Taxes

No one likes paying taxes.  But only the silliest of us would argue that no one should pay them. The real debate seems to be about who should pay them and how much should they (not us) pay.

The most recent discussion on who should pay what erupted this week when Metrolinx - formally known as the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority published suggestions as to how funds should be raised for the proposed new and greatly improved transportation system for the greater GTA. Those suggestions included a five cent tax added to every litre of gas or an increase in the GST. The response from the citizens of Ontario was instantaneous and outraged. The reasoning was clear. The rest of Ontario should not have to pay for Toronto's subway system.

While I can appreciate that those who live somewhere north of Huntsville or perhaps to the east of Belleville might argue with some minimal justification that they seldom directly use Toronto's services, the majority of people living in southern Ontario are effected by and effect what happens in Toronto. If we watch Canadian television programs particularly the news - those programs originate from Toronto; our large newspapers are published in Toronto, and the provincial government's affairs, banking systems and hospitals are managed (I use that word somewhat loosely) from that city. Whether I like the city or not does not matter, if Toronto did not exist we would have to invent it. Contrary to the opinion of some people Toronto may not be the center of the world or even Canada but it is critical to the success of the province.

Perhaps therefore it is not unreasonable that we should help pay for the services they need so that they can do what they do more efficiently. But we protest when it is suggested that we do so.  It would seem to me that our thinking is somewhat paradoxical. Those of us who live in smaller cities or rural areas and take great pride in our organic markets and our minimal attempts to live a "greener" lifestyle. Some of us also brag about having escaped the rat race of a major urban center. But we are able to maintain this lifestyle and we are able to avoid the big city only because other people do not. Someone has to work in downtown Toronto.  There is a logic in the efficiencies created when thousands and thousands of people share infrastructures. Those efficiencies cannot be duplicated elsewhere in scattered small communities.

There is a second reason as to why us helping to pay for an improved transportation system helps us in the outlying areas.   If the air above Toronto is polluted - that pollution will drift somewhere. No matter how arrogant I may be about my "greenness"  I need to help other people have the same opportunity to be green. For folks in the GTA part of the solution is leaving their cars at home because there is a reliable transportation system. People will only do that when the transportation system is fast and affordable.

Other cities have innovative ways of encouraging folks to use transit. London, England taxes all cars that drive into the downtown core, Calgary (whose light rail line is powered by wind turbines) offers free C train rides within the downtown core while Spain, China and Japan all use high speed trains that allow people to live a hundred miles away and still commute into work. We need an effective transportation system within southern Ontario and whether we like or not, we are all going to have to contribute towards it.