'You're going to see cuts': McKelvie criticizes lack of support for Toronto in federal budget
'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.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is pushing for special rapporteur David Johnston to 'step aside' from his role examining the issue of foreign interference before he embarks on public hearings.
New Democrat MP Jenny Kwan said Monday that Canada's spy agency has confirmed her long-held belief she is being targeted by the Chinese government, as the prime minister granted the NDP's wish to allow more party members to review top-secret intelligence.
William Karlsson, William Carrier and Jonathan Marchessault are finally getting another chance in the Stanley Cup Final, after the first one that came so quick for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Eastern Conference finals Most Valuable Player Jimmy Butler scored 28 points, and Caleb Martin had 26 points and 10 rebounds to help the eighth-seeded Miami Heat beat the Celtics 103-84 in Game 7 on Monday night and advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons.
Canadian political leaders and parliamentarians are denouncing a new law passed in Uganda that imposes harsh penalties, including the death penalty, for certain cases involving homosexuality.
There's a heightened risk of wildfires across the country during what has been one of the earliest fire seasons on record. From British Columbia to Nova Scotia, here's where the risk is highest.
New research from Penn State University found certain factors can contribute to reducing what’s known as the 'urban heat island' effect, and that climate knowledge can contribute to better city planning and design.
The union representing the majority of Quebec's daycare workers is criticizing the government's decision to launch a skimpy 90-hour training program for people who want to be daycare workers but have no prior experience.
A Quebec driver who caused the death of another motorist when he swerved his truck to avoid hitting a family of ducks on the road has been sentenced to eight months in jail and a three-year driving ban.
The rural Oxford County intersection where an OPP officer and a school bus driver were killed Monday was less than a month away from becoming a four-way stop when the deadly crash happened.
It was a night of indecision at Waterloo region's catholic school board as trustees went back and forth trying to find the best approach to fill a vacant seat.
The body of a Winnipeg boy who fell into Sturgeon Falls on Saturday has been found following a desperate underwater search that lasted more than a day.
The Sandy Hill Child Care Centre has an extra two weeks to get its new home up to code months after a fire destroyed its original site on Wilbrod Street.
Ottawa police are praising a local dad for quickly calling for help Sunday afternoon when he accidentally locked his keys in his car, and his infant child along with them.
Ontario Provincial Police say a driver from Augusta Township is facing an impaired driving charge after someone on Highway 416 spotted a vehicle moving erratically.
Windsor city council voted Monday in favour of adopting a master plan with high hopes for City Hall Square and a so-called civic esplanade stretching down to the river
A united front was on full display Monday as community leaders, politicians, business people, unions and educators gathered together at Windsor City Hall to ensure the NextStar Energy battery plant deal gets closed.
Doctors in their final year of training, called residency, can choose to do a one-month rotation at the Shelter Health Initiative (SHI) caring for Windsor’s homeless population.
One long-time electoral tradition came to an end on election day, when Postmedia announced there would be no printed newspaper announcing the winner in Calgary.
A Winnipeg family is asking for help to find their missing teenage son whom they haven't seen since he left for school in the Fort Richmond area last Wednesday morning.
The body of a Winnipeg boy who fell into Sturgeon Falls on Saturday has been found following a desperate underwater search that lasted more than a day.
On Monday, Fraser Health provided two senior leaders to address the latest letter outlining risks to patients, allegations of muzzling, and pleas for help from emergency physicians in the health authority's hospitals.
The president of the BC Trucking Association is issuing renewed calls for safety after a trailer truck smashed into an overhead pass Monday morning in Langley.
Over 170,000 elementary and high school students weighed in on the Alberta election and the NDP had to hope the real voters were listening, because they won the kids' vote.
