Olivia Chow had a Hobson’s choice. And both choices were wrong. The temporary mayor of Toronto soon found that she was out of her depth. She was never expected to get along with the federal or provincial governments and the foolish voters of Toronto, who voted for Chow, got the rebuff that they deserved.
What did you expect from a person who rides a bicycle to work? The new mayor thought she had two possibilities to fix the immediate problems at city hall. All the problems needed was money. She picked what she thought would be the easiest mark.
Did she need to be told that provincial governments were responsible for the municipalities in their province? And wasn’t it a bit presumptuous of her to ask the federal government? It was finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland who took the trouble to explain to Ms. Chow where she had erred.
Ms. Freeland not only explained to Ms. Chow how the system worked but she also made reference to the many billions already provided to the province by the federal government and to the city so that they could supply the services required by the citizens in Toronto. She politely did not reference the recent disclosure that the province had tucked away some $10 billion that it had not spent to help restore the healthcare system in the province.
Ms. Freeland also reminded Ms. Chow of the communications with the previous tenants in the mayor’s office—including mayor John Tory and deputy mayor Jennifer McKelvie. She had told the two of them that while the federal government had willingly helped Toronto with some billions of dollars for some of its major projects, the province was the proper source for the funds being requested. The provincial government had the legal and moral responsibility. It also had the money.
Freeland lectured the one-time member of parliament that the spending capacity of the federal government was not infinite. The federal government hardly runs a never-emptied ATM for the provinces and the cities of Canada. As much as the government might like to, there are limits.
And Ms. Chow will have to take her problems to Mr. Ford’s government at Queen’s Park. And, of course, we all wish her well in dealing with those skinflints.
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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