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A PROJECT TO EMPOWER
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TWO OPPOSITION PARTIES CONSIDER CHARTER CITIES
According to their platforms and party resolutions,
here's where the main political parties stand on the Charter City project to empower Ontario's big cities.
here's where the main political parties stand on the Charter City project to empower Ontario's big cities.
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Green Leader Mike Schreiner
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Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca
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What the Charter City Project Wants from the Parties |
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A commitment to negotiate City Charters with Toronto and any other large Ontario City that wants one. These City Charters would describe cities' inherent authority over local affairs, including the ability to raise new forms of revenue. |
"We’ll look for new ways to strengthen municipal decision making, including city charters, and recognize and support municipal governments’ legitimate powers." • The NDP will "look" at City Charters, but doesn't commit to negotiate them. • No detail on what the NDP considers to be municipal governments'"legitimate" powers. |
"Assess the use of City Charters as a mechanism to empower major Ontario cities, such as Toronto, and prevent inappropriate interference in local democracy by the provincial government." • Greens support assessing City Charters but don't commit to negotiate them. • 2020 party resolution calls for "A fairer division of authority, revenue and constitutional status" -- exactly what Charter City Toronto is calling for. |
No mention of anything related to City Charters. |
Party commitment to pass a single-province constitutional amendment that would: • recognize cities as a level of government in their own right with inherent authority over local matters • protect City Charters from provincial changes that do not have the consent of the city. |
NDP • No mention of using constitutional to empower cities. • Cities would remain "creatures of the province", with no inherent status or authority, still vulnerable to provincial dictation, interference and veto over local decision |
GREENS "Municipalities are essential governments in their own right, yet have no constitutional status in Canada, rendering them powerless “creatures of the province”, unable to fully govern their own affairs." • Greens specifically support constitutional status for cities. |
LIBERALS No mention of constitution, recognizing cities or protecting them from provincial interference. |
Party commitment to give cities exclusive jurisdiction over strictly local affairs, such as land use planning and appeals, streets and local transit. Additional authority on local matters where cities are being hamstrung by the province, such as housing. These authorities would be entrenched in the City Charter. |
NDP "Reform the Ontario Land Tribunal: We’ll stop private interests impeding legitimate municipal decisions." • Good to reform the Ontario Land Tribunal, which is an emblem of provincial interference in local decision-making, but the platform gives no specifics. • There is no mention of exclusive jurisdiction to cities over local affairs or additional authority for cities. |
GREENS No mention of additional authority for cities in the platform, though the 2020 resolution calls for: • ensuring that important local decisions are made locally, and are respected by senior governments. • Reducing cost, duplication, unnecessary oversight and friction between the city and province by establishing exclusive jurisdictions and roles for each in municipal affairs, thus clearing the decks for co-operation on matters of truly mutual interest." |
LIBERALS Promise to "respect and empower the autonomy of municipalities" without any detail. The existing power relationship, where province has all the power and municipalities none, would continue. |
Party commitment to a new financial deal that gives cities control of large-scale, progressive taxes that grow with the economy. The goal: reducing cities dependence on property taxes and on strings-attached funding from other levels of government. |
NDP • No mention of reforming municipal funding or taxation,other than to criticize other parties for downloading costs onto local governments in the past. |
GREENS • Grant municipalities autonomy to implement revenue tools to fund critical infrastructure needs and services. • Provide financial support for municipalities to bolster local infrastructure, housing, transit and tools to fight climate change. |
LIBERALS • Promise to "better fund" municipalities, but no mention of empowering municipalities with greater revenue raising ability of their own. |
Party commitment for cities to be given control of their own governing institutions, including the size of their council, ward systems, voting mechanisms, plebiscites, etc. This control would be protected by the City Charter from provincial interference. |
NDP (The NDP will) "...pass Bill 121, the Municipal Representation Protection Act, which requires the government to give public notice, conduct consultations, and get the approval of municipalities before cutting the size of councils or changing, amalgamating, or dissolving wards." • No promise to reinstate Toronto's ability to determine its own governing institutions, which the Doug Ford government revoked in 2018. Authority would remain with the province, which would be required to get municipal consent for such changes. • But even if passed, Bill 121 can be simply revoked by any future provincial government, just as sections of the provincial City of Toronto Act were revoked in 2018 to give the Ford government the power to slash Toronto City council in half in the middle of an election. Such laws, without constitutional protection, are useless in the face of a provincial government determined to debase cities. |
GREENS "Free large cities up to consider innovative forms of local government." While the resolution is not specific on this point, the wording seems to indicate that the Green party is fully behind giving cities greater control of their own governing institutions. |
LIBERALS Liberals would "allow" municipalities to use ranked balloting, but not to come up with innovative solutions of their own. Any future government could revoke this permission, as the Ford government did after the previous Liberal government "allowed" ranked balloting. The Liberals seem to have learned nothing from their past failure to protect municipal democratic institutions and choices. |
OUR SUMMARY |
NDP Nice Words, No Teeth The NDP platform features good words about cities being best positioned to make local decisions. It promises without any detail to 'strengthen municipal decision-making" and be a better partner with cities and towns. And it promises to look into City Charters. All good. But the platform does not promise any fundamental reform. There is no mention of tax reform. No mechanism to give cities status as governments in their own right. Nothing to protect cities from interference by future provincial governments. It's basically the same paternalistic status quo, but the NDP promises to be a better dad than Doug Ford. Our Rating: C- |
GREEN PARTY Nails it. The Green Party platform is in essentially 99.9% agreement with the goals, values and policies of Charter City Toronto. We wish the party resolution had made a stronger commitment to negotiating City Charters, but otherwise it's everything we asked for. We are eagerly awaiting the release of the party's 2022 platform to see whether it contains the same commitment as the party's 2020 resolution. Our Rating: A- |
LIBERALS Same old, same old. The Liberal Party platform shows no interest in empowering Ontario's large cities or respecting municipalities as a level of government in their own right. It is fully a top down approach. The party considers that even municipalities of more than a million people should continue to be toothless "creatures of the province", subject in every way to provincial will whether they like it or not. A big middle finger to cities. Our Rating: F |
EKOS POLL SHOWS MASSIVE
SUPPORT FOR CHARTER CITIES
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THE TORONTO
CHARTER CITY PROPOSAL
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chartercitytoronto@gmail.com
