Quote:
Originally Posted by lio45
As I said a few pages ago, here it's the opposite. The regions have a disproportionate amount of political power and the complaints are that Montreal gets less attention than it normally should.
Toronto is the economic engine of Ontario, Montreal is the economic engine of Quebec, their well-being should definitely prime over most rural issues.
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The problem is the inequity of how Queen's Park views the province. According to Queen's Park, and certainly the bureaucracy, there are 2 Ontarios...................Toronto and Other.
Take for example transit funding. Toronto is getting a $6 billion LRT line down Eglinton of which it doesn't have to cheap in one nickel. In fact maniple councillors scream blue murder when Queen's Park doesn't volunteer to pay for 100% of Toronto transit expansion. This is opposed to Ottawa's & Kitchener's LRT and London's BRT where the cities are expected to come up with at least one-third the cost.
This is true of all of TransitCity LRT lines...............Toronto doesn't {nor does it feel it should have to} contribute one nickel and if it wants more and doesn't get it then Queen's Park is "ignoring us".
The problem is that not only is Toronto the largest and most important city in the country but also it is also the only one of Canada's 5 largest metros that is a provincial capitol. The situation in BC, Quebec, and Alberta are not the same because their largest cities are not capitol cities so ttheir dominance is not nearly as overwhelming.
This is not only true politically but also on a government level. Most bureaucrats in those provinces live in Victoria, Quebec, and Edmonton while Toronto is home to most Ontario civil servants and all it's power brokers. The mandarines often have little concept of reality of life outside the GTA. For many of them Toronto and Ontario are one in the same and that has led to a completely Toronto-centric provincial government and political parties.