This is how I feel reading Steve Munro. You're so stuck in WHAT IS and HOW THINGS ARE that you are unable to perceive where the problems lie or see the way through them. In case it wasn't stunningly obvious to anyone who lives in the GTA, I already acknowledged that people in the 905 obviously pay taxes in the 905 and people in the 416 pay taxes there so, as you say, of course everyone is stuck covering their own ass.
But that's the entirety of the problem! Your premier example is stunningly off, with all due respect, because people in Alberta and Nova Scotia don't use the same water but a person can live in Markham and work in Mississauga and then go to a Blue Jays game in Toronto all in one day. (And it's equally possible a Toronto resident would work in Markham, for that matter.) But you're so hung up on describing where taxes go and who votes for who that taking a step back and recognizing the obsolescence of those concepts is just beyond the pale. Moreover, if all the provinces somehow did share water, the federal government would be in charge of it because, at least in theory, you want to SCALE GOVERNMENT TO THE PROBLEM. Certainly Nova Scotia and Alberta send all their would-be soldiers into the same army, don't they?
And so, for the third or fourth time, our transportation issues exceed the current scale of government. You say there is "an operation" in charge of region-wide transportation issues, by which I assume you mean Metrolinx. But they are an AGENCY, not an AUTHORITY, which is really the entirety of my point. Why should I "let them do their job" when they have neither the money nor the legislative authority to do what I think we both agree that job should be?
To reiterate: people travel across borders all the time but there is no body with any authority that operates at a scale to confront that issue and so long as that persists, local transit agencies will be too concerned with serving their purported taxpayers to deal with the actual needs of riders who may or may not be their taxpayers (though I could counter that a Markham resident who comes to Toronto every day may not be a "taxpayer" or voter in your definition but they pay a TTC fare and probably by lunch and do a bunch of other things that drive Toronto's economy). TTC isn't going to solve York Region riders' problems and YRT won't be able to achieve certain of their goals either, so long as they operate largely at cross-purposes (or, at best, roughly in conjunction but not properly integrated). So while you're defending TTC's turf vs. YRT's in logical terms, it doesn't do much for a human being who requires use of both services.
Have I been clearer this time, Dan?
