The possibility of Toronto becoming a province has popped up in the news again. The idea has floated around for years, supported by a variety of civic thinkers including the urban guru Jane Jacobs.
The idea has considerable merit and not only for Toronto. Under our Constitution, cities are creatures of the provinces, to be dealt with as provincial politicians see fit. This may have been reasonable when we were a rural country, but we have become an urban country, and it’s time to reverse the relationship. A good start would be transforming our major cities into provinces. They are, after all, the centres of cultural and economic activity and should therefore be the centres of power.
Acquiring provincial status might require a constitutional amendment … or it might not. If the federal and provincial government agreed to split a province, a constitutional amendment might not be necessary.
Calgary’s mayor, Naheed Nenshi, a vocal advocate for Canadian cities, has been talking a lot about the need for more sources of revenue for cities, emphasizing that their growing costs drastically outpace their property tax revenues. “I’m the mayor of a city that has more people in it than five provinces,” he points out, “yet I have the exact same legislative authority as any village of 30 or 40 people. And that has to change.”
Indeed it does. And if he starts promoting the provincial option as the agent of that change, he will get my support.
