Pantalone rules out road tolls

Toronto Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone recently addressed the Toronto Board of Trade, and not only ruled out road tolls, but also addressed the fact that Toronto does not receive its fair share of income tax revenue (as well as funding for public transportation) from the provincial and federal governments. If Toronto received the same funding and financial support that other provincial governments and the federal government gives to other major Canadian cities, such as Montreal and Vancouver, than the vehicle registration and land transfer taxes wouldn't have been initiated, which of course has caused all sorts of angst and hysteria for unhinged right-wingers. Anyways, from the Toronto Star:

Mayoral candidate Joe Pantalone is ruling out road tolls on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway as a means to fund transit expansion, saying Toronto must pressure Queen’s Park to pay the tab.

Pantalone, the deputy mayor and a veteran councillor, was asked after a breakfast speech to the Toronto Board of Trade on Friday morning where, as mayor, he would find money for the Transit City light-rail expansion and beyond.

The Board of Trade has said the problems of gridlock and inadequate public transit are dire enough that unpopular measures, including road tolls, parking charges, a 1-per-cent regional sales tax or a 10 cent gas tax, need to be discussed.

Pantalone disagreed; noting only 8 cents of every dollar paid in income taxes flows back to cities. The provincial and federal governments get the rest and they should be pressured to pay for transit infrastructure, not Toronto residents through additional charges.

“I don’t accept the fact that the municipal governments which get 8 per cent of all the taxes paid should be paying for transit . . . Frankly, if we accept that we’re dead,” said Pantalone, who has not yet released a detailed transit policy.

Later, he told reporters he believes tolls would be unfair to suburban motorists who need to get in and out of downtown, saying such levies would make sense only if they were regional, on cars entering the GTA.

Speaking to a modest crowd of 80 businesspeople, the one-time NDP provincial candidate portrayed himself as a progressive who would continue Mayor David Miller’s legacy, but also a good friend of business. He noted his work making Exhibition Place and BMO Field successful.

Pantalone said his “bull in a china shop” rivals “stand for instability” and risk ruining Toronto’s status as a great city with drastic measures such as selling Toronto Hydro. “Small incremental changes will make a big difference over time,” he said, touting the city’s “amazing” civil service.

Pantalone rejected the board of trade’s belief — no doubt shared by many in the be-suited crowd — that City Hall spending is out of control. Toronto’s annual operating budget has grown from $6 billion to $9.2 billion during Miller’s seven years in office.

Again blaming senior governments for not giving Toronto its fair share of income tax revenues, Pantalone said: “We don’t have a spending problem in Toronto. We have revenue problem.”

He also took direct shots at some of his rivals, saying right-wing councillor Rob Ford thinks “no government is good government” and would never be able to marshal the majority 23 council votes needed to get initiatives passed.

George Smitherman is a “pushy fellow” who did nothing to help Toronto when he was “the premier’s right-hand man” as deputy premier. Rocco Rossi’s vow to create 250,000 jobs is absurd because the private sector, not government, creates jobs, Pantalone said.

He got the loudest applause while trumpeting his successful motion to let bars start serving alcohol at 10 a.m. during the World Cup. After the speech, Pantalone went to a Bloor St. W. bar and raised a Heineken as the tournament kicked off with host South Africa playing Mexico.