City Hall's 2020 budget is anything but responsible

Torontosun.com
February 6, 2020
Sue-Ann Levy

Thanking everyone like he’d won an Academy Award, city budget chief Gary Crawford capped off the budget committee’s “work” of the past month by saying 2020’s budget was “good” and “responsible.”

Of course, “responsible” was what Mayor John Tory said about the 2019 budget. Crawford, being a good soldier who dutifully follows the mayor’s script, also crowed that he was “proud to move the city forward with investments in key areas.”

He was talking about $67 million in new spending on poverty reduction, youth equity, transit and climate change –including the $6 million in anti-violence funding Tory announced Monday morning in the wake of a shooting at an Airbnb in a City Place building Friday night.

Let’s not forget that Joe Cressy is the councillor for that area and has taken a leadership role denying that council policies -- such as opposition to carding and the enabling of drug use and drug dealing through his support of safe-injection sites -- have anything to do with the increase in guns and gangs in Toronto.

And since Cressy claimed in missives to the community that he is “reeling after the brutal and traumatic incident,” what’s a mayor to do but throw more money at the problem?

Fact is, the 2020 budget -- as it stands now -- is anything but responsible.

It is completely irresponsible.

A responsible mayor and budget chief would not even consider that it is balanced with a $77-million hole still not plugged.

I’m referring to the money Tory and Crawford expect from the feds to cover the cost of irregular border crossers, asylum seekers and other refugees in 2020. As I reported at the end of November, refugees/asylum seekers cost the city $75 million in 2019.

Crawford was asked by the Toronto Sun’s Bryan Passifume whether the $77 million has been nailed down.

He said they have not received that commitment, but he’s “confident” because they got the funding ($45 million) last year.

I hate to break it to Crawford, but last year was an election year and the money came in May after Premier Doug Ford challenged the feds to deal with illegal border crossers.

In other words, I wouldn’t be so confident.

I wouldn’t be talking about efficiencies, either, given council’s decision in June to continue with 1950s-style closed shop tendering that limits bids on major infrastructure projects to nine select unions. Their foolish decision left up to $200 million in possible efficiencies on the table.

I’m not the slightest bit fooled, or impressed either, with the use of the words “investment in key priorities” such as poverty reduction, youth violence/equity and climate change programs.

They can’t be investments if we have no clue whether there’s any return whatsoever on those investments -- and the politicians go out of their way not to find out.

Let’s talk about the $6 million more Tory pledged to throw at youth violence this past Monday. That’s on top of the $8.3-million already added to the 2020 budget.

Last week, I heard not a word from any budget committee members when the city’s social development bureaucrats -- with not the slightest trace of embarrassment -- referred to vague results and insultingly low numbers pertaining to the $103 million put into youth equity programs over the past five years.

Tory also claimed during one of his media opportunities that they’re looking at every one of these youth programs and will focus on the ones that are working.

But asked when the results of that review might be forthcoming, Crawford didn’t seem to know.

“That I believe, if I’m not mistaken, one of my colleagues can help me, I think that was coming in… in… the spring, I think it’s coming in the spring,” he said.

If I were Crawford, Tory or any member of the fiscally-challenged budget committee, I’d be embarrassed to say I’m “proud” of the 2020 budget.

Not that they care as long as they keep the special interests happy and delude themselves into thinking throwing more money at problems will make them disappear.