Province of Toronto

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Some politicians and urban affairs commentators have proposed that the City of Toronto and the suburban Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada secede from the province of Ontario to become the Province of Toronto, the eleventh province of Canada.

A map of the Greater Toronto Area with the City of Toronto and the four surrounding regional municipalities.

The identity and administrative needs of Toronto are different that the rest of the province. Some of the proponents of provincial status argued that The Greater Toronto Area's residents are politically and economically exploited by the rest of the province. The neighbouring country inhabitants would say that residents of Toronto do not pay the real cost of the environmental services.

The creation of a new province would require a constitutional amendment supported by the House of Commons of Canada, the Senate of Canada and two-thirds of the provinces making up 50% of the population. The issue is not currently being debated seriously.

Contents

[edit] History

The provincehood movement idea has been supported at times by the late urban activist Jane Jacobs, entrepreneur Ed Mirvish, councillor Michael Walker, former councillor and current MPP for Beaches East-York Michael Prue, and former mayor John Sewell.

Mel Lastman proposed creating a Province of Metro in the 1980s when he was mayor of the City of North York. North York was merged with other municipalities into the City of Toronto in 1997, and Lastman was elected mayor of the new city. He did not pursue the idea during his six years as mayor of Toronto. Tooker Gomberg, now deceased, who placed second to Lastman in the 2000 mayoral election, also favoured the idea.

[edit] By the numbers

If the City of Toronto were to merge with the Regional Municipalities of Durham, Peel and York, it would form the third most populous province. Other than that, little would change statistically. Prince Edward Island, at 5,660 km², would still remain the smallest province in Canada. Ontario would, likewise, still remain the most populated province.

Name Total area (km²) Rank Population Rank
Existing Province of Ontario 1,076,395 2 of 10 13,425,124 1 of 10
Existing City of Toronto 630 n/a 2,503,281 n/a
Regional Municipality of Durham 2523 n/a 561,258 n/a
Regional Municipality of Peel 796 n/a 1,159,405 n/a
Regional Municipality of York 1,762 n/a 892,712 n/a
Resized Province of Ontario 1,070,684 2 of 11 7,785,850 1 of 11
Combined Province of Toronto 5,711 10 of 11 5,639,274 3 of 11

The resized Province of Ontario, however, would need to choose a new capital city and build a new legislature.

[edit] Political party

A Province of Toronto Party was created in 2001, and fielded candidates in the 2003 and 2006 mayoral elections.

[edit] Candidates

Paul Lewin

The party's 2003 candidate for Mayor of Toronto was Paul Lewin, a criminal lawyer who had previously campaigned for the Marijuana Party of Canada in the 2000 federal election. He argued in that election that cannabis-related charges were contributing to Canada's over-burdened court system, and said that officials "do not believe this mild intoxicant is a high priority".[1] He supported Canada's decision to legalize medicinal marijuana in 2001, but added that the changes did not go far enough.[2] His campaign slogan in 2003 was "Free 416", referring to Toronto's area code.[3]

Electoral record
Election Division Party Votes  % Place Winner
2000 federal Trinity—Spadina Marijuana 673 5/9 Tony Ianno, Liberal
2003 municipal Mayor of Toronto n/a (Province of Toronto) 271 0.04 37/44 David Miller
David Vallance

The 2006 candidate was David Vallance, a retired financial planner. He studied economics at the University of Toronto, was a former leader of the Bloor-Bathurst-Madison Business Association,[4] and formed the Bloor-Annex Business Improvement Area in 1996.[5] He has written several Letters to the Editor over the years on various matters, including reforms to employee health benefits[6] and the state of Toronto's provincial tax burden.[7] He was a vocal opponent of the old City of Toronto's amalgamation with neighbouring municipalities in 1997, and led the group Taxpayers Against Megacity.[8] He campaigned for city council in the 1997 municipal election as an extension of his anti-megacity campaign, and also advocated for property tax reforms.[9] Vallance helped create the Province of Toronto Party in 2001.[10] In 2006, he argued that Torontonians should "take control of our own taxes and control our own destiny".[11]

Electoral record
Election Division Party Votes  % Place Winner
1997 municipal Council, Ward 23 n/a 2,112 6/8 John Adams and Ila Bossons
2006 municipal Mayor of Toronto n/a (Province of Toronto) 486 0.08 36/38 David Miller

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Idella Sturino, "Green, Marijuana parties among fringe groups hoping to enter federal campaign", Canadian Press, 3 November 2000, 14:24 report.
  2. ^ Andrew Buncombe, The Independent, 31 July 2001, p. 9.
  3. ^ Royson James, "A voice of dissent lost in high noon din", Toronto Star, 3 September 2003, B5; Christopher Hume, "Province of T.O.: It makes sense", Toronto Star, 5 September 2003, B3. He was 36 years old at the time. See Brian Borzykowski and James Cowan, "They would be king", National Post, 4 October 2003, TO11.
  4. ^ Valerie Lawton and Tony Wong, "Restaurants show wide tax gap between city, suburbs", Toronto Star, 7 February 1998, C3.
  5. ^ David Vallance biography, Province of Toronto, accessed 21 January 2007.
  6. ^ David Vallance, "Taxing health care" [Letter], Globe and Mail, 22 April 1996, B2; David Vallance, "Curing health care" [Letter], Globe and Mail, 13 February 1999, B2.
  7. ^ David Vallance, "Province must stop its tax grab" [Letter], Toronto Star, 19 December 2003, A31.
  8. ^ Peter Small, "Property taxes hit women who rent, mayor is told", Toronto Star, 30 June 1995, A10; Caroline Mallan and Theresa Boyle, "Megacity is hot topic at levees", Toronto Star, 2 January 1997, A7; Tanya Talaga, "Megacity foes rush to barricades", Toronto Star, 25 January 1997, A1.
  9. ^ John Sewell, "Midtown licks wounds and gets ready to vote", Now Magazine, 30 October-5 November 1997.
  10. ^ David Vallance, "Unless it separates, city will remain an afterthought" [Letter], Toronto Star, A15; "'Make the city a province', Toronto Star, 16 February 2002, B5.
  11. ^ "Toronto Mayoral Race", Toronto Star, 9 November 2006, G1. He was 67 years old in 2005. See Stephen Wickens, "A separate peace: Could Toronto go it alone?", Globe and Mail, 5 March 2005, M1.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Toronto"