Uplifting

When I read about our mayor heading out across the province to garner support for a change in formula that the Dalton Gang uses for funding cities, I went back to a column I wrote here three years ago about the City State. Obviously my thoughts on how we might change our governance model did not stir anyone to action so I now have to re-think my ideas on funding among the three levels of government.

Ever since we began playing the political game people have sought favours or favourable treatment from the politicians in power. And ever since we began paying taxes to the Lord and Master, we have resented it. No matter what largess the Master bestows on us, we never think it matches the amount we have contributed to the common weal. Somehow, a portion of our money seems to attach itself to sticky fingers or greedy bureaucrats along the way.

This may have been part of the thinking of our favourite son, the former MPP who became Premier, when he thought to download some of the things the Provincial government did at the local municipal level. Supposedly, we at the local level could do a better job of meeting local needs. More hands on, if you will. In his grandiose scheme, the costs would be revenue-neutral, the province giving us our money back to perform local works.

Unfortunately, the formulae for returning money did not work too well. Smaller communities did not send enough money to the Boss for him to return sufficient funds to cover the cost of local work. In the olden days when people did not move around much, local needs could be met, in a fashion, by local taxes. But as we became more mobile, our costs of living transferred as we moved from town to town, or as is now happening, from rural to urban centers. As our communications improved, people saw and heard of better health care, better education and better roads. They soon wanted the same services as their neighbours in the large urban centers.

In a province as large and diverse as ours, this equalization of services is problematic at best. Just as a small town may not have a Costco store, neither will it have a neuro-surgeon on staff at the local health centre. Although we may think we are entitled to the same level of personal protection, the response of a fire department to an emergency in Toronto may be a whole lot faster than a department can provide to someone living at Rural Route 6 in the country. Small schools cannot afford to have the same level of equipment as large urban schools, but we would like to think that all our children have an equal chance for a good education.

If the Provincial government cannot arrive at funding formulae that satisfy small town Ontario, then we will see the mayors and councils banding together in protest. The reality is that gather as they may, their number may still be too small to influence a government that will soon be going to the polls and carefully assessing where the votes come from – North Bay or Toronto.

The solution to the funding dilemma might be to up-lift all the local costs to the central government. If we are all entitled to the same level of health care, education and protection to person and property, then let the one central government look after our needs. Let the Province pay for all of our Home for Aged costs; all of the policing and courts costs; all of the Health Unit and Hospital costs; all of our education costs, from Pre K to college. Let the Province pay for the roads and bridges that we all use; let them pay for the costs of the Conservation Authority and environmental costs such as garbage collection and recycling.

You get the picture. The only thing that we would have to pay for on a local level is – nothing. You would pay your utilities the same as you would for gasoline and groceries. Think of the savings – no need for local accountants, lawyers and clerks. Through the wonder of the internet, everything could be done in the Big Smoke. We would still have local people doing our snow plowing and fixing the sewers – so long as the company they worked for put in the lowest bid to the provincial government. Our fire, police and social workers would simply get their pay cheques from Queens Park, not City Hall.

Business groups like the Chamber of Commerce and the DIA could continue to do their own thing. They could even run a Heritage Festival, if they wanted. We would hardly need a City Council because there would be no local issues! Well, we might have to keep our Mayor, because even a small pond requires one large fish.

While down-loading did not work, neither would up-lifting. We all want to think we have some control over our lives and where we live. The answer has to be somewhere in between the two extremes. We need a share of the taxes we pay, not only our property taxes, but sales and income taxes. The refunding of part of the gas tax was a start, but we need to be able to determine locally where those tax dollars are spent. If the Dalton Gang, or those who are about to follow them, want to keep a part of the province ‘rural’ and away from the Golden Horseshoe, they will have to share the coffers so we can afford to live in places like North Bay.

Good luck to the Vic and Judy show.

(I have been busy putting some of my books on www.lulu.com – take a look! Bill)