You can't bypass the provincial government when talking to Toronto.
It's already been done on a number of issues. And the Feds have intentions of doing more. No-one has been more vociferous on this than Adam Vaughan. Drug injection sites, for instance. The Feds have been financing some municipal programs for decades directly w/o provincial participation. I'll post them again later, as I did on this point a couple of years back at UT.
Meantime:
Federal government threatens to bypass Queen's Park, accuse Ford of
[...]
The work around
"If we have to work around Queen's Park, we will work around Queen's Park. Because at the end of the day Torontonians are Canadians too, and the Canadian government has a responsibility to protect Canadians, especially when people are taking such vindictive and destructive actions towards them."
The Liberals have shown a penchant for finding ways to work around provinces.
The government's vaunted $40-billion national housing strategy provides some money to provinces and territories, but delivers the bulk of federal funding through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. to provide more direct cash to cities.
The Liberals first announced the funding bypass in the 2017 budget, arguing it was needed to ensure cities could quickly access and spend money on the country's stock of aging affordable housing.
Singh pushes back
Infrastructure money has also been delivered through programs run by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
In reaction to Ford's decision, the Prime Minister's Office said the government "will continue to be a strong partner with the City of Toronto."
[...]
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/toronto-ford-council-vaughan-1.4765191
The province is free to change that of course.
Actually not. The Courts may. There are many areas of the Constitution that aren't defined. Thus the SCC rulings on a number of matters.
[...]
By working more closely with municipalities, the Government of Canada is providing communities across the country with the tools they need to complete important infrastructure projects and make everyday life easier and more affordable for the middle class and people working hard to join it.
Quotes
“Since 2016, our government has invested in thousands of infrastructure projects across the country. This year, we are doubling funding for local priorities to help leaders like Mayor Iveson complete important infrastructure projects, create good, middle class jobs, and make our communities better places to live.”
—The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
“This investment answers our call for the federal government to work directly with local government. It's a recognition of our local frontline expertise and ability to be a good partner in delivering projects that will directly contribute to the local economy and a better quality of life for Edmontonians.”
—Don Iveson, Mayor of Edmonton
Quick Facts
- With many municipalities across Canada facing serious infrastructure needs, Budget 2019 proposes a one-time transfer of $2.2 billion through the federal Gas Tax Fund to address short-term priorities in municipalities and First Nations communities.
- Projects under this fund can be used for:
- Productivity and economic growth – including highways and local roads, public transit, and regional and local airports
- Clean environment – including drinking water, wastewater, and community energy systems
- Strong cities and communities – including sport and recreation, culture and tourism, and capacity building
- The federal Gas Tax Fund delivers over $2 billion every year to over 3,600 communities across the country. In recent years, funding has supported approximately 4,000 projects each year.
- The Gas Tax Fund provides municipalities with the flexibility to allocate the funding according to their infrastructure priorities, as they see fit.
- [...]
March 19, 2019
Federation of Canadian Municipalities President Vicki-May Hamm issued the following statement after today’s release of the Government of Canada’s 2019 federal budget.
“Today’s budget delivers major results for Canadians directly through their local governments. We welcome this as a significant turning point for cities and communities across Canada.
“Municipalities are the order of government closest to Canadians’ daily realities. From our unique position, we know what’s needed on the ground and we deliver cost-effective solutions that work. That’s why local governments are vital partners in achieving a wide range of federal objectives.
“Today’s budget elevates this federal-municipal partnership as the way to build better lives for Canadians. It puts community-building tools directly in local hands by growing next year’s core federal funding transfer to municipalities. It implements our urgent recommendations to close Canada’s rural Internet gap. And by investing in FCM’s programs, it builds on a federal-municipal collaboration that has been directly enriching the lives of Canadians for decades.
[...]
https://fcm.ca/en/news-media/news-release/budget-2019-turning-point-cities-and-communities
From the Parliamentary Library Publications:
http://publications.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp276-e.htm
This was published
Erin Tolley, Economics Division
William R. Young, Political and Social Affairs Division
October 1991
Revised February 2001
It is about to be rendered ever more relevant in light of certain Premiers testing the terms of the Constitution. Bring it on! The court decision will set them back, not forward. The Feds will win. And so will Cdn cities.
Meantime, funding rail projects, even city owned ones, or even privately funded ones can be declared "For the General Advantage of Canada" by Parliament, or the Lieutenant in Council (ostensibly the Privy Council)
Declaratory power under section 92(10)(c) In general terms, works declared by the Parliament of Canada to be "for the general Advantage of Canada" or "for the Advantage of Two or more of the Provinces" tend to be part of the national infrastructure.
Section 92(10) of the Constitution Act, 1867 - Wikipedia
Funding in part or whole by the Canada Infrastructure Bank might invoke that declaration, a whole other discussion looming.
If Doug Ford thinks he can piss in everyone's eye without consequence, he's in for a surprise, even before the next election. With greater Fed contribution to transit rail in the GTHA, I see a much greater chance of a common passenger rail network at least partially private, allowing leasing by both GO and VIA, akin to HFR but spread more widely. In fact I see it as one of the few possibilities for Ontario to 'go electric' as QP is doing everything it can to avoid electrifying the present GO network.
Ford will reap what he sows...into the vacuum that Ford leaves (he's a vacuous kinda guy) others will step. Gladly, and take jurisdictional as well as fiscal ownership as they do.
And here's the supreme irony of Ford using "Neo-Conservatism" as justification for his scorched earth approach (pun intended as per climate change):
Right wingers are the ones most promoting Section 92 as the 'saviour' for pipelines:
[...]
The founding fathers drafted the Constitution the way they did because they understood the local pressures faced by politicians, and the temptation to succumb to them. Section 91 sets out the federal Parliament's powers; Section 92 sets out provincial powers – but specifically reserves to Parliament key jurisdiction over shipping lines, railways, canals, telegraphs and other works or undertakings (including, today, pipelines) that connect one province with any other province(s), or beyond. It also gives Parliament the right to declare any work, even though "wholly situate within" a province, to be for the general advantage of Canada or of two or more provinces – and thus under federal jurisdiction. This "declaratory power" has been invoked more than 400 times since 1867.
[...]
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opi...-constitution-still-prevails/article29396439/
And another Conservative (Findlay above is a Liberal in name only), this is from Tom Flanagan, Harper's 'right hand man':
[...]
Section 92(10) powers are an extremely important and often used part of the Canadian Constitution. In the first five decades of Canadian history, the declaratory power was invoked more than 400 times, mostly to ensure that Canada's burgeoning railway system grew to national advantage. By the First World War, virtually every inch of rail track in Canada was under federal jurisdiction. More recently, the declaratory power was used to make Canada's nuclear industry a federal matter. [...]
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/to-connect-the-pipeline-connect-the-dots/article4461040/
What chugs around, whirrs back around later...
