To the surprise of no one, Premier Kathleen Wynne has rejected a proposal from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario to increase the HST by one per cent and dedicate the extra revenue to infrastructure improvements for Ontario cities.
After all, what politician wants to raise taxes less than a year before the next election?
READ MORE: Kathleen Wynne rejects idea of raising taxes to pay for Ontario infrastructure
But, the government hasn’t shown us an alternative plan to address the dire infrastructure problems of Ontario cities.
The status quo isn’t good enough; sporadic funding programs with a limited amount of money, most of which goes to Toronto and Ottawa, leaving the rest of Ontario cities to fight over what’s left.
And I hope Ontario taxpayers aren’t naive enough to fall for that old political promise that the next government will eliminate wasteful spending and dole out all the billions of dollars they supposedly save.
READ MORE: Ontario finances show budget still balanced
History shows us that, time and time again, whatever government we elect, simply re-directs those ‘savings’ into their own political agenda, with little benefit to taxpayers.
What we need is a government that has the courage to do what many other governments have done: dedicate an ongoing infrastructure fund to fix the roads and sewers of Ontario cities.
Politicians will tell us we can’t afford to do that; the 80 per cent of Ontario residents who live in cities will tell you we can’t afford not to do it.