By Rita Trichur
Two regional councillors were given the cold shoulder by Premier Mike Harris when they tried to present him with a $50-million bill.
Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes and Capital Coun. Clive Doucet travelled to Queen’s Park last week to ask Harris to reimburse the region for a $50-million shortfall caused by the provincial downloading of community services.
But Harris refused to see them.
“Well, he wasn’t interested in meeting with us – surprise, surprise,” says Doucet. “So we gave (a bill) to his administrative assistant and tacked one on the door.”
Holmes and Doucet say essential services will be cut unless the province pays up. Social assistance, child care, public health, social housing, public transit, roads and the Children’s Aid Society are all threatened by the deficit.
“In 1997, the province promised municipal leaders the downloading would be revenue neutral. We didn’t get revenue neutrality,” says Holmes.
“We are paying for the $50 million of download by deferring projects, cutting services and raiding sewer and transit reserve funds.”
Doucet is doubtful Harris will pay up and says nothing short of a change of government will help the situation.
The premier’s office deferred comment on the matter to Municipal Affairs spokeswoman Jill Vienneau, who doesn’t know if or when Harris will respond.
However, Vienneau says the provincial government “is pleased to see” a tax freeze in Ottawa-Carleton, and partially credits it to a one-time $25-million provincial grant awarded to the Region in 1998.
She added the cost of transferring education to the province did offset the cost of shifting services to the regions.
Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton says the real culprit is the province’s 30-per-cent income tax cut. Community services had to be cut to pay for it, he says.
Hampton says more municipalities need to stand up to the Harris government. He estimates the download will cost Ontario’s municipalities a total of $700 million annually and could result in new user-fees, higher property taxes and a loss of health care.
“They are downloading these services to use it to finance Mr. Harris’ so-called 30-per-cent tax cut,” says Hampton. “The vast majority of middle-class families won’t win, they will lose.”
If the NDP is elected, Hampton vows to roll back the income tax scheme for those making a taxable income of $80,000 or more.
“That would give us $1.5 billion to put back into health care, education and community services,” he says.
As for the regional budget, there will be no tax hikes for Ottawa-Carleton residents in 1999. This year, the average homeowner in Ottawa will pay $2,147 for regional services — the same as last year.
Valuable social and health programs were slashed, along with 80 municipal jobs and much-needed road projects, to fund the tax freeze in the $1.2 billion regional budget. Doucet says other essential services could also be axed. He says Ottawa-Carleton is creating alliances with other municipalities to lobby the province for the money.
“This government doesn’t move unless great pressure is applied.”