'You're going to see cuts': McKelvie criticizes lack of support for Toronto in federal budget
Toronto Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie is warning that significant cuts to services and state-of-good repair work could be necessary as soon as next year, following the federal government’s refusal to set aside any money in its budget to help cover the city’s COVID-19 shortfall.
McKelvie made the comment to reporters at city hall on Wednesday morning, one day after the Liberal government’s budget failed to include $235 million in requested funding to offset 2022 COVID-19 shortfalls, as well as a commitment for hundreds of million more to help the city tackle a $933 million shortfall in its 2023 budget due to ongoing COVID-19 costs.
“[This] is a budget is very focused on growth. And I understand that we want our country to grow. The problem is Toronto is still very much in the mode of recovery and we need help with recovery,” she said in a press conference on Wednesday morning.
“We still have costs from homelessness we still have costs from decreased ridership on the TTC. And so while the federal government wants to focus on growth, they can't leave municipalities that are very much in the state of recovery behind.”
The federal government provided the city with funding to offset its COVID-19 losses in both 2020 and 2021 but did not do so last year.
The lack of federal budgetary support for Toronto follows a period of lengthy unrest in the city. This weekend, a 16-year-old was stabbed to death at Keele Station, the latest in a string of violent incidents on the TTC. Homelessness and mental illness have also reached a critical level in the city, which many believe are the root causes of increased violence throughout the city.
McKelvie has promised cuts to Toronto services if other levels of government don’t come through with budgetary support.
“You’re going to see those cuts rapidly happen in 2024,” she said. “If we don’t get assistance, we are able to use the reserves we’ve squirreled away to pay for this year. But it’s not a good strategy…it’s like taking out your RRSPs to pay your mortgage, or to pay your groceries. It’s not sustainable.”
McKelvie suggested budget shortfalls might continue to be addressed through hiked property taxes.
“It’s going to be a big awakening for Toronto residents to see that in their tax bill when it arrives,” she said. “I’m really, really hopeful we can get this conversation going with the federal government so we can help the people of Toronto.”
“Toronto deserves better. We need to have an important conversation about how to help the country’s largest economic engine…Toronto needs to be successful so our country is successful.”
City council will consider a report from Ernst & Young this week which shows that the city could be facing $46.5 billion in fiscal pressures over the next decade. That report did not take possible COVID-19 shortfalls into account.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.