Municipal Autocracy is Alive and Well in Thunder Bay

 

The Mayor and Council of the City of Thunder Bay grow ever more divorced from the needs and interests of the public they are supposed to serve with their behaviour sometimes reminiscent of 19^th century Russian aristocrats.   They pursue grand public schemes and profess concern for the public but are deaf to plights raised that diverge from their own views of what is best for the city.  In this, they are aided and abetted by their administrators whose chief interest seems to be maximizing revenues and spending – at least in areas where they see fit. 

 

The situation of ratepayers and homeowners in Thunder Bay often seems to be akin to the welfare of  Russian peasants whose fate was the lot of the ‘unfortunates’ to whom ‘God is high above and the Tsar is far away.’  Just ask the homeowners whose pleas about the damages they are incurring to their property from pipes leaking are met with silence.  Indeed, there may be a lot in common in the general attitudes of the Mayor and Council of Thunder Bay and the Czar and his assorted Grand Dukes given that Czar Nicholas II filled in his occupation during the 1897 Russian Census simply as “The Owner of the Russian Land.”  I suppose the leaky pipe protestors last week should consider themselves blessed that the Mayor and Council did not summon mounted police to disperse them.

 

Nowhere is this autocratic arrogance more blatantly demonstrated than in the 2021  “Budget Survey” that Council is now asking input for on its website.  It begins by asking for a line by line ranking of programs in terms of importance to you that include: Roads, Winter Maintenance, Drinking Water, Wastewater (Sewer), Stormwater Management, Garbage and Recycling, Long Term Care Services, Parks, Recreation Programs and Facilities, Child Care, Libraries, Economic Development, Communication and Resident Engagement, Animal Services, and By-Law Enforcement. 

 

This is ceremonial accountability at its best as it allows for input on items so broadly defined that a ranking is meaningless.  Honestly, are we being threatened with an end to clean drinking water or garbage collection or a shut-down of City long-term care facilities, if we refuse to hand over our taxes?  Everyone knows that choices need to be made but there is a difference between explaining  the options and implicit threats of service cuts that smack of bullying ratepayers.

 

However, the most striking question is the one that brings the impact of COVID-19 into the budgetary discussion.  As the section reads:

 

“The financial impact of COVID-19, due to revenue losses and increased costs, has been estimated at over $8 million for 2021 (4.2% of the municipal taxes levy). City Administration will be presenting City Council with options to address these costs. To cover these increased costs, what option(s) would you support?

 

a.         Temporarily reduce/modify services in 2021

b.         Temporarily increase user fees in areas that have increased costs due to COVID-19

c.         Increase taxes in 2021

d.         Draw from the reserve fund that is set aside for emergencies and budget to replenish in future years.”

 

Take careful note of the nuances here.  First, the financial impact of COVID-19 for 2021 is set at $8 million but nowhere is there mention of the nearly $9 million dollars that has been received in pandemic aid to date from higher levels of government that has apparently resulted in a $1 million operating surplus for 2020. 

 

Second, the mention of these costs as 4.2 percent of the municipal tax levy is a hint that what the City probably really wants is a 4.2 percent tax increase.  This is an increase in spending on the 2020 tax levy of $199.4 of an additional $8.4 million and assumes there will be no additional assistance or support from the provincial or federal government in 2021.  Given that they did not have to draw down on emergency reserves for 2020, doing it in 2021 is a legitimate option that should be given greater weight.

 

In light of the twin pandemics of both COVID-19 and leaky pipes that have hit the homeowners and taxpayers of Thunder Bay, The City of Thunder Bay needs to limit its tax levy increase this year to no more than 2 percent as mentioned earlier this year.  Instead of bullying taxpayers by implicit threats to reduce their garbage collection or snow removal if they don’t get their 4.2 percent, they should look at making core services like roads, water, sewer, sanitation a priority while reducing their emphasis on other things or by looking for ways to do them more efficiently.  As to how to do it, it is indeed up to the administrators to provide the options and for the councilors to choose among the options - that is what they are being paid for.

 

And as a final point, they do need to provide affected homeowners some assistance with respect to the leaky pipe pandemic.  Without commenting on the situation or compromising their “legal position” they could in recognition of the economic and mental burden of the pandemic temporarily suspend the hundreds of dollars in fees they charge homeowners to turn off and turn on the water when faced with ruptured pipes.  Continuing to do so means they are treating the misfortune of the leaky pipe situation as simply an opportunistic source of municipal revenue. 

 

 

Declaring a Climate Emergency

On Monday evening, Thunder Bay City Council will be hearing from a deputation that will ask it to declare a climate emergency.  According to a front page story in the January 11^th Chronicle-Journal: “Thunder  Bay’s  EarthCare  climate  adaptation  working  group, led by chairperson Aynsley Klassen,  is  set  to  make  a  deputation to council asking for them to declare a symbolic climate emergency.”  According to Chairperson Klassen, they are not asking for a declaration under the Emergency Management and Civil Protections Act that would include asking for actual resources but are simply asking for a symbolic message to be sent.  Thunder Bay City Councillor Foulds – who is the chairperson of the City’s EarthCare Advisory committee - is championing this cause and argues that: “Declaring a climate emergency is a way for governments to publicly acknowledge the need for urgent action.”

This is the kind of declaration Thunder Bay City Council will enjoy debating and making and will likely spend several hours on it as each Councillor voices their lengthy support for dealing with the effects of climate change, making sure everyone publicly knows that they are on the side of the environment and future generations by declaring a climate emergency.  Moreover, given that it is “symbolic” it means they will not have to ask the provincial government for any resources or better yet not have to commit any City resources to dealing with the “emergency.”  In many respects, they are simply doing what climate activist Greta Thunberg has railed against – the inaction against climate change.

As she noted in her address to the UN - “How dare you continue to look away, and come here saying that you are doing enough when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight,” … ““You say you ‘hear’ us and that you understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I don’t want to believe that. Because if you fully understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil. And I refuse to believe that.” I also refuse to believe politicians are evil when self-absorbed, opportunistic and short-sighted are much better descriptors. 

I would opine that simply declaring a climate emergency and not acting on it is simply paying lip service to climate change and trying to score some political points with climate change activists.  If Thunder Bay City Council really wants to do something to deal with a climate emergency, then they need to back up their “feel good” declaration with some concrete action. It is not about what they have done to date – such as the stated  reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent since 2007 – it is about what they are going to do.

An emergency requires drastic action.  What will be done to expand use of Thunder Bay Transit in order to reduce reliance on personal automobiles?  Is not raising city transit fares by 11 percent - as proposed in the 2020 budget – contrary to bringing about a more sustainable economy?  Maybe City Council should aim to reduce the “footprint” of City government by pledging to reduce its employment via a process of attrition – that is through not filling retirements and exits – by 10 percent over the next five years and reinvesting the savings in climate initiatives such as planting more trees in the intercity area or expanding sewers to deal with heavier rainfalls?  Maybe there should be a permanent reduction in property tax rates for new homes constructed that are under 1000 square fit in order to promote more sustainable lifestyles with less “stuff”? Need I go on?

Enough with the political grand standing.  Where are the solutions? If you are going to declare an emergency, back it up with some action.  Words and symbols are not enough.  Thunder Bay does have a climate emergency – it is the climate at Thunder Bay City Hall.
 

Setting Direction: The Next Four Years for Thunder Bay City Council

Thunder Bay’s new City Council has been sworn in and the first meeting tonight will send important signals on what the direction of the new council is as well as the ability of new council members to work together and effectively make decisions.  This is a process being repeated cross the province as new municipal councils from Toronto to Dryden to Windsor begin serving their terms. 

Many often feel the role of Council is to make decisions that do things – like boost the city’s economy or cut costs.  The reality is that much of this can only be done indirectly.  For example, the economic impact of City Council is via its role in setting tax rates and tax policy as well as providing strategic direction on what infrastructure and quality of life investments can attract business.   As for cutting costs, Council needs to follow a process that involves its civil servants –administration - which administers and delivers services.

True, City Council approves all decisions but it is only after strategic direction is provided and the alternatives have been produced and analyzed by the administration.  If City Council wants to reduce expenditure growth, it is not their role to decide what areas should be cut or restrained, it is their role to select the target expenditure level or the desire to reduce spending and then ask administration for their options on how to achieve it.  Having set the policy direction, City Council then decides on the options provided by administration to pursue in meeting the target.  In brief, the role of City Council is to select targets and then make decisions to meet those targets based on the instruments provided by their civil servants.

Of course, the automatic response to any such pontificating on the part of observers like myself is that I am not a member of Council and if I feel I know so much I should walk the walk and run for office. While I appreciate that elected office is an important calling and a tough job,  my response to that is on several levels. First, you should always be careful what you wish for. Second, such a retort on the part of any politician is really designed to stifle debate because given the number of people expressing opinions, how can we all run for office and all serve on Council or as an MP? Third, as engaged citizens and taxpayers we should contribute to debate and discussion and we all have skills that can serve the public in different way.   There is no one size fits all standard for public service and we cannot all be elected politicians.

 

So, that out of the way, the main challenges facing Thunder Bay over the next few years appear to have been categorized by the Mayor in his address last week: taxation, crime, the economy and infrastructure.  I would broaden the “crime” category to general “social fabric” given the interaction between crime, inequality and poverty but fair enough.  These are the categories most in need of attention in Thunder Bay.  Taxation of course is related to spending given that the municipal tax levy is directly linked to the amount of spending.  And, of course there are always issues that will rear their head as a result from decisions made elsewhere – such as the decision to legalize cannabis.

So the issues on tap for the first meeting tonight are whether to close Dease Pool or spend millions of dollars in repairs (apparently $2.8 million more), changes in parking regulations,  a recycling contract extension ($2.6 million more) and a report on the performance of the  new Python 5000 pothole repair machine.  Aside from the parking regulations, these issues all ultimately may involve spending more money for one reason or another.  Given that taxation rates are ultimately linked to spending, tonight will provide a pretty good indication of what we can expect from City Council with respect to tax rates in next year’s budget process and the direction for the next four years.