Why Municipalities Deserve More Respect

It’s so perplexing to learn that municipalities have no independent constitutional standing and fall entirely under the provincial government’s control. During the founding of Canada, provinces and cities were given little to no regard. The majority of the population was rural, and the government had a far lesser role than it does now. Over the following years, cities became the economic drivers, and as government grew, so did the necessity for cities to play a larger role in providing public services.

In terms of both its population and economic production, Toronto is exceptional. According to the latest data from Statistics Canada, Toronto is responsible for 20% of Canada’s GDP and 53% of Ontario’s. No other province rivals Toronto’s economic supremacy. Simply expressed, the Greater Toronto Area contributes more to the national economy than any other jurisdiction, including the remainder of Ontario. In addition, Montreal (55 percent of Quebec’s GDP) and Vancouver (56 percent of British Columbia’s GDP) are the only other cities in the nation that account for the lion’s share of their provinces’ GDP.

But does this reasoning imply that we should amend the Canadian Constitution to give Toronto or even the three leading cities greater autonomy? My answer is a big, fat, resounding YES!

Despite the perception that municipal governments are at the bottom of the government hierarchy, many city governments are bigger, more inventive, and more flexible than the provincial governments that supervise them. Municipal authorities possess the same policymaking knowledge as their provincial colleagues. As a matter of fact, own-source income, such as user fees, licensing, and investments, account for ninety percent of operational funds in many big cities, making these communities less reliant on the direction of provincial transfer payments.Thus, they have greater flexibility to experiment and implement programs tailored to the region’s demographics and economic health.

It is the responsibility of provincial and federal governments to recognize the competencies of municipalities to enact the necessary legal and regulatory adjustments to facilitate greater local innovation and policymaking. Loosening the restrictions under which cities operate would foster additional progress and creativity in local governments throughout Canada.

The moment has come to usher in an age that provides major cities with the political weight they need to meet the problems of the 21st century.