Oh fine, just for you Calrissian
The subway would be an equalizer for all the years of government money filtered from the suburbs to the center.
I don't have the data of where each and every tax dollar is spent, but I do know that higher density areas create more tax revenue, and generally support lower density areas. So if anything, downtown tax revenue is finding its way up to the suburbs. Likewise, your tax dollars are probably being used to support the outer suburbs and rural communities.
My family and community is far from rich but we hold together with what we got. To use the Canadian recession, which was hardly a recession to begin with as an excuse is laughable. Anybody knows part of living within your means is to save a part of your income for a rainy day. If you're living paycheque to paycheque and not saving up anything that means you're not living within your means! I grew up in a single-parent home just above the poverty line and had a roof over my head every day of my life, recession or no recession with not one penny of government assistance other than the standard child tax benefit. If the recession claimed a few Bay St bigshots and comfortable CAW workers living their lives of luxury on credit....oh well. Needless to say how do I think we should deal with them? We'll let that sort itself out in 3 months time during first cold snap of the year. Or the feds can step up and take responsibility for the Canadians and refugees and the Province can step up and take responsibility for the drunken redneck Ontarians. Toronto taxpayers should not have to be held hostage of being the last line of defense.
I used the recession as an example, but there are several other causes for people to rely on social assistance. And if you think the only people who lost their jobs were those who worked for the auto industry and Bay St, well I can't argue on that level of ignorance. Same goes for your solution of letting people out of work freeze to death. If only it were that simple, odds are they would resort to crime and steal and hurt from those who do have roofs over their heads before they let that happen.
If people are finding it hard to find a job in the city, perhaps the current mayor and his band of progressives have something to do with it. I can only imagine how much better this city would have been under Tory. Now its in too deep. We need a Rob Ford to burn it down and start fresh.
If you are referring to the business tax rate, then yes it is too high and needs to be dropped. And for all the stupid things Miller has done, he has at least lowered the business tax rate substantially over his terms. Unfortunately, if anything he hasn't done it enough. Personally, I'd rather see the new mayor cut the fees introduced under Miller, and aggressively set the municipal tax rates where they need to be.
Also, assuming Ford burns down the city like you so desire, what makes you think that Toronto would rise from the ashes better than ever before? Even IF that did happen, odds are it would take decades - maybe even centuries for it to happen. Toronto ain't in the best shape, but it is hardly 'beyond saving.' Detroit on the other hand...
I'm surprised with whatever Bachelor's Degree you hold that makes you think you're so smart, whether it be Sociology, Poli Sci, English, History or whatever other joke that U of T calls a degree only because its high margin and can be used to fund the underfunded research labs, that you would ever compare Toronto to Detroit. Detroit was done years ago when the US auto industry died. No amount of investment or lack thereof would have made a difference.
Funny enough, most of my formal political education dates back to a civics class high school. Beyond that, it has been an odd college course, reading newspapers and internet flame wars, and The Comedy Network and CBC (Air Farce, Daily Show, Colbert Report). Even as not a political scholar, I can see that Rob Ford is spitting out "easy answers to easy problems." This may scare you, but the problems that Toronto faces are highly complex, and easy answers like "stopping the gravy train" are not going to cut it.
