The Lee's Palace Mural is Dead! Long Live the Lee's Palace Mural!
Peeve Patrol
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Polling Booth: "Kick a Ginger" Controversy
Third Floor, First Rate
Following a major sell-off in the Shanghai stock market yesterday, other markets around the world fell dramatically, including the Toronto Stock Exchange. It looks like today is more of the same, as the index is already down 61.85 points, or 0.49%. However, given today's partial recovery of the Dow after its 400+ point fall yesterday, it is possible the S&P/TSX could bounce back by closing time.
Yesterday the TSX fell 370 points, or 2.72%, its largest decline in six years. Analysts around the world are calling this a correction to a bull market that has been going on for a while. Energy sector stocks led the fall, but no sector was safe.
The TSX is a major part of why Toronto is the "economic engine" of Canada, and thus a major reason why we feel we are entitled to One Cent Now.
TSX photo by jennyleesilver on Flickr. Real time quote courtesy TSX.
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"One Cent Now," like a number of Miller initiatives, is frustrating because while I agree with it in principle, I find its premise fairly condescending. One cent of the GST? I don't think the federal government would be adverse to handing Toronto a penny.
The fact that you have to make a bit of a leap to understand that they mean one out of every six cents paid in GST for every dollar spent on goods and services is a fairly solid indication that the campaign will never have the popular support the Mayor wants and needs.
Shouldn't we be trying to upload the City's social services expenditures back to the province rather than trying to get money from the feds out of the GST? What if the GST did not exist? There really is no logical reason for us to look to the GST for funding other than the fact that it is there. Any argument for the GST would apply as much to the PST, and given the social services expenditures, the higher rate, the fact that the City is a creation of the province, that the City has more connection to Ontario than to e.g., Nova Scotia, PST appears to be a more supportable target (if (and its a big if) there is a logical reason to think that Toronto is owed part of another government's tax). (Any any argument that the City has been responsible for growth in the revenue under the GST is just as susceptible to arguments that the policies of other levels of government have caused the growth, not the other way round). Maybe the City needs even more taxing powers, such as a City sales tax. But its not clear why another tax should now be shared or why we think the feds and not the province are the ones to do that.
That picture is not where the TSE is located anymore (but it sure is a lot more pretty).
As for the "one cent" campaign, I think it's a great idea in principle. More of the taxes that Toronto (and other cities) send to big government (whether it is the province or the feds) needs to go back to where it came from.
The cities of Canada cannot sustain economic growth without sustaining their infrastructure. This means, roads, transit, public buildings, etc.