax and vehicle registration fee were passed in October.

Miller’s handlers say the mayor’s office is compiling a year-end assessment of promises made and what’s been accomplished.

In the meantime, the Star selected some key issues to create its own progress checklist.

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The Reality Behind Comrade Millers Land Transfer Tax

Toronto's New Land Transfer Tax will Hurt all Canadians

Does the City of Toronto manage their budget and finances well and does their system as it is help the rest of Ontario and Canada? Rhetorical - of course not. This jurisdiction doesn't have a reputation for sound fiscal management.

Hasn't the Province, by giving Canada's largest municipal taxing power the authority to tax everything they can rather than control their spending, also made a decision to have a considerable negative effect on national economic interests? Well, yaaaaa.

Think - an extra tax on buying a home in Toronto and the effect that this will have on the Ontario and Canadian economy.

Forget for a minute about the effect of a high dollar on Ontarios manufacturers - currently the only people benefitting from a 110% dollar are matrons prepared to suffer the time and indignity of travelling hours by bus and getting humiliated by border guards. We could get into a whole discussion on what the Bank of Canada is doing and whether they should lower the interest rates to slow the growth of the dollar but that is dinner for another day.

By adding an additional land transfer tax to the cost of acquiring a home, David Miller's city is incentivizing people to live in Oakville. Have you ever been in Oakville? Not a paradise, let me assure you. Not hell, but from Oakville, you can see Hell.

Basically, an extra housing acquisition cost, as being ordered by David Miller and his Marxist Minions, will take money out of the pockets of consumers and put it in the pockets of government. A typical Toronto home - say at $500K - will result in about $7 k being given to the City rather than spent on renos, new cars, or big screens. Is this good?

Well, I suppose people can drive to Buffalo to buy all their cars, furniture and big screens and compensate a little. But then again, sans tax, this is spending taken from Toronto merchants.

Ontario's economy has always been referred to as the "middle third" and the city of Toronto is about 1/2 of this. So when Toronto coughs, the rest of Canada spits out phlegm.

David Miller's stupid solution promises to not only harm Toronto irrevocably, but Canada overall. Harming the ability of Toronto residents to consume promises to be another socialist cancer on Canada's economy.

Posted by Lemon at 9:11 AM

A Rose By Any Name Still Smells/Stinks

For $50Gs a flower could be renamed after David Miller. But which to use? The 'Ivory Tower?' The 'About Face'?... Mike Strobel

Comrade Miller Should Be Apologizing To Taxpayers

Union apology sought

Miller thinks TTC labour head should make amends for wildcat strike

Mayor David Miller yesterday called on TTC union boss Bob Kinnear to apologize to Toronto residents for last year's wildcat strike.

Good Faith Bargaining/Taxpayer Getting Screwed

Transparency At City Hall

It is evident that unions are running Toronto City Hall and Comrade Miller and his lackeys are nothing more than puppets........

November 9, 2007 Wildcat deal shows T.O. is toothless It's a good thing Sun City Hall columnist Sue-Ann Levy has such good sources or we might never know what agreements Toronto Mayor David Miller and his minions are making on our behalf with the city's labour unions. Recently it was a generous and controversial three-year collective agreement the city signed with its firefighters that it didn't announce for four months, until Levy got wind of it and started asking questions. Yesterday, Levy reported on a deal agreed to Oct. 10 by the TTC and its transit union stemming from the May 29, 2006 illegal one-day wildcat strike by TTC workers, which the TTC says cost it (meaning it cost us) up to $3 million. Despite the fact the "illegal, unlawful and absolutely unacceptable" strike (Miller's words at the time) inconvenienced 700,000 passengers and disrupted businesses across the city, no one responsible for it has ever been jailed, fired, fined or, as far as we know, even disciplined in any significant way. Now we learn the TTC's lawsuit against the union to recover damages, announced a few days after the wildcat with great fanfare, is kaput. Instead, the two sides reached a deal Oct. 10 the TTC claims will save it $2 million over three years, mainly through the union agreeing to be more flexible on how absent drivers are replaced. We would have thought, as does Levy, that finding what amounts to ways to cut overtime payments to replace absent workers is simply sound management, not a credible way to recoup huge losses underwritten by taxpayers, private businesses and commuters from a disruptive, illegal wildcat strike. But we'll leave TTC Chairman Adam Giambrone to explain all that. He initially told Levy the agreement was close but hadn't yet been reached, and later amended that to say it hadn't yet been presented to the TTC commission, after a source gave Levy a copy of the Oct. 10 settlement. TTC Commissioner Michael Thompson said he was angry he hadn't been informed of the deal, but added he wasn't surprised since excessive secrecy is a hallmark of the city's administration under Miller and his allies. Gee, do you think?

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.

TTC Union 1 City Taxpayers 0

What's the deal, Adam? By SUE-ANN LEVY At highly "accessible" and let's not forget "efficient and effective" City Hall, the Spin Machine was in overdrive yesterday to tenaciously guard the details of yet another deal with one of the city's powerful unions. I made what I thought was a simple attempt to discern the status of the lawsuit between the TTC and its unionized workers, undertaken to recoup the $3 million in costs incurred as a result of the May 2006 one day wildcat walkout. By the end of the day, I did get a straight answer -- but most definitely not from the Millerites. Ironically, the answer was delivered by a top secret source and it was not at all what I'd been told by the TTC's chairman. Coming hot on the heels of my revelations surrounding the generous deal for Toronto's firefighters -- which were kept under wraps for four months -- I couldn't help but think this secrecy is becoming an all too familiar and disturbing pattern under the so-called "transparent and inclusive" leadership of Mayor David Miller and his minions. At precisely 1 p.m., TTC Chairman Adam Giambrone told me the two sides are "pretty close" to an "agreement" but there are still some "outstanding issues" -- that the union and the TTC are "still talking about what sort of things could be on the table. "I think you're talking weeks to months," he said when I asked how long before a settlement is finalized. "I expect you'll hear before the end of the year." He also insisted any deal would have to recoup the $2 million to $3 million in costs absorbed by the TTC, mostly to reimburse inconvenienced Metropass holders $4 each. "The direction from the mayor and from myself has been very clear that any settlement negotiated has to recover $2 million to $3 million," he said. After speaking with Giambrone, I endeavoured to reach Bob Kinnear, president of Local 113 of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU). He was locked away in an arbitration session. At 4 p.m., before I had a chance to speak with Kinnear, I received, to my complete surprise, a copy of the minutes of settlement reached on Oct. 10 -- almost one month ago! This was followed up by a call from an unnamed source. Shortly after, Kinnear confirmed the deal was done "somewhere in the right area" of Oct. 10, but wouldn't comment on specifics. When I reached Giambrone a second time at 5:49 p.m., I wanted to know why he'd left out that small part (said tongue in cheek, of course) about a deal being reached. "It's never been presented to the Commission for approval ... that's why I'm not empowered to talk to you about it," he said, claiming he, too, hasn't been "fully briefed" on the deal, even though it's dated Oct. 10. Asked when the Commission might see the settlement, he said it won't go to next Wednesday's meeting because the agenda is "very full" and this could get lost. "There was no particular urgency to this," he said. Geesh. I'd think the settlement is pretty darn important in the grand scheme of union negotiations and setting a tone that the unions don't run the show -- which they of course do under Miller and his socialist seals. But what do I know? As for claims that both he and the mayor were adamant about recouping the $3 million the strike cost the TTC, Giambrone said the agreement by the union to use "spare" drivers instead of those on overtime to replace drivers off sick will save about $600,000 a year. In three years, that plus the settlement of small grievances, will get them $2 million back. Far be it from me to suggest reducing overtime should be good management practice, not the condition of any settlement like this. And I guess the $1 million not accounted for is only pennies to the Millerites. TTC Commissioner Michael Thompson was incensed when he heard of the deal from the Sun yesterday. "You're kidding me," he said, adding he's not surprised with the secrecy. "It's unfortunate but the reality of this environment is that it will never change with this administration," he said. "This confirms what I already know about the landscape here."

Simple Solution To Productivity Improvements

Unions, and the Toronto civil servant unions are no exception, always end up saying that the signing of the contract will see improvements in productivity and an enhancement in innovation but it never seems to happen so maybe Comrade Miller and his lackey Shirley Hoy might want to read the following.......

Study Finds Working At Work Improves Productivity
November 5, 2007 | Issue 43•45

WASHINGTON, DC—According to a groundbreaking new study by the Department of Labor, working—the physical act of engaging in a productive job-related activity—may greatly increase the amount of work accomplished during the workday, especially when compared with the more common practices of wasting time and not working.

An worker can triple his work output by working.

"Our findings are astounding: By simply sitting down and doing work, employees can dramatically increase their output of goods and services," said Deputy Undersecretary of Labor Charlotte Ponticelli, who authored the report. "In fact, 'working' may revolutionize the way people work."

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Who Is Responsible For Licencing Street Corner Boxes

Jack should call the mayor's office and I am sure they will refer him to someone who will refer him to someone else who will refer him.......

Learning Annex is gone but shabby boxes remain
TheStar.com
November 07, 2007
Jack Lakey
Staff Reporter

Whatever happened to The Learning Annex, and what's to be done about its boxes languishing on downtown streets?

An email arrived yesterday from Austin Repath advising The Learning Annex had closed down in this city. "There are hundreds of Learning Annex boxes across Toronto. Who is responsible for removing them, rather than have them clutter up our sidewalks?"

It was news to us that The Learning Annex, a well-established provider of personal development and self-help courses for about 20 years in Toronto, was no longer in business. If you wanted to learn about tax planning strategies or how to deal with stress, for instance, the Learning Annex likely had a seminar on the subject.

Just last winter, billboards trumpeted the arrival of tycoon Donald Trump to share his money-making wisdom with us poor folk through the Learning Annex.


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Everyone Seems To Be Bailing Out On Toronto

The feds have said NO! Dalton McGinty is saying NO but he has given a backroom green light to Comrade Miller and his lackeys to royally screwed the people of Toronto while the city unions can expect to see wage increases that exceed inflation. But then we will have to watch and see what side of his mouth McGinty is speaking.

Premier rejects tax increase despite GST cut
Robert Benzie Nov. 07, 2007

There will be no increase in the provincial sales tax to help struggling...

You have to wonder why no one wants to "help" Toronto but you have to ask yourself how many private enterprises would stay in business if they allowed their account receivables to fall behind 12 years........

Deadbeats catch break

City to let unpaid parking tickets ride
The city is giving a break to deadbeat motorists who failed to pay parking tickets issued between 1988 and 1995 -- as long as they owe less than $300.

Just another example of mismangement.........

Comrade Miller's Definition Of Transparency

C46850
November 6th, 2007
This is the file number.

On Friday, the Court of Appeal for Ontario, room one, will hear the next step in the proceedings for the freedom of information request of the Filmport lease.

TEDCO despite being owned by the City, and despite being ordered by the freedom of information office has refused to disclose this lease agreement

It is a huge huge day for democracy in Toronto.

After the M.F.P. inquiry Miller pronounced he would run a transparent and open City government. Such has not – even remotely - been the case. Miller was the one who ordered this judicial review.

I have written many words on this site about this cover-up.

If justice rules for democracy we will, eventually, be shown that TEDCO’s President, Jeff Steiner, is the highest paid civil servant in Toronto. And furthermore, the Filmport deal will, in fact, cost the Toronto taxpayers millions and millions of dollars.

After all, numbers don’t lie.

Posted in Uncategorized

Comrade Miller Has Already Set The Tone For Union Negotiations

When he approved the wage increase and benefits for the firefighters. If I go out and ask my garbage man who signs his pay cheque will he tell me it is not the city? And maybe Comrade Miller better explain his definition of contracting out and whether contracts are awarded on the lowest bid or it that bidding restricted to a lowest set cost by the city.

City prepares to weather labour strife TheStar.com - GTA - City prepares to weather labour strife

Cash-strapped council faces a tough year of contract talks with TTC, police, inside workers

November 06, 2007

John Spears
city hall bureau

You could call it a perfect storm for turbulent labour negotiations: Every one of Toronto's major union contracts will expire in the next 14 months, just as the megacity faces the toughest financial challenge in its 10-year existence.

With an annual wage bill of $3.7 billion, a difference of one percentage point in wages and benefits can make a difference to city spending in the tens of millions of dollars.

With so much at stake, union leaders and politicians from Mayor David Miller on down are already manoeuvring for the best position to weather the coming gales.

What's on their minds isn't just wages. All the players are wondering how big the issue of contracting-out or privatizing city services may become in the approaching negotiations. It's a question likely to deepen the split between left- and right-wing councillors.

Case Ootes (Ward 29, Toronto-Danforth) gives a foretaste: "Some of us have been trying to change the environment for a number of years, and the obstacle in large part has been certainly Miller and others that feel beholden to the unions."

Miller shoots back that Ootes and his allies had their chance under former mayor Mel Lastman. "They had a six-year program of reviewing privatization and contracting out," scoffs Miller. "They came up with one thing – which was take the lowest-paid workers in the city, the cleaners, and pay them less. When they say that, frankly it shouldn't be given five seconds' thought."

As contract talks loom, budget chief Shelley Carroll is already warning unions that the city's pockets are not deep. "They'd better come to the table recognizing that one of the criteria you set for negotiations – whether you're the management or the arbitrator or the mediator – one of the criteria always has to be ability to pay.

"Our citizens know what our ability to pay is right now, the province knows what our ability to pay is, and the people who work here know what our ability to pay is."

It's not a position that gets much sympathy from union leaders, who say their members gave the city a break during the deep recession of the 1990s.

"Back in 1996 we made tens of millions of dollars in concessions," says Bob Kinnear, who heads the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113, at the TTC. That was the year the province stopped funding transit.

Brian Cochrane, who leads Toronto Civic Employees Union, CUPE Local 416, agrees his members have already done their part. "In the 1990s, many of our members didn't receive any wage increase for six to eight years," Cochrane says.

Looking ahead to negotiations with the police and transit workers, the first contracts to expire, Miller acknowledges it won't be easy.

"We don't have much room to manoeuvre," he says.

Looming over the talks is the settlement the city made with the firefighters. Earlier this year, they won annual wage increases of 3 to 3.25 per cent over the next three years.

Says Cochrane: "We reject any notion that our members are any less worthy of a wage increase than was negotiated with fire and will be negotiated with the police."

If inflation is a guideline for settlements, Miller may have already given the unions some leverage by setting a generous measure in another context – next year's projected property tax hike. "It's in the range of inflation, around 3 to 4 per cent," he said last month. In fact, inflation is about 2.5 per cent.

And there's the even tougher question of contracting out.

Miller says it's no magic solution. In any case, the city already contracts out a substantial volume of work. He points to a string of figures: 46 per cent of the garbage operating budget is contracted out ($104 million); so is 38 per cent of the transportation department's operating budget ($94 million) and 83 per cent of the capital budget ($166 million). There's $157 million in child-care services; $44 million in hostel services, and on and on.

And he hits back at critics who say he's indebted to labour.

"Are they beholden to the lobbyists for the contractors?" he asks.

"Let's remember my job as mayor was to clean the city government up because of the MFP scandal, which was all about influence peddlers making money on contracts."

Let's Get On With What NEEDS To Be Done......-

........and temporarily forget what the leftists would LIKE to do.

Feds: No cut of GST for T.O.

By DON PEAT, SUN MEDIA

Toronto and other cities shouldn't expect a cut of the GST, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told a Bay St. crowd yesterday.

Specific infrastructure funding has already been earmarked for Toronto, Flaherty said, and tax cuts introduced in last week's economic statement -- including knocking another 1% off the GST -- helps local businesses and individuals.

"Toronto will save an additional $940 million as a result of the 2 percentage point reduction," he said, referring to GST cuts since July 2006.

As well, funding from the federal gas tax and the clean air and climate change fund has been earmarked for Toronto-area projects, said Flaherty, who is also the minister responsible for the GTA.

"It's a question of the governments getting the money out the door, the local governments getting the projects going so that they can be funded," he said. "In terms of reducing the GST by a percentage point and giving the tax revenue to someone else, it's not going to happen."

Both the federal and provincial governments have already agreed to infrastructure and transit projects across the GTA, and expansion commitments to highways 404 and 407 east.

"We don't need grand designs right now," Flaherty said. "What we need is to get on with the projects that everyone has already agreed, between Ontario and Canada, need to be done."

Flaherty made the comments at the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance's fall luncheon just as the Canadian dollar broke another benchmark against the U.S. dollar.

Comrade Miller's Priority Should Be Health & Safety

Provide safe drinking water, get rid of the garbage, keep our streets safe from crime, come when I have a fire, come when I need medical attention and keep the roads in good repair. When he has accomplished that then he can start saving the world from global warming, broaden our appreciation of the "arts," etc.

Investing in the future Leaders say how city should spend its money

By ZEN RURYK, CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF

Toronto's a beauty in a shoddy dress.

A city of neighbourhoods, the majority of Toronto residents enjoy a good quality of life.

However, it's not long before anyone who spends some time in Toronto sees that Canada's largest city bears scars of neglect.

Streets pockmarked by potholes, community centres and arenas in need of repair and watermain breaks -- flowing from a reliance on old and decaying subterranean pipes -- are examples of the infrastructure problems facing city council.

The Toronto Sun went outside City Hall to find out what leaders of business, labour and others think is needed to get the city on track.

Concerns about Toronto's transportation system dominate discussions about the city's infrastructure problems.

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Holy Cow, Batman! Citizen Give A Whole Day To Discuss Spending Billions

And even then past experience has shown that their bleatings will only be heard if they are part of Comrade Miller's cadre; social in-activists, environuts, waterfront condo owners, artistes, island squatters, unions, etc.

City Hall: 2008 capital budget — prepare your deputations now
November 2nd, 2007
Dale Duncan

November 13 — mark it in your calendars. That’s the day the city has set aside for Torontonians tell the budget committee what they think of the proposed 2008 capital budget and the 2009 to 2012 capital budget plan. The capital budget deals with things such as state of good repair (such as road and bridge improvements) and funding for new streetcars, buses, transit lines and bike lanes. In light of the two new recently approved taxes, I have a hunch many residents will be interested in having their voices heard on where the city spends their money.

It Is A Two Way Street

How much representation do conservatives have in Toronto and the GTA? And it almost seems like the left wing would have you believe that Toronto is not getting anything from Ottawa which of course is not true and as far as the Warner thing it is simply having everyone on the team playing from the same handbook.

Conservatives have written Toronto off TheStar.com - GTA - Conservatives have written Toronto off

November 02, 2007

Royson James

Anyone who has been paying attention knows that the federal Conservatives who now run our national government have a hate-on for Toronto. Or they don't like us too much. Or they have no affinity with the T-Dot.

Maybe, they've just written us off – convinced we have irreconcilable differences.

Further evidence was displayed on this paper's front page yesterday, where a 43-year-old international trade lawyer and candidate for the east downtown riding of Toronto Centre revealed he'd been ousted as Conservative candidate in the upcoming federal election, whenever it's called.

Mark Warner has been campaigning since February and was to go up against well-known NDP-turned Liberal Bob Rae. Warner's crime? He kept talking about urban issues – things that mattered to the people of Toronto Centre – like housing, poverty, health and social services.

That, apparently, runs counter to the party's national strategy, which, tellingly, prefers to pretend those issues don't exist. In fact, the federal Tories seem to figure that if they don't acknowledge that cities need serious attention and financial assistance, urban problems will go away. At the least, no one can ask them to contribute to the alleviation of a problem they don't acknowledge.

The Warner case exposes another wilful blind spot of the Harper Conservatives – race and diversity.

Warner arrived in Canada from the land of the steel pan and carnival, Trinidad and Tobago, at a young age. He's well-spoken, well-educated, and described by Rae as a "very fine, public-spirited person." He obviously understands what makes cities tick. And – glory be – he's black.

You'd think the Harper-ites would be climbing over themselves to embrace such a candidate in a party viewed with suspicion whenever the issue of cities or diversity or immigration is broached.

You'd be wrong. So deluded are the party brass that they boldly claim they couldn't be turning their backs on an ethnic candidate because they didn't even know he was black or from Trinidad. They think this ignorance is a virtue – not a sign of disconnection.

What is most disheartening about the Warner case – brought to public attention after Warner spilled the beans – is it confirms what many have believed since the last federal election, which gave Harper a minority government with no Toronto seats and only a few on the edges of the GTA.

Harper and the Conservatives have written off Toronto. They'll curry favour with Quebec, solidify the base in the west, and to hell with the city slickers and their immigrant-loving, poor-coddling, bleeding-heart liberals and environmentalists and social activists.

It's bad enough that a national party would so alienate the country's largest city, its calling-card urban region, and the source of so much of its budget surplus. It should be cause for alarm in every urban region where Toronto-type problems are surfacing.

That may be our saving grace in the end. For as much as Harper doesn't care about the city of his birth, he can't ignore voters in all urban regions. The vast majority of Canadians live in urban regions. Sooner or later, he will have to acknowledge the cries of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which says the infrastructure deficit (gaps in funding for bridges, roads, sewers, water systems, transit, housing etc.) is approaching $100 billion across the country.

Toronto Mayor David Miller has led the call for one cent of the federal GST to be given to cities. For that campaign to work, other cities may have to step up.

---

Royson James usually appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Email: rjames@thestar.ca