Toronto Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie is warning that significant cuts to services and state-of-good repair work could be necessary as soon as next year, following the federal government’s refusal to set aside any money in its budget to help cover the city’s COVID-19 shortfall.
McKelvie made the comment to reporters at city hall on Wednesday morning, one day after the Liberal government’s budget failed to include $235 million in requested funding to offset 2022 COVID-19 shortfalls, as well as a commitment for hundreds of million more to help the city tackle a $933 million shortfall in its 2023 budget due to ongoing COVID-19 costs.
“We still have costs from homelessness we still have costs from decreased ridership on the TTC. And so while the federal government wants to focus on growth, they can't leave municipalities that are very much in the state of recovery behind.” The lack of federal budgetary support for Toronto follows a period of lengthy unrest in the city. This weekend,, the latest in a string of violent incidents on the TTC. Homelessness and mental illness have also reached a critical level in the city, which many believe are the root causes of increased violence throughout the city.
“You’re going to see those cuts rapidly happen in 2024,” she said. “If we don’t get assistance, we are able to use the reserves we’ve squirreled away to pay for this year. But it’s not a good strategy…it’s like taking out your RRSPs to pay your mortgage, or to pay your groceries. It’s not sustainable.”“It’s going to be a big awakening for Toronto residents to see that in their tax bill when it arrives,” she said.
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