Clear the way

Is Queen’s Park about to cut the City of Toronto and Mayor John Tory off at the knees once again?

Unfortunately, it sounds very much as if it is. The mayor has been pushing for provincial action that would allow the city to bring in a tax on hotel rooms and short-term rentals, and now the government is holding up a big “not so fast” sign.

That’s the wrong way to go. After preventing Tory from going ahead with his plan to introduce highway tolls in January, the Wynne government should not stand in the way of yet another attempt by the city to close its yawning revenue gap.

The government should also stop sending mixed signals to the city.

Early last week, Premier Kathleen Wynne seemed to be onside with the mayor on his request for the power to levy a new tax on hotel rooms and Airbnb-style short-term rentals, which would bring in an estimated $20 million a year.

After meeting with Tory in advance of the provincial budget, she emerged to say she knows the mayor wants to move on a tax “very soon,” and added that “we’re going to be able to move forward with (him) in the near future.”

That seemed promising. But a day later, Finance Minister Charles Sousa sounded a much more cautious note.

In a letter to Tory, he laid out conditions that must be met before any tax could be approved — the city must “engage with constituents and shareholders,” lay out how it “plans to address those concerns,” and on and on. In other words, don’t hold your breath.

Caution is all well and good. And the province well knows that the hotel industry strongly opposes any new tax.

But denial or delay on every new revenue source the city suggests is no solution to the financial dilemma it faces.

First the government turned thumbs down on Tory’s proposal for tolls on the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway, clearly spooked by a backlash in the 905 commuter suburbs. Now Sousa is raising all kinds of obstacles to a much more modest proposal for a hotel and short-term rental levy.

The message seems to be: we don’t want our fingerprints on anything that looks like a tax.

That’s understandable from a political perspective, but it does nothing to help Toronto fund its long list of urgent priorities — everything from transit to flood protection in the Port Lands, to public housing and child care.

The province should let Toronto grow up and take greater control of its own destiny. Right now that means giving it the power to move ahead on a hotel tax.

The province should let Toronto grow up and take greater control of its own destiny