In 2006, as part of his argument to gain broad, permissive powers for the City of Toronto, Mayor David Miller pulled out every stop to get a seat at the table with the senior levels of government.
He even made it sound personal, arguing the City is a "mature" level of government and deserving of "respect." Miller got his seat at the table and won additional broad authority to tax and regulate from the Dalton McGuinty government.
The so-called Stronger City of Toronto for a Stronger Ontario Act took effect in 2007.
The problem is the act didn't strengthen anything worthwhile.
NEW TAXES
It resulted very quickly in implementation of two of eight proposed taxes (municipal land transfer tax and municipal personal vehicle tax), additional user fees (e.g. garbage collection) and new regulations (e.g. emissions reporting, plastic bags).
And, the grief won't end there. Miller is already talking about more fees to help finance Toronto's exponentially growing spending, including the latest overly generous deal following the painful civic workers' strike.
Two years into this experiment with the City of Toronto Act, a new study by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) provides a disturbing appraisal of the actual impact of the legislation.
In terms of economic growth, 74% of respondents feel the City of Toronto Act has not transformed Toronto into a better place to do business, while 83% believe the act has not encouraged job creation nor helped attract investment to the city.
As far as political accountability is concerned, 82% of respondents feel the act has not made the mayor and city councillors more responsible to the public, while 85% disagree the delivery and quality of services has improved and 79% say City Hall is not doing a better job controlling spending.
Taxation and regulation are believed to have worsened according to 86% and 77% of respondents, respectively. These findings pre-date the recent civic strike that understandably has left most Torontonians with an even more jaundiced view of Toronto's effectiveness.
With more than 90% of the businesses surveyed anticipating further tax and compliance constraints as a result of the City of Toronto Act, it is hardly surprising that many say they are seriously considering relocating their business to surrounding, more business-friendly areas.
JOBS GONE
The exodus of businesses and jobs to the 905 began over Toronto's unfair business property tax burden and is now being exacerbated by this wrong-headed legislation.
At the outset, small business owners, the general public, and even mayors across Ontario opposed the granting of broad, permissive taxation and regulatory powers to municipalities.
The CFIB's new study provides important post-implementation input from the sector that creates the bulk of net new jobs in the economy.
Yet, the present mandatory review of this grand experiment in granting a municipality unprecedented powers appears to be nothing more than a low-key, little known formality.
It is a disservice to Torontonians to whitewash what should be an opportunity to fix the legislation and give everyone some hope the future will indeed be stronger.
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