Toronto needs 'powers of a province'

[Automation Gallery]

The first thing to remember is nations don't create wealth, cities do.

Specifically, city regions are the great engines of economic activity. The countries within which these regional powerhouses are located benefit enormously, but often have little grasp of the role they play. Although "senior" governments can help cities, more often they get in the way.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/627909

 

[W. K. Lis]

Prince Edward Island 139,800 Toronto 2,500,000

Greater Toronto Area 5,509,900
Newfoundland and Labrador 507,900
Prince Edward Island 139,800
Nova Scotia 938,300
New Brunswick 747,300
Quebec 7,750,500
Ontario 12,929,000
Manitoba 1,208,000
Saskatchewan 1,016,000
Alberta 3,585,100
British Columbia 4,381,600
Yukon 33,100
Northwest Territories 43,300
Nunavut 31,300

 

[waterloowarrior]

Atlantic provinces population: 2.334 million
Atlantic provinces MPs: 32 seats

Toronto population: 2.503 million
Toronto MPs: 23 seats

 

[Art Vandelay]

With this Mayor and this council I am reminded of the proverb:

"Never give a loaded handgun to a retarded child"

 

[GraphicMatt]

An injection of both greater civil and monetary power and (inevitably) party politics would absolutely get rid of the deadweight on City Council. You'd get better candidates for Mayor and a lower rate of incumbency. We'd actually be able to turf the Fords and Minnan-Wongs of the world. Right now, those with serious political aspirations often skip right past the Council step and go right toward being MPP - or they stay on Council only until they're established, then move on.

I'm absolutely in favour of what Hume's saying -- the ideal solution would be for the Federal government to give greater power and autonomy to all large CMAs across the country. Some kind of central planning authority that could dictate policy in both the core and the suburbs would work to avoid sprawl and create a ton of potential for actual, operationally funded transit systems.

 

[Hydrogen]

In order for Toronto to get the 'powers of a province' it would have to have a government similar to a province. As GraphicMatt suggests, that would require a party structure. While such an approach would have its positives, it would also have some negatives. A party structure could bring more discipline with respect to party representation and more focus with respect to governing, it could also get in the way of enabling the elections of truly local councillor with local issues in mind.

As for Hume's suggestion, while interesting, it would require a change to the constitution. It's not quite clear whether any province would take kindly to having a portion hived off in the effort to make more autonomous cities. In the past, other pundits have suggested that it is the provinces themselves that are in the way, and that these entities should be dissolved.

 

[urbanfan89]

Or perhaps the map of Canada can be redrawn into regions with a dominant city.

All of Southern Ontario is sawed off into a new province with Toronto as its capital.

PEI, NS, NB are combined into a new province with Halifax as capital.

Alberta is split in two provinces, with Calgary and Edmonton as capitals.

Sparse areas such as Northern Ontario, Northern Quebec, Labrador, etc are given Territory status.

It won't solve all our political problems, but when most Canadians have a large metropolitan area they identify with there will be less of an us-versus-them attitude which infests our artificial lines.

 

[afransen]

It would not require constitutional change to give Toronto or the GTA 'the powers of a province', as all those powers are within the power of Ontario to grant unilaterally. So, we could have a province in all but name. I'd imagine that after some time of this arrangement, the rest of the country might be more receptive to recognizing it as a full province, though it will probably require things like cutting Ontario's senate seats in half. It would probably be healthier for confederation if we didn't approach a situation where nearly half the population lived in one province.

 

[Yoshimura]

The first thing to remember is nations don't create wealth, cities do.

Second thing to remember is that governments don't create wealth, private individuals do.

Let's abolish government.

 

[GraphicMatt]

Party politics certainly have their drawbacks, but at a certain point I think they become necessary. Most Toronto City Councillors have at least a soft affiliation with a Canadian political party as it is - we'd be better off if they wore those affiliations on their sleeves.

The big problem now is that council members are not defining themselves by anything resembling a party's political platform, so many municipal elections come down to single-issue voters (e.g the island airport) or are so lopsided in favour of the incumbent due to "I don't know who these other guys are!" syndrome that it's easy for corruption to sneak into municipal government. And that doesn't just apply to Toronto, either - look at Vaughan and Ottawa for two recent examples.

It's a frequent charge of the "Miller tax!" crowd that our mayor is a tool of the NDP. (Read 'tool' however you'd like in that sentence.) I believe he's no longer affiliated with the party, but obviously his politics are still fairly closely aligned with the party's. So why not make that explicit?

It strikes me that municipal governments across the country are largely ineffectual and often corrupt. That nobody at the provincial or federal level wants to DO anything about this doesn't mean that someone shouldn't.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Instead of declaring the winner with the highest ballets cast, it should be the winner of a 50% + 1 race. If there is no 50% + 1 winner at the first election day, then the two highest ballots cast should have run-off election with only those two with the highest ballots cast.
Miller won the 2006 race (with 38 candidates) with 56.968%, so there would have been no run-off election. However, the previous election would have had a run-off (Miller vs Tory).

 

[afransen]

Run-offs are pointless. If anything, use instant run-off, aka Alternative Voting aka Preferential Ballot.

I kind of like the idea of STV in multi-member constituencies representing, say, the former boroughs. Not only would each area likely get representation from each party, but it would not be impossible for independents to get elected.

 

[lordmandeep]

With this Mayor and this council I am reminded of the proverb:

"Never give a loaded handgun to a retarded child"

HAAA!!!!!!

Nicely done...

Deserves to be quoted.

Some of the dreamers on this board ignored your statement, but its 100% true.

 

[Art Vandelay]

HAAA!!!!!!

Nicely done...

Deserves to be quoted.

Some of the dreamers on this board ignored your statement, but its 100% true.

Thanks. I have my moments.

As someone who loves Toronto I understand what the advocates for the city are saying. My fear is that making Toronto a province would only serve to grow government -more politicians, more bureaucrats and more taxes.

Just look at the fiasco that is the licensing of new street food vendors. Does anyone really want to give these people more power?

 

[lordmandeep]

as President Obama says, the debate should not be about having a small government or a big government...

It should be about having a smart Government.

These people no matter how much money we give them, no matter how much power we give them, will never ever be able to run this city in a sustainable manner.