Meet A Mayoral Candidate XXII

It’s Friday. Time for another Meet A—Oh, pick me! Pick me! Can I do it?! Can I?? Huh? Huh? Huh?

Oh, I’ve been waiting for this one. It has my name written all over it. (Urban Sophisticat in case you can’t read the fine print.) This is the post I was born to write.

Up today: David Vallance!

But first, a history lesson, crudely told. (No, don’t worry, mother. There won’t be any curse words. Probably.) When Quebec voters want their voices to be heard and their views known in Ottawa and throughout the country, who do they turn to? The Bloc Quebecois and their provincial counterparts, the Parti Quebecois, non? On nous entendra, oui? Otherwise, we will pull up stakes from this thing we call confederation and go it alone, buckos. (How’s that for distilling over 400 years of history in a single paragraph?)

Now, that’s not to diminish the integrity of the separatist movement in la belle province as little more than political posturing. But for all its fidelity to the cause of an independent country, it also swings some mighty effective pipe in the corridors of power.

And couldn’t we here in Toronto use a little bit of that around about now?

We’re told, not asked, that we’ll be hosting the G20 meeting in the downtown core of the city. We’re told, not asked, to fund a slew of provincially mandated programs, without receiving adequate funding from the province. We’re told to expect x-billions of dollars for expanded transit funding only to have a serious chunk of it arbitrarily pulled from the table because someone else has run their coffers dry (having stocked it in the first place with much of our money). Sorry, chums. A bit strapped right now. I’ll get you next time.

The front running candidates for mayor belt out a familiar refrain about the city needing to get its fiscal house in order, and cease going to senior levels of government with cap in hand. Candidate David Vallance has another, more intriguing idea. A province of Toronto. Try that on for size. Walk around in it for a bit. See how it fits your curvy sensibilities.

The Province of Toronto?! What the hell are you talking about? That’s just crazy talk. Who is this insane David Vallance? Maybe he should take that tinfoil hat of his off.

Actually, Mr. Vallance is a former life insurance agent who, since 1979 has been part of a wide array of resident and ratepayers associations. He formed the Bloor-Annex Business Improvement Area (BIA) in 1996 and served on the board member of the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA). In 1997, Mr. Vallance chaired Taxpayers Against Megacity.

Versed as he is in business, he puts forward a business argument for why the city of Toronto should be a province. While Mr. Vallance has combed through the GTA’s FIRs (Financial Information Returns) to arrive at his conclusion, let me offer up the simplest reason: more money is extracted from Toronto by the senior levels of government then is returned in services by them. It was a point Joe Pantalone tried to make at this week’s CP24 mayoral debate but was shouted down by the other contenders who clearly didn’t want to talk about it. Why not? Well, it goes against the prevailing, anti-incumbent narrative that they’re trying to spin. Spending is out of control at City Hall. We have to rein it in. Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut!!

David Vallance doesn’t buy it. “Our spending problem is beyond our control,” he says. “For municipal services we are not out of line with most other municipalities and much of the spending reflects Toronto’s demographics.” i.e. a larger influx of immigrants and the related costs of settling them. In other words, the mayoral campaign of 2010 is being fought under false premises, driven by misdirection, lies and outright bullshit. (Sorry ma.)

Mr. Vallance sees a province of Toronto taking “… the boundaries of the former Metropolitan Toronto, an area of 630 square kilometres. The province would consist of the six municipalities that made up Metropolitan Toronto prior to amalgamation: the borough of East York and the cities of Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, Toronto and York.” We here at All Fired Up in the Big Smoke might take it one step further, inviting any of the GTA region that wanted to join forces. While much enmity can be summoned up toward Toronto from its exburb neighbours, I don’t think it’s that much of a stretch to say that, ultimately, places like Mississauga, Pickering and Vaughan (you’re welcome, btw, for that subway stop that’s coming your way) share much more in common with the central core than they do with, say, Kapuskasing. Vallance wouldn’t go down that road but, hey, we’re not going to agree on everything. Even just encompassing 416 would make a province of Toronto the fifth most populous in the country.

A province of Toronto would elect a provincial government just like we do currently in Ontario, with a similar party system. The megacity would then be broken down back into more workable pieces, not necessarily a bad thing as all those benefits of size have failed to materialize. If in place now, Mayor David Miller would probably be running for a third term while Etobicoke would have that ‘crazy’ mayor Rob Ford. Instead of negotiating with a Queen’s Park full of outsiders, there’d be a province who understands the unique needs of the city because they actually live here. On matters of federal jurisdiction, Toronto would deal directly with Ottawa without having to go through and be dictated by an entity called Ontario.

Certainly there are those like retiring PC MPP Bill Murdoch (Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound) who would not only hold the door open for Toronto to leave but would help pack our bags, so he and his people would be free to cull all the animals they wanted without any interference from us. If he can imagine an Ontario without Toronto, why can’t we picture a Toronto outside of Ontario? It’s easy if you try. Let’s at least have that debate. It’s time to welcome David Vallance to the table in order for his views to be heard.

— patriotically civically submitted by Urban Sophisticat