Election Update

Yawn.

CityNews on Monday evening - within thirty seconds of the polls closing - declared David Miller the winner of the Mayor's race.

I told you.

The price of admission was justified only a couple minutes later, when the Live Eye reporter told Jane Pitfield of their declaration.

The look on her face.

The reaction.

If only we could have four years of that. I think it would be funnier than Lastman.

Well, not likely.

So with some 57% of the vote on a modest platform, Miller spoke. Toronto seemingly became a better city than it was on Sunday. Miller referred to Her as a World Class City.

I haven't heard that from a Mayor since Lastman.

"Toronto needs sustainable funding," said Miller.

I haven't heard that from a Mayor since Miller. On Sunday. And countless times over the last three years.

And then unexpectedly Toronto became more of a bully. We are the centre of the universe, after all - although some days it's hard to see. We were not only reminded of this, but told to hold onto it. Even though Alberta is booming, Tim's is paying $14 and hour, and the Prime Minister resides there, just south of Redneckville.

So Bravo to Miller. After three years of getting nowhere with funding, after Lastman got nowhere, he sends a volley.

Give us sales tax, or Toronto will vote you out. Just one cent. And keep your jobs.

How much is that? Nearly half a billion dollars a year. Should the rest of Canada care? Yes and no. It's our money - Torontonians are taxpayers after all, so you should mind that we want to spend our money in our hood. If we get it money from, let's say the Feds, that opens the door for Halifax and Winnipeg and Redneckville to do the same.

Half a billion dollars. Just enough to cover the anticipated deficit Toronto will see next year. Only two thirds of what we pay after Provincial downloading.

Time for some math, people. Let's keep in mind Toronto's budget is over $7 billion. Bigger than most provinces. The Federal Surplus is $13 billion. Nearly twice Toronto's budget. Roughly ten percent of Canadians live in Toronto. Assuming Torontonians spend at the same rate as everyone else, it is very safe to say $1.3 billion of that surplus is Our money.

So the reaction?

Dalton McGinty said he'd really like to help, but his wallet is empty. Go to the feds, and please don't ask me anything about the downloading issue.

Stephen Harper hasn't said anything. He's from Leaside after all. And he's busy trying to lower the GST to 5%. We're not much of a threat to him - we didn't vote for him. Not one seat in Toronto is Blue. And he doesn't seem to currently be in need of a seat from us. So long as he doesn't piss of Quebec, we're not needed.

Harper sent the Minister of Transport to town. Lawrence Cannon came announced $40 million in national transit funding specifically to increase security. The TTC was of course expecting a good cut, being the largest transit authority in the country. Perhaps enough to install more cameras in the subway. Or new garbage cans to replace the shitty new ones, which replaced the excellent old ones, in the name of public safety in light of terrorism.

Instead, the TTC received what pretty much equals one day's cost to operate.

$1.5 million.

To Recap:

Miller said, "Give me some money or we'll send you home."
McGuinty said, "Fuck off and talk to Harper."
Harper said, "Fuck you, you never let me play."

So, are we doomed? Toronto has new taxation powers starting next year. Toronto will be able to tax beer and concert tickets. So we could always pay more tax and forget about the tax we don't see.

In all, Miller's speech left me finally feeling good about the city and what it could be. Now I feel dread - only 24 hours into it, what could be is lost until the next election.

I hope the monentum has just begun. Toronto simply won't last another four years otherwise.

Categories: Politics, Toronto, Transit