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LOCAL GOVERNMENT BULLETIN – No.40, October 2003
The purpose of this bulletin is to focus debate on the need to increase local self-government in Canada and to help local communities achieve more autonomy. The local self-government web site is http://www.localgovernment.ca

In this issue
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1. Winnipeg shows the way
2. Community Charters in British Columbia
3. Toronto police intervene politically
4. Subscribe to the Bulletin
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1. Winnipeg Shows the Way

It is often difficult to determine what the next step in a program of change and reform. Sometimes it seems the way forward is blocked. But then, somebody steps forward with an idea and the next step suddenly feels inevitable.

This is the case with Winnipeg’s extraordinary foray into creating new and improved revenue sources. This initiative provides direction for other local governments in Canada sharing the same concerns.

Mayor Glenn Murray refers to the proposals as a “New Deal”, and it’s new in a number of ways. First, it proposes that revenue sources should be aware of and sensitive to outcomes. Then, it suggests that activities one wants to discourage be taxed so individuals know there are costs involved in consuming some particular service.

These approaches are far different from the way Canada municipalities have traditionally raised their revenues from the property tax system. Assessments according to property value are at the root of the property tax system, which means that sprawling low-valued homes pay less taxes than compact homes – th8us encouraging sprawl – and property renovation is discouraged by attracting a higher assessment and thus higher taxes. These problems have been evident to many, and much ink has been spilled by attempts to reform the property tax system, without success.

The New Deal rethinks property taxes. It starts by reducing them by half (making up lost revenue from other sources), then shifts more of the assessment burden from the structure onto the land by such things as relating the levy to the width of the property. This tax policy would penalize large low density properties and instead encourage compact urban form, and that would reduce the need for new infrastructure in coming decades.

Business property tax would be replaced with a share of sales tax so that the tax payable by a company would be more directly related to the health of the business rather than to the value of the property it occupies.

Lost revenue would be made up from select user fees. Water and sewage fees would be increased so that higher users would pay more, and a similar strategy would be used for garbage. Traffic and building code enforcement fines would be increased to cover all of the costs of enforcement and perhaps create a positive revenue stream.

The New Deal also proposes new sources of revenue from a levy on hotel rooms, a fee on telephones to fund 911, a liquor tax and the city’s own sales tax.

Help is also requested from senior governments in a share of the gas tax from the federal government (as promised by Paul Martin) and also the possibility of the city itself levying an extra fuel tax. These moves would support public transit, both by raising revenue that could be devoted to transit, and by making private automobile use more expensive and less attractive. The New Deal suggests further that the province could share some of its sales tax and income tax revenue with the city.

Preliminary analysis of the New Deal suggests that property taxes can be reduced 50%, transit fares can be cut in half, and recreation fees would be held at the current rates, while extra revenue to the city would be about $120 million a year - enough to address the city’s substantial infrastructure needs.

The key to the New Deal is sensitive tinkering with a number of different revenue sources to get the balance of encouragement/discouragement right for the city. It’s clearly an approach that other cities can borrow or steal.

Also of interest is the way the New Deal is presented. There is no formal paper presented on the City of Winnipeg’s website, but rather a number of different press releases and Question and Answer documents. It is put forward as a work in progress, something for discussion, not a fait accomplis. Town hall meetings have been arranged for further discussion of the proposals and Mayor Murray has already had a session or two of direct interaction with Winnipeg residents on the internet, using a question and answer format.

For further information, go to http://www.winnipeg.ca and click on “New Deal” buttons in the upper right hand corner of the site.

The New deal; has a fresh ring to it, one that feels like it is trying to put forward a progressive set of ideas to deal with city finances. Not one Big Bold Idea, but a set of workable strategies that just might get Winnipeg to where it wants to be.

2. Community Charters in British Columbia

The government of British Columbia has introduced and passed the Community Charter legislation which was promised two years ago. (See Bulletin 19 at http://www.localgovernment.ca ) The new legislation will be implemented in early 2004.

The 2001 legislation made it seem like nirvana was in the wind for local government, as the province promised, among other things, that municipalities would be recognized as an order of government, they would be given adequate powers and discretion to address existing and future community needs, they would be able to determine their own administrative mechanisms, draw on financial and other resources adequate to support community needs, and be protected from downloading.

Of course, in real life, grand principles often seem to be implemented in a rather mundane fashion, and that’s the case here. The new law delivers as promised, but it seems a bit anti-climactic. Section 2(2)(2) states that “the provincial government must not assign responsibilities to municipalities unless there is provision for the resources required to fulfil the responsibilities,” and that seems like a good protection from downloading. In regard to “soft downloading” - where the province simply vacates a program and the municipality feels forced to provide the program itself - the legislation says the province will consult on “proposed changes to provincial programs that will have a significant impact in relation to matters that are within municipal authority.”

The legislation gives municipalities distinct spheres of power in which they may act as `natural persons.’ Frank Leonard, Mayor of Saaniche and president of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, says the good thing about the natural persons power is that it permits creativity since instead of being prescriptive it is permissive. He says that within the 11 defined spheres there are significant new powers, using the example of domestic animals. In the past municipalities were permitted to license dogs but now they can regulate all domestic animals, including cats. As Leonard points out, municipal politicians can no longer blame the Municipal Act for not taking action about cats.

“The new law is not revolutionary,” says Leonard. “It is permissive, so there will be gradual change over five or six years. A municipality can set its own pace. We might find that urban activist councils will try things that others might not.”

The new law is not particularly helpful in regard to new powers. Section 8 states that municipalities can “provide any service considered necessary or desirable,” but then adds, “This authority does not include the authority to regulate, prohibit or impose requirements.” Section 10 indicates that municipal bylaws will be of no effect if “inconsistent with provincial laws or regulations” and areas of concurrent authority may only be exercised with the approval of the provincial government. Some fear that this might mean that municipalities are unable to control lawn pesticides, a power that flowed out of the Hudson case before the Supreme Court of Canada several years ago.

In short, the Act is a step forward, but it does not manage to redefine the nature of municipal government as some had originally hoped.

Further information is available from the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, http://www.civicnet.bc.ca, and click on `Featured Policy Topics.’

3. Toronto Police intervene politically

The Toronto Police Association certainly shows no reluctance to intervene in the political scene in Toronto. On September 27, 2003, less than a week before the provincial election, the Association took out a full-page ad in the Globe and Mail with the headline “The Toronto Police Association Board of Directors proudly endorses Ernie Eves and his fellow Progressive Conservative candidates.”

The ad showed a smiling photo of Uncle Ernie himself, the Police Association logo (a maple leaf, the CN Tower and the scales of justice, with the words `Duty, Truth, Honour’), and a Toronto police car. There was some small type about why Eves and his team should be supported, a list of Conservative candidates in the Toronto area, and, in big print at the bottom “Help Keep Ontario Safe. On October 2nd, vote for Ernie Eves and the P.C. Candidate in your riding.”

The ad didn’t have a big impact in the Toronto area, which elected only Liberals in all 22 ridings, but its importance is what it shows about the continued politicization of the Toronto Police and its intervention into electoral politics.

Section 46 of the Police Services Act states that no municipal police officer shall engage in political activity, except as regulations permit. Regulation 554/91 states that police officers can express views on any issues “as long as the police officer does not, during an election campaign, express views supporting or opposing a candidate in the election or political party that has nominated a candidate in the election.”

Thus the law on the question is very clear, although some might ask whether directors of the Toronto Police Association are `police officers’ covered by the regulation. This issue was considered by the Toronto Police Services Board several years ago when the Toronto Police Association undertook the True Blue fundraising campaign. That campaign asked citizens to make a donation to the Police Association in return for a sticker that you would place on your car registering your support for the police. At that time many people felt that Police Association was attempting to establish a protection racket where those without a donation sticker would feel the full weight of police action. There was considerable public outcry and the Police Service Board was advised that directors of the Toronto Police Association were indeed police officers covered by the regulation, and the True Blue campaign stopped. Regulation 554/91 covers both the issued raised in the True Blue campaign and the support of political candidates.

The law has clearly not stopped the Police Association from doing what it wishes. Maybe the Police Association feels it’s protected from this law. The acting chair of the Police Service Board, Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby, said she thought there is nothing that could be done since she believes board members of the Police Association are not police officers. Yet members of the board of the Police Association describe themselves as police officers and after serving their term on the Police Association board, return to full-time police work.

This writer attempted to lay a charge by attending before a Justice of the Peace but was told in a written decision that the proposed charge “failed to meet the criteria for process” – whatever that means.

The Police Act itself is very clear, stating in Section 74 that “a police officer is guilty of misconduct …if he or she contravenes Section 46 (political activity).” But if the Police Service Board refuses to enforce this law and the Justice of the Peace won’t allow a charge to be laid, what is to be done?

The Toronto Police Association elected a new president on October 14, police officer Rick McIntosh, who has said that he intends to have the Association endorse candidates in the municipal election in Toronto on November 10. Once again we will see direct pressure applied by the Police Association to endorse the politicians serving their needs rather than being subservient to those elected. This is a big issue in Toronto where there are several contenders for the position of mayor – one promising to hire 400 more police officers (at the same time cutting back other city services), and one proposing to hold the line on police spending, hoping to bring better management to police services.

A police state is one where police eschew any thought of political neutrality and intervene on the side of those who do what the police want. The law and the regulation were put in place in Ontario to prevent that happening, but it is obviously a law that neither the police nor the Police Service Board have shown any interest in upholding. It means that candidates in Toronto who dare to criticize police actions or police policy must be ready to face a campaign by the police to ensure they do not get elected. The cold hand of the Police Association is not welcome in local elections, yet the powers that be seem unwilling to enforce the existing law.

4. Subscribe to the Bulletin

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More information about the sponsors of the bulletin, a library of relevant and useful documents, and an archive of past Bulletins, can be found on our web site. We appreciate your comments, your feedback (to j.sewell@on.aibn.com ), and items of interest that you wish to share with us and others who visit the web site. Our next Bulletin will be in November.

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