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EMPOWER AND
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Liberal Leadership Candidate Backs Charter Cities
MPP Michael Coteau, candidate for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party.
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A candidate for the leadership of the provincial Liberal party has come out in favour of creating Charter Cities in Ontario, though his plan lacks a key element: constitutional protection of any new deal for cities.
Michael Coteau, the MPP for Don Valley East, made the announcement in a letter to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) on August 16. The move, Coteau said, would "better reflect current reality" and ensure that Ontario's large urban municipalities are equipped to manage their continued growth and change." "The notion that Ontario's municipalities are creatures of the province is simply antiquated", Coteau said in his letter. |
Coteau called for a "fresh relationship" between the province and Ontario's cities.
He proposed an "expert-led consultation" that would look at which level of government can best provide which services, and how cities can be funded without increased reliance on provincial transfers.
He also called for a specific review of the municipal land use planning system in which provincial bodies can overrule municipal decisions on development.
He proposed an "expert-led consultation" that would look at which level of government can best provide which services, and how cities can be funded without increased reliance on provincial transfers.
He also called for a specific review of the municipal land use planning system in which provincial bodies can overrule municipal decisions on development.
Coteau did not address how any new City Charter would be protected from being watered down or revoked by a future provincial government that isn't as keen on empowering cities. Over the years, provincial governments have had a history of granting additional powers to the city of Toronto, only to see subsequent governments--even of the same political stripe--take those powers back.
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The 2006 City of Toronto Act, passed by a Liberal government, held out the possibility of Toronto collecting road tolls on city streets to pay for transit. But when the city tried to do so in 2017, another Liberal government refused permission, instead offering money that has left the city more dependent than ever on provincial handouts.
In 2018, the current Ford government revoked the city's power under the City of Toronto Act to determine the governing structure of the city. The province cancelled a small increase to the number of city councillors from 44 to 47 and in fact slashed the council nearly in half. Charter City Toronto proposes that any new City Charter must be protected by a constitutional amendment that would prevent changes to the Charter without the agreement of the city. CCTO sees this as the only way to give cities the status they need and to protect that status from future revocation by a hostile provincial government. |
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Charter City Toronto's call for a city charter for Toronto has now been publicly endorsed by politicians at all three levels of government: Mr. Coteau at the provincial level; Josh Matlow, the city councillor for Toronto-St Paul's; and at the federal level, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Toronto Liberal MP Adam Vaughan.
NDP: Curb Province's Power
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Federal Green Party
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chartercitytoronto@gmail.com
