Cities must have more economic clout, report says

By Paul Waldie
Tuesday, February 6, 2007 – Globe & Mail, Page A7

Canadian cities are facing a fiscal crisis and their plight should be a
national priority, a major study by the Conference Board of Canada
concludes.... The 121-page report, to be released this morning, makes 32
recommendations, ranging from boosting investments in transportation and
affordable housing to changing how cities are governed and giving them more
power to tax.

"We are counting on cities to be the engines of our prosperity and yet we
are neglecting them," Anne Golden, the board's president and chief
executive, said in an interview. "We are starving them of investment and
money. We are dis-empowering them rather than empowering them. And,
therefore, we are undermining our own efforts to achieve sustainable
prosperity.... If we want to create the jobs in Canada, we have to
acknowledge the fact that [cities] are carrying a disproportionate burden,
both in terms of what they are doing and in terms of our expectations of
them. And we have to really stop holding them back," Ms. Golden added.

One way they are held back is through tax policy, she said. Right now, most
cities have limited powers of taxation and rely primarily on property taxes.
The report says cities collect less than 12 per cent of all money raised by
government, yet they have been asked to take on more services and cope with
rising populations.

The report says provincial governments should give cities wider taxing
powers and the ability to share in revenue generated by other taxes. It also
calls on cities to better manage the money they currently raise and it urges
them to work more closely with neighbouring communities.

Ms. Golden said THE REPORT ALSO RECOMMENDS THAT INVESTMENT EFFORTS FOCUS
PRIMARILY ON 10 LARGE OR "HUB" CITIES -- Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton,
Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax --
because their growth will benefit their regions...

Full article: http://tinyurl.com/yvls5z
--------------------------------------

Usually, there's not much worth noting in what's put out by the conservative
Conference Board of Canada, but this report appears different. (I've not
read the whole thing.) 

Going by Waldie's G&M  article, it seems to me that the report conveys much
the same message WISE has for the past three years (in less than 121 pages),
but we urge that ALL local governments - not just big cities - must be given
more responsibility and the resources to back it up, so they may address
issues which they identify as important to them. 

We agree, for example, with Toronto Mayer David Miller that his city should
be given a portion of the sales tax it collects. Where we disagree is on the
amount he's asking - just one cent of the 14 cents collected - and that
Toronto should be given back this amount by the province or feds, rather
than retain it at source. 

The issue is one of who's in charge. Political power must return to the
people, it must return to governments that are accessible from within our
own communities. Purported government goodies should not be dispensed in
one-size-fits-all packets from distant lofty towers. Those who abide in
those towers haven't a clue what's happening in communities.

Ocean, WISE Coordinator
http://www.wise-bc.org/

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