CHARTER CITY TORONTO

CHARTER CITY
PROPOSAL OVERVIEW

A TWO-STEP PROPOSAL
TO EMPOWER TORONTO AND OTHER LARGE CITIES

1. ADOPT A CITY CHARTER

A City Charter will set out:

• The exclusive authority of a city
to act on municipal issues
• Shared authority, with clear roles, to act with the province in areas of mutual interest
• Guaranteed city authority to raise
necessary revenues.

The Charter would be negotiated between a city and the province, with extensive public consultation, and passed as provincial legislation.

The content of a City Charter may
differ from city to city.

2. AMEND THE CONSTITUTION

An amendment to the Canadian
constitution would:

• Enable the creation of City Charters
in large Ontario cities
• Describe how to create a City Charter
• Describe how to amend a City Charter, with the provision that no such change could be made without the consent of the city.

The Ontario government, the House of Commons and Senate would pass the amendment, which would apply only to Ontario.

Other provinces could in the future join the amendment or pass a similar one of their own.

CONTENT OF THE CHARTER

We propose that initially, a City Charter for Toronto should cover four broad areas:
Governance, Authority, Resources, and Protection.
Other cities may have different priorities.

Governance

The city of Toronto would regain the authority to determine its own governing structures.

That authority was revoked by the province in 2018.

The city would have full control over: city council and the Mayor's office; the city bureaucracy; agencies, boards and commissions; community councils; oversight and accountability, and elections.

Toronto is the only municipality in Ontario without such authority.

Authority

The Charter would place exclusive responsibility and authority for key municipal functions clearly in the hands of an empowered city government.

Where necessary, the city and province would share authority in certain areas, but with clear rules defining the roles and authorities of the two partners.

The city would be empowered to make arrangements, financial and otherwise, directly with other governments, including other cities.

Resources

The Charter would give the city control of (not
just access to) the revenues and resources it needs.

It would also continue
the practice of sharing the wealth generated in
the city with its municipal neighbours, the province and the country as a whole.

Cities currently have access to just 10 per cent of all taxes
raised in Canada; the rest goes to the federal and provincial governments.

Protection

We propose that the provincial and federal governments create
and pass a single-province amendment to the Canadian Constitution.

The amendment would define Charter Cities and end their status as "creatures of the province" whose every decision--and very existence--is subject to provincial override.

This would ensure that no changes could be
made to the City Charter without the express consent of the city.