The merger of the City of Toronto 1/1/98

[Long Island Mike]

Everyone: This is my very first post at Urban Toronto! I am interested in the merger and disolvement of the 6 boros of Metro Toronto to form the new City of Toronto. Is there any info out there on the web or elsewhere where I can find info on this subject? I hope to get info on this interesting subject-especially why and how? Thanks to all-Long Island Mike

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Welcome,

There is quite a bit of information online regarding various aspects of this subject - from the actual piece of legislation to citizen groups opposing the move (e.g. Citizens for Local Democracy - C4LD). For some of the historical/political aspects, here is one:

www.mosaicinstitute.ca/pd...201999.pdf

(page 64-83): How's and Why's

AoD

 

[Long Island Mike]

AOD: Thanks for the welcome! There is plenty of info on the PDF you posted on the United City of Toronto. I wanted to introduce myself a little more-I visited Toronto on an average of once a year between 1979-1990 basically the 80s per se. I did not visit T.O. again until a summer weekend trip back in 1998 and I have not had a chance to return since. I enjoyed my visits to Toronto and I have many good memories. What I would like to know is about the six boros and what their government types were? The old City of Toronto,York,East York,North York,Etobicoke and Scarborough. I recall the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto that was formed in 1953. From old maps I have,what is now Toronto was part of York County,Ontario until then-I recall that the nickname for the area was METRO-what now constitutes the so-called GTA? I would like to compare the current City of Toronto with two US cities that are similar:Chicago is a part of Cook County,Illinois and is similar in size to that of the current City of Toronto. Cook County is the second-largest county in population in the USA-only Los Angeles County,California is larger.
The City of New York consists of five boroughs that co-exist with counties and have separate county governments as well: they are:
Manhattan Borough-New York County
Brooklyn Borough - Kings County
Queens Borough - Queens County
Bronx Borough - Bronx County
Staten Island Borough - Richmond County
The combined City of New York today has a population of over 8 million and has 40 percent of NY state's population. If a similar change were attempted along the lines of the United City of Toronto,five county governments would have to be dissolved. The way things are in NYS,this will just about never happen. The only thing that almost happened was the succession of Staten Island from NYC-it was then found that the tax increase needed to allow self rule was far too high. SI got some concessions from the NYC government-closing of the infamous Fresh Kills Dump and Landfill being at the top.
Politically how has Toronto gotten along without the boroughs? As Canada's largest city how is its relationship with the Province of Ontario? With the Canadian Federal Government? These are all interesting topics-I would like to thank any and all in advance for any info offered-Yours truly,Long Island Mike

 

[Observer Walt]

Welcome! Come back again to visit sometime; I think you will notice some physical changes.

The GTA (Greater Toronto Area) generally refers to Toronto and the surrounding regions (formerly called counties, many years ago) of Halton, Peel, York, and Durham. It's an informal designation. The City of Toronto has a population of just over 2.5 million, per 2006 census numbers. The GTA is roughly 5 to 5.5 million, depending on exactly where you draw the lines.

Previous to 1998 the City of Toronto and other municipalities in Metropolitan Toronto each had their own mayor and council. These were "lower tier" municipalities. The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (the "upper tier" level) had its own council, made up of members of the lower tier councils. All of these are now abolished, and one "single tier" council is in place.

Relationships with the Provincial and Federal governments can be problematic, as you might gather from some posts on this forum, newspaper articles, etc. The basic problem is funding, especially for infrastructure such as transit. The City of Toronto has recently been given some new taxing powers which it did not have before, and debate is under way now as to whether some new taxes should be imposed. A scan of some newspaper columns would reveal more.

Could go on at great length; I hope this quick comment will be helpful.

 

[Admiral Beez]

IMO, the citizens who got truely shafted in Toronto's amalgamation were those of East York. They had better services from their city, including excellent snow removal.

 

[Mark Dowling]

Adm Beez

and the local rag never stops moaning about it - every fscking week. Gets depressing after a year and a half.