City of Toronto Shade Audits, Montreal Garbage
Municipalities need to be reigned in
Compared to the other two levels of government, Canadian municipalities probably out and out waste more money than the feds and the provinces. The waste may not be as much in absolute terms but the local yokels can spend the taxpayers’ money on extremely silly things that would never cross the minds of more mature politicians. The fault lies not so much in the fact that these politicians are any more irresponsible but with their constituents. Although municipal residents whine in true Canadian fashion when their local leaders waste their money, these same people don’t think that taking a few minutes on election day to vote is worth the effort. Robert Mugabe stands a better chance of leaving office after losing a vote than the vast majority of incumbent local councillors.
A couple of stories surfaced this week in the media that illustrates just how ridiculous those who govern Canadian cities and municipalities can be. The city of Toronto voted to send overpaid and underworked bureaucrats throughout the metropolis to conduct “shade audits”. What exactly are shade audits, you may ask? These pencil pushers will take different measurements of how the sun beams down on Toronto’s parks, playgrounds and swimming pools. The supposed reason for all of this is to protect children from the dangers of sun’s rays which can lead to various forms of skin cancer. As sure as night follows the dangerous days of sun, regulations will follow. Regulations will be passed to require that each of these outdoor facilities contain a certain amount of shaded area. Of course it will only be a matter of time before one learned councillor of the left will point out that children can be exposed to dangerous amounts of sun on private property as well. We will end up with more restrictions on private property that will come complete with the city’s own shade police.
Not surprisingly, the motion for the shade audit passed by an overwhelming vote of 27-2. Once of the dissenting councillors, Karen Stintz, suggested that education about the harmful effects of the sun’s rays would be better because children often go to other areas of the city that will not be covered by the upcoming mandated shaded areas. Of course as much sense as that makes, it does nothing for allowing the pro-audit politicos to feel good about themselves which is really what this is all about. Peter Milczyn, the only other councillor to vote against the motion, did so because he already knows what the result of the audit will be – plant more trees! Perhaps we should just put a cover over the entire city and call it a day. That might even be cheaper.
Down the 401 to Montreal, things are no better. The city mothers, upset about how dirty their sidewalks were getting (compared to Toronto in this respect, they really are a distinct society), they passed a bylaw last year requiring that owners of businesses and other buildings be required to keep the sidewalks in front of their properties clean. Those who allowed the sidewalks to remain littered faced fines of up to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for companies. After a year, even the law’s harshest critics were forced to concede that the city was looking a lot cleaner. But before the first cigarette butt could be picked up, the city’s unions filed a grievance arguing that they were the only ones who could keep Montreal’s sidewalks clean. Now an arbitrator has ruled in favour of the unions, making any Montreal resident who picks up a discarded coffee cup from the sidewalk in front of his or her own property, a scab. No doubt the dirty sidewalks will return.
Residents no doubt only have themselves to blame. They pay very little attention to their local governments and how that government operates until that government wastes their money or hits them up for more cash. As long as this apathy remains, things will only get worse.
| | Arthur Weinreb
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Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Canada Free Press. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Men’s News Daily, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck.
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