Spacing has Julie Yamin reporting from the two-day Toronto Summit conference.
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Just a few moments after the morning workshops ended on day-one of the Toronto Summit 2007, Mayor David Miller unveiled to the crowd his One Cent Now campaign aimed at creating permanent funding for cities across Canada.
In a nutshell, what the Mayor is proposing is that the federal government return one cent of the existing GST to municipalities. This has the opportunity to secure Toronto and other municipalities all across Canada with a reliable source of funding that will grow as the economy grows.
“It’s a call to the federal government to correct the real fiscal imbalance in this country — the one that exists between our national and local governments,†said the Mayor [ read reaction from the Finance Minter Jim here and Royson James’ take on the campaign here ]. “It is time for the federal government to give a penny, not just take a penny,†because an investment in cities is an investment in all of Canada added the Mayor.
In a 2005 report from the Conference Board of Canada, it was determined that Toronto faces and annual $1.1 billion fiscal gap. Toronto has a big hole between infrastructure, operating expenses and revenues. Essentially, this means needed repairs cannot be done, nor can new project be taken on if the situation remains the same.
According to Mayor Miller, by returning one cent of the GST to municipalities, Toronto looks at receiving over $400 million in 2007, we’re looking at $5 billion annually across Canada. This isn’t only going to aid the major metropolitan cities, funding will be given to all municipalities in Canada, from Victoria to Halifax.
“This is funding we require urgently. Funding that will help meet critical needs such as housing and shelter, better transit, safer streets and cleaner, stronger neighborhoods,†said Mayor David Miller during his lunch break speech.
This is the funding Toronto is searching for to play out the three needs the Mayor campaigned on in the 2006 Election; a national transit strategy, realignment of the roles and responsibilities between cities and provinces and create a source of revenue that grows side by side with the economy. This last need hits the one cent campaign right on the nose.
The municipal government receives only eight per cent of all taxes collected in Canada, which is quite stingy when compared to the fifty per cent the federal government cashes in on. Canada needs to find a better balance. If cities are to continue paying for the social services provided to its residents, than the province and Canada need to step up and realize that “One Cent Now isn’t about greed, it’s about growth. And above all, it’s about fairness. It’s not a bailout. It’s not a handout. It’s our money.”
Not everyone at the Summit agreed with the Mayor. City councillor Dezil Minnan-Wong says “The city has been disappointing residents, they are not innovative and not creative.” He adds that Toronto city management is outdated, “how can we ask Ottawa for money when we haven’t cleaned up our house?”
Minnan-Wong says it is time for Toronto to clean house and start spending efficiently, because in his opinion, “Miller is in bed with the unions.”
Although Mayor Miller agrees that he is sympathetic to unionized workers, “I think people should be properly paid for the work they do.” He says a great deal of that is caused by Toronto’s high cost of living when compared to other municipalities in Canada.
photo from Toronto Star
4 comments
I am sure if Harper gave 1% of the GST, instead of cutting it(Has it actually benefited anyone, so far?), He would have a much greater chance of gaining a majority.
McGuinty (whose government has direct responsibility for municipalities) should say that if Ottawa cuts GST below 6% Ontario will raise PST by the same amount and give the increased PST to municipalities.
Then Harper gets to “cut taxes” in Alberta where the only tax is GST but Toronto will get the benefit of the cut. The only problem is whether McGuinty has the stones to face down the CTF who will go ballistic.
It would have been useful if the person covering this wrote about some other critical issues which were addressed. Important themes about diversity, immigrant integration, and schooling are almost absent from these reports. Does this mean that SPACING is only interested in buldings, design, architecture, “culture” and money. What about the people issues and processes that were at the heart of the exercise?
We only had one writer at the Summit (julie) while there were multiple panels and seminars going on at the same time. I was there but I was on a panel and was ensconsed in publisher-type discussions. People issues are very important to us, but they also have to relate to public realm of the city. Some issues that we choose to cover are often topics that are not being covered elsewhere in Toronto’s media universe. It doesn’t mean we don’t care about the topic or issue, but we have limited resources to use. We can’t be Tor Star, the Globe or NOW who can afford to send multiple reporters.
We’re also a magazine that comes out three times year — our blog is an added feature to our print magazine, but is not our bread and butter. Again, time and manpower resources are always a serious challenge for small magazines.