Finance and Forex Trading Forum

Guest

Dismissive Tories lack urban savvy

Mar 15, 2008 04:30 AM
Royson James

Dwight Duncan versus Jim Flaherty. Dalton McGuinty as opposed to
Stephen Harper. Provincial government and federal government.

Compare them and weep, Greater Toronto. At every point of measured
weighting, the latter suffers by comparison with the former. And urban
Canada, especially the Toronto area, feels the fallout.

Ontario under McGuinty is far from perfect in its dealings with cities
and towns, the urban units that define where we live. But McGuinty, in
word and deed, in observable attitude and announced intent, bends over
to give cities and towns a hand up.

The latest example is the announcement this week that a solid portion
of any year-end Ontario budget surplus above the expected $750 million
would flow to municipalities to help with projects like bus routes,
the subway extension to York Region and the like.

Meanwhile, our Prime Minister, through his dismissive posture and the
insulting arrogance of his finance minister Flaherty, is more inclined
to give cities the back of the hand. Harper may be Toronto-born, but
he surely isn't Toronto-bred. He has lived in cities, but certainly
disconnected from the currents that underpin urban life.

Seeing that politicians love to be loved, and they want to get re-
elected, and it is generally assumed that a national political party
cannot survive by turning its back on the majority of the population,
then the Harperites must be on suicide watch.

After all, you don't diss Hazel McCallion, the oldest, longest-
serving, most respected and influential mayor in all the country, if
you need to win seats in her city, the sixth largest in the nation.

Unless there are greater countervailing forces at play; maybe the
federal Tories just don't get it – for understandable reasons.

By one count, only two of Harper's cabinet members have elected
municipal government experience. McGuinty has 12 such ministers, about
43 per cent of his cabinet. Which, then, is better versed on what it
takes to run a city?

Too few of Harper's cabinet members have dirt under their fingernails
serving the public. Not enough have had to wrestle with the choice of
spending a dollar on a playground or keeping an aging school pool
open; cutting a bus route or fixing a thousand potholes.

In Ottawa, where such matters are viewed from the safe elevation of an
eagle, the current government is not outfitted with eagle-eyed vision.
Without the hands-on political experience to counter the missing
vision, we get what we now have – almost complete denial and disavowal
of the needs of urban Canada.

So, what to do? Send more former mayors and city councillors to the
federal government in Ottawa and hope to change the calculus? Even
that won't be easy. By-elections are being held on Monday. If you
wanted to make a positive impact on the Harper government by sending a
pro-city candidate to the federal caucus, that opportunity was pulled
out from under you in Toronto Centre Rosedale.

Harper dropped candidate Mark Warner when he started speaking up for
cities, contrary to federal Tory party policies.

So, the voter concerned about the declining state of city roads and
bridges and transit and social housing is left with just one option.

Reject all federal Tory candidates.

Been there and done that, in these parts – with the current
unsatisfactory results. But how can one reward a politician who spits
in your face?

Royson James usually appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

http://www.thestar.com/article/346396