Sustainable, Quality Living #cindertoflame

Look at the photo and hold this thought: money does not grow on trees. We will focus on City budget discussions in Ontario’s three largest Cities: Toronto, Ottawa and Mississauga. Cities are required to balance their budgets. How will their budget plans impact sustainable, quality living? This article recaps 2023 budget discussions; however, the key issues presented will prevail in future budget years...

Toronto’s projected budget shortfall in 2023 is 1.56 billion dollars unless other levels of government fill the budget gap. Mayor John Tory is following through on his commitment to invest in housing, community safety and transit (a fare increase coupled with service reductions).

Consider these excerpts from a CBC interview with a Toronto resident: “...paying more to take public transit...will come directly out of her food budget.” “Food and groceries are going up and if they keep increasing transit... it's just not sustainable."

I joined Mississauga’s budget engagement session. Challenging issues were raised along with major City initiatives such as expanding transportation corridors, transforming the waterfront, and building entertainment districts. The inspiring discussion was eclipsed by an elderly lady with a question about inflation and the high cost of food, such as milk and bread. She asked what Municipal government is doing to help families? More specifically, what’s in the City budget to help cut the impact of inflation?

Mayor Bonnie Crombie agreed that this [food insecurity] is a very serious issue. She runs a food drive and residents accessing food banks in Mississauga has increased by 60%. The only options available through the City “to help but not offset costs” are: $1 transit fare during off-peak hours and for “eligible” homeowners, a $459 property tax rebate and a $350 subsidy for outdoor maintenance.

Food cost is a complex issue, driven by factors such as transportation costs, supply chain issues, and the rate of inflation that is within the realm of the federal, and to a lesser extent the provincial government. I wonder whether the elderly lady owned a home or was eligible to benefit from the latter options?

Food security and affordable housing are positioned as a human rights and social justice issue. They are key factors among the social determinants of health that also impact health care utilization and costs. All levels of government share accountability.

Affordable access to basic necessities is no longer confined to lower income groups. Today, the middle class is struggling to enter the housing market and to purchase healthy food such as fruit, vegetables and fish. Meanwhile, grocery stores have reported record profits and Cities are funding state-of-the-art community, recreation and entertainment venues. We need to refocus on sustainable, quality living and support people in our communities.

Food drives and food banks are critically important but are not sustainable solutions. City priorities need to be revisited because more needs to be done. Higher taxes and fees impact the cost of living and innovative solutions need to be explored that put money-back-into-the-pockets of people.

Ottawa’s Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is trying to keep his campaign promises of minimizing the increase in property taxes (lowest increase of the three Cities) along with a fare freeze for public transit. However, he is getting pushback from City Counsellors for the low property tax increase due to concerns with maintaining service levels.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe describes the new City Council’s first budget as being both “compassionate and fiscally responsible”. While the latter is an objective for all Cities, “compassion” may be the human trigger for innovation.

Public service solutions (at all levels) appear to be fixated on "more dollars" as the solution. It’s time for a paradigm shift in thinking and action. Let’s begin by thinking locally. Are Cities providing the right services and programs? How can City administration and the services they provide be revamped to maximize cost containment? What more can be done at the municipal level to lower the cost of living and promote quality of life for residents in their communities?

The diligent work of City staff and City councils is gratefully acknowledged. The challenges are complex and immense, requiring coordinated solutions across all levels of government.

How can major innovation enable both sustainable, quality living and the building of state-of-the-art communities?

Cinder to Flame helps Corporations solve complex challenges with strategic services that energize people, fuel a healthy corporate culture and ignite major innovation.

Sustainable, quality living is everyone's concern. How could more public-private partnerships (PPPs) help solve complex societal challenges? What role can your Corporation play?

View Cinder to Flame’s vision for sustainable, quality living: https://www.cindertoflame.ca/vision

Here's the link to the CBC interview with a resident about the impact of increased transit costs: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/transit-increases-cost-of-living-1.6714784?cmp=rss

Here's the YouTube link to the budget engagement session where an elderly lady raised a question about the high cost of inflation (timestamp 43:40):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o-srOrFZ7is&list=PLoevoxANC7VSs_ZFnTaUyFxCvOLBBcK4K&index=4.

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