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Rally for Toronto - September 26th 5:30pm @ Toronto City Hall
If you are concerned about the direction our city is headed in, come to this event, and/or call your City Councillor in advance of the September 26th Council meeting, where the proposed budget cuts will be voted on.
Facebook event here
Also, here is an open letter I wrote to Rob Ford. I suggest you write him one too if you are concerned:
| quote: | Mayor Ford,
I am writing you this email to express my dismay on some of the proposed spending cuts. Let me preface this by saying that I appreciate that our city is facing a budget defecit that needs to be addressed, and this will not be an easy task, no matter what the solution.
This past week, I had the displeasure of driving from East York to the airport almost every day, and even at 7am the 401 was extremely congested. It is no secret that the traffic congestion is a serious problem in Toronto, and is in my opinion reaching a critical mass. This congestion costs the Toronto economy an insurmountable amount of economic output each year, harms the environment by idling vehicles, and just makes life in Toronto less pleasant by having to deal with travel times that are some of the worst in North America.
Two fundamental solutions to this problem, is further investment in alternate modes of transportation, such as a comprehensive public transportation system (which you stopped, re: Transit City) and bike lanes (some of which you have removed). After having lived in Lyon, France, and after having travelled around Europe and seeing how much superior European municipal (and provincial, and national for that matter) public transit systems are compared to Toronto, it makes me wonder why our city can't have something so great. In these cities, unless your job required it, in most cases you wouldn't dream of owning a car because public transportation is reliable, comfortable, and inexpensive.
Another important solution to this problem are disincentives to get people out of their cars, such as road tolls and vehicle registration taxes, (the latter of which you eliminated). The elimination of this revenue source is one of the reasons that the TTC is facing service reductions, which will cause more crowding and push people into buying cars, which will congest our already packed roads even further. Simply put, I believe that TTC service reductions, the removal of bike lanes, and removal of the vehicle registration tax are steps in the wrong direction.
Another proposed spending cut which is concerning is the proposed cuts to the arts. I have read that Toronto spends a disproportionately small amount of money on the arts on a per person basis, in comparison with other large cities. Toronto spends $18 per person, whereas New York spends $74 per person, and San Francisco $85 per person. As a taxpayer, I would love to spend at double the amount the amount that I am currently paying, because the arts are a very important aspect of our economy and society. Although my career has nothing to do with the arts, the arts are a very important consideration that I, a young adult, consider when deciding where to establish myself. For example, Nuit Blanche is one of my favourite things about living in Toronto. Furthermore, the arts generate economic activity, in the form of tourism, and create jobs for people who will in turn pay taxes on the income they earn at those jobs. Spending on the arts should be scrutinized to ensure that taxpayers' money is being spent wisely, however we should be spending more money on the arts, not less.
As far as solutions go to our current budget deficit, although I'm sure it is impossible politically since you built your campaign on this issue, reimplementation of the vehicle registration tax would be a good start, along with road tolls as discussed above. Furthermore, although it is a politically explosive issue, I'm sure that you can agree that the level of wages a great deal of City workers earn as a result of collective bargaining is well above what they should be earning based on market conditions. These costs represent a significant part of the City's budget, and to me, this is where the "gravy train" exists. As a taxpayer, I do not particularly enjoy my money funding unfair wages, when people in the private sector are doing the exact same job for less money. I voted for you to stop the gravy train, so if we want to get serious about cost reduction, this is where the focus of the cuts should be.
I have heard that the Ontario government spends a disproportionately small amount on Toronto city services (for example, the TTC), when compared with other cities in Canada or even in the U.S. How can I find out more information about funding levels for city services by the Ontario government, in comparison with other cities and their respective Provincial governments, so that I may call my MPP and express my concern?
One last area of concern is your proposal to change the direction of development of the Port Lands. This area is close to where I have lived in the city for most of my life, and simply put, I am fundamentally against building a large commercial mall in that area. This area should be mixed use, with parks and recreation facilities for the citizens of Toronto to enjoy. For this reason, I believe the current plan for the area by Waterfront Toronto is superior to the plan you have proposed. I further do not agree with the manner in which this plan was formulated, i.e. with little to no consultation from our elected city officials (City Councillors).
Overall, with the proposed spending cuts, the proposed change in direction for the Port Lands area, the change in direction of Transit City, the removal of bike lanes and vehicle registration taxes, among other things, I am concerned that our city is moving in the wrong direction.
Thank you for the time you have taken to read this letter.
Signed,
--A concerned citizen |
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