Toronto could see cuts 'rapidly happen' without more money from feds, province: McKelvie
CBC
Toronto's next mayor will have to oversee cuts to services if other levels of government don't help cover a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall, the deputy mayor said Wednesday, criticizing what she described as Ottawa's lack of support for the city.
Jennifer McKelvie argued the federal budget released a day earlier had shut out Toronto.
"While the federal government wants to focus on growth, they can't leave municipalities that are very much in the state of recovery behind," McKelvie said at city hall.
The budget shortfall loomed large as Toronto city council met Wednesday for the first time since former mayor John Tory resigned last month after revealing he had an "inappropriate affair" with a staffer.
The next mayor will be charged with securing support for the city from the other levels of government, McKelvie said.
"I look forward to the new mayor ... getting a good deal for Toronto," she said.
Toronto's budget, approved by council last month, was balanced on the assumption the province and federal governments would come up with a combined $933 million to bail out the city's 2023 pandemic-related shortfalls, related largely to reduced transit revenues and increased shelter costs.
But Ontario and the federal government made no such commitments in their respective budgets.
Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Toronto had received "massive support" from the federal government throughout the pandemic, including $1 billion as part of program to help municipalities recover lost revenue.
There are "legitimate questions" about whether the city has enough of a tax base, she said, adding it would be "highly appropriate" for the city to seek out support from the provincial government, which tabled a budget last week that forecasted surpluses next year and the year after.
"I think today it would make a lot of sense for City Hall to just go up University (Avenue) and knock on the door at Queen's Park and say 'you're looking pretty flush. We think you should write a few cheques to the City of Toronto'," Freeland told a local radio show, according to a transcript of remarks provided by her office.
A spokeswoman for Ontario Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark said the province continues to support Toronto to ensure it is addressing local needs.
"Ontario has provided over $2.7 billion in COVID-19 support funding to address Toronto's pandemic-related impacts," Victoria Podbielski wrote in a statement
"This includes joint federal-provincial investments under the Safe Restart Agreement, and other provincial supports to address COVID-19 impacts to local services such as transit, shelters, and public health."
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