Leaders from Toronto’s business and labour communities came to Innis College last night to talk with Mayor David Miller and U of T President Robert Birgeneau to demand change in the way Toronto is governed and receives funding. These leaders, representing both sides of the political spectrum agreed on the need for a “New Deal for Cities.”
“There is a stereotype that business is at odds with citizens,” said Elyse Allan, president and CEO of the Toronto Board of Trade, “business people are citizens too.” Her campaign, directed at the Federal and Provincial governments, is called “Enough is Not Enough,” and represents a change from the way the business community has traditionally viewed city politics.
Allan explains that business competitiveness is intrinsically linked to a healthy city. Today’s labour base is mobile and will move to wherever the quality of life is best. Toronto cannot afford to lose potential jobs because it has a dysfunctional transit system and an unsightly waterfront. As an indication of the absence of labour coming to Toronto, Allan noted that only two new commercial office buildings have been built in all of downtown in the past eight years.
On the other side of the political spectrum, Toronto Labour Council head John Cartwright had different motivations. “[Toronto] is living in the wake of two disastrous revolutions: free trade and the Common Sense Revolution.” Cartwright said that the combination of free trade’s destruction of one third of Canadian manufacturing jobs and the former Ontario Conservative government’s tax cuts over the past eight years significantly lowered the amount of money at the city’s disposal. His campaign, entitled “Public Transit for the Public Good” demands affordable fares and better service for the TTC [Toronto Transit Commission], with additional funding from Federal and Provincial governments. The TTC is currently warning that without more money from some other source they will raise fares very soon. Cartwright says that fare hikes hurt the members in society least able to afford them: low income families, students, and senior citizens. The Canadian Federation of Students backs his campaign.
Mayor Miller said that he hears the demands from people all around Toronto and thinks the city is at a crossroads. However he maintains that the current political system denies municipal government the freedom to spend their own money. “One quarter of the budget is devoted to the essential services of fire, police, TTC, and ambulances. Half the city budget is paying for provincially-mandated programs. The remaining quarter is what we have to work with and that pays for everything else you can possibly think of that the city pays for, from parks to public health.” He went on to explain that if other levels of government ever demand that Toronto cut back its budget, it is the social areas that will be on the chopping block.
U of T President Robert Birgeneau related this talk about the future of the city to universities. He said that the population of Toronto’s three universities together is nearly 150,000. Many students, faculty and staff take the TTC, and thus have a vested interest in the betterment of transit. He was quick to note that the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering is working to improve transportation and traffic flow.
With regard to the business community, he claimed U of T alone has a $4.7 billion impact on the city’s economy. Other panelist contended that Toronto’s government never sees any benefit from that contribution because it only gets absorbed in income taxes. Birgeneau noted that Toronto sends out more money in taxes than it receives in funding and suggested that Toronto might consider a municipal income sur-tax that has been a success in some American cities like Boston. Since it is more related to economic success than property tax, the city would benefit more from its booming business.
