The mayors of 28 Ontario cities are calling out the Ford government for "downloading by stealth," a move that is forcing municipalities to consider raising taxes or cutting services.
The Large Urban Mayor’s Caucus of Ontario (LUMCO) released a statement Tuesday that said the province did not consult with cities, which have already approved their budgets, before implementing funding and governance changes.
“Big-city mayors from across Ontario are extremely concerned that the government of Ontario is engaging in downloading by stealth," LUMCO Chair and Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie said. "This amounts to millions of dollars per year in funding reductions to vital, front-line services including public health, policing, library services, child care, tourism, and flood management. This is on top of a cap on Ontario gas tax funding and ongoing uncertainty with major changes to ambulance services."
The changes by the Ontario government effectively force municipalities to "consider tax increases or service cuts to absorb the download in services it has proposed," said Guthrie.
The big city mayors also took issue with the way municipalities were informed of the funding changes, stating they were notified in "piecemeal fashion" through letters to agencies that came after municipal budgets were passed.
"The first line in Finance Minister Fedeli’s budget speech indicated the government would not raise taxes. The budget paper explicitly says that changes and costs need to be sustainable for both orders of government," said Guthrie. "There is only one taxpayer. It is disingenuous to say that the changes are sustainable if municipalities are left to consider how to make up the shortfalls."
While the group support's the province's effort to eliminate the deficit, it stressed balancing the books cannot be done at the expense of local taxpayers, without consultation.
"We call on the Government of Ontario to postpone the implementation of these funding cuts to at least 2020, to allow for proper discussion with municipalities and local residents. We call on the government of Ontario to be transparent about its intentions and engage with cities before downloading more services," said Guthrie.
The mayors have also invited Premier Doug Ford to join them at their next LUMCO meeting. At this point, it is unknown whether he will attend.
The LUMCO includes mayors from London, Windsor, Chatham-Kent, Kitchener, Hamilton, Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville, Ajax, Barrie, Brampton, Brantford, Burlington, Cambridge, Kingston, Milton, Markham, Oshawa, Ottawa, Pickering, Richmond Hill, St. Catharines, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Vaughan, Waterloo, and Whitby.