{"id":2510,"date":"2007-11-23T00:15:21","date_gmt":"2007-11-23T04:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=2510"},"modified":"2013-01-21T15:18:05","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T20:18:05","slug":"the-gloves-are-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/11\/23\/the-gloves-are-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Amen!"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Toronto City Councillor and Budget Chief Shelley Carroll released a statement this afternoon in response to federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty telling cities<\/a> to stop “whining.” Although you can be sure that in making these comments Councillor Carroll<\/a> has the full support of Mayor David Miller, the reason it is coming from her and not Mayor Miller is the protocol involved in exchanging salvos government-to-government (Mayor to Prime Minister, Budget Chief to Minister of Finance.)<\/p>\n

Carroll was very effective building opposition to the Harris\/Eves regime as a parent activist and Toronto District School Board trustee, where she was a leader within the anti-cuts “Need to Succeed” caucus. Although many sectors converged on the Tories to force them out of office in 2003, without a doubt, Minister Flaherty remembers Carroll’s role well.
\nBelow is Carroll’s unedited statement, courtesy the City of Toronto<\/a>:
\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This country is in the midst of unprecedented growth. The Canadian dollar is hitting record highs, unemployment is lower than it has ever been, and the federal government is enjoying a $14- billion surplus.<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Canadians need to ask themselves some very simple questions: why do cities continually need to raise taxes to meet basic service needs when Ottawa has an enormous surplus? Why did Toronto have to impose a land transfer tax and vehicle ownership tax when Ottawa has an enormous surplus? Why are bridges crumbling in Montreal when Ottawa has an enormous surplus?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153And why did the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) recently issue a report stating the infrastructure deficit in Canadian municipalities is $123 billion? Surely the FCM and all those municipalities across Canada can’t be wrong. Surely Ottawa is not second-guessing sound research and data collection from a respected body like the FCM.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cities and towns do not have access to revenues that grow when the economy grows – unlike Ottawa. The surplus Ottawa is enjoying is, indeed, financed by cities. And that is why Canadian municipalities are asking for the equivalent of one cent of the GST.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The federal finance minister says cities are \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwhining.’ Is it \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwhining’ to demand that public funds be spent judiciously? Ottawa is clearly out of touch with the rest of Canada if that is the prevailing attitude.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mr. Flaherty has repeatedly talked about the Building Canada Fund. Yes, it’s a start, but certainly not a panacea. The program offers some help for public transit, but falls far short of what Canadian cities need to remain vibrant, liveable, and economically sound in the 21st century.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mr. Flaherty lectures that cities need to build reserves to fund deficits. Public transit and maintaining infrastructure requires enormous investments – in the billions of dollars. The property tax base cannot fund reserves of the magnitude needed today. Property taxes pay for services like police, fire, EMS, recreation, garbage collection, water – basic services Canadians depend on everyday.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It’s also important to remember that Mr. Flaherty was part of the Mike Harris government that forced Ontario municipalities to start drawing from reserves to pay for the cost of downloading.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The surplus Ottawa enjoys is the people’s money. It is not Stephen Harper’s or Jim Flaherty’s to play politics with. Canadians know that and it’s time the prime minister and finance minister recognized it, too.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Toronto is the fifth largest city in North America. It’s vibrant and exciting, but is suffering because of inaction by Ottawa.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153In October the Toronto Government stepped up its aggressive program to reduce business taxes to ensure the Canadian economy continues to thrive. Ottawa’s Treasury will be a prime beneficiary. The time is now for Ottawa to set aside its ideological bent and do the right thing by representing all Canadians – urban and rural.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This matter is too serious and has gone on for too long. Ottawa owes cities – the people – a great deal; it’s time it started start living up to its commitment to public service by serving the public and practicing good government.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The legitimate needs of cities will not go away and Canada’s municipal leadership remains united in its campaign to protect communities.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Photo by Colin McConnell\/Toronto Star<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toronto City Councillor and Budget Chief Shelley Carroll released a statement this afternoon in response to federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty telling cities to stop “whining.” Although you can be sure that in making these comments Councillor Carroll has the full support of Mayor David Miller, the reason it is coming from her and notContinue reading “Amen!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4037,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[50,2],"tags":[4833,7403,457,1349,6288,408,7402,425,2095,651,4736,1713,2537,426,7405,1604,7192,38,1154,636,346,7404,53,1500,7401,1276,2092,46,19,720,1499,341,3706,391],"class_list":["post-2510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-infrastructure","category-politics","tag-budget-chief","tag-building-canada-fund","tag-canada","tag-cent","tag-colin-mcconnell","tag-councillor","tag-councillor-and-budget-chief","tag-david-miller","tag-federal-finance-minister","tag-federal-government","tag-federation-of-canadian-municipalities","tag-finance","tag-jim-flaherty","tag-mayor","tag-mike-harris-government","tag-minister","tag-minister-of-finance","tag-montreal","tag-north-america","tag-ontario","tag-ottawa","tag-parent-activist-and-toronto-district-school-board","tag-parliament-hill","tag-prime-minister","tag-prime-minister-and-finance-minister","tag-shelley-carroll","tag-stephen-harper","tag-taxes","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-city","tag-toronto-government","tag-toronto-star","tag-trustee","tag-usd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAmen! 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