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_ Ways, traffic control and

- Buthority

Vg? RENE Meyeapenhatay

By WILLIAM STEWART
AYORS, aldermen and civic

dignitaries representing
: close to 14,000;000 Can-
adians gathered in Vancouver
last week for ‘the 29th annual
Conference of the Canadian
Federation of Mayors and Muni-
Cipalities,
The. theme of the Conference
was “The Rebuilding of our
Communities” and “Recasting of

Local Government.”

The reports presented by civic
experts — and the response toe

‘these reports by the delegates

— showed a deep awareness of

_ the need for structural changes

in municipal government and a
Tedivision of financial responsi-
ility for many services related
to urban communities.

: The urban explosion, accord-
ing to W report delivered by Dr.
John J. Deutch, chairman of the
Economic Council of Canada,

‘will see 85 to 90 percent of an

€xpanded Canadian population
living in cities by the turn of

the century. This will bring with *

it problems that cannot be

coped with either by our pre- -

Sent “village” structure or the
Present fiscal legislative rela-
tionships between the three

levels of Canadian government.

The conference reached what
appeared to be a remarkable
level of consensus on the urgen-
Cy of some form of regional
‘80Vernment which could control
and direct urban growth.

Many of the papers delivered -

to the conference © addressed
themselves both to the magni-

_ tude of the crisis arising out of

urban growth and some indica-
tions of a solution.

Dr. Frank Smallwood of Dart-
mouth College (U.S.). ‘sketched
Sut four areas of this crisis,

Which he said required some
fonn of regional government

or their solution: (1) planning

air pollution control (3) large
Scale physical services (i.e.,
Supply and services) and (4)

arge scale movement of goods

and people (i.e., arterial express-
public

transit),
_Each of these requires mas-
lve financial expenditure im-
Mediately, in some instances to

Undo elements of crisis which -

already exist, and in all cases
He prevent the crisis of alarm-
"8 proportions that will arise

Stituted,.

For example, it was pointed
Sut in a report by Dr. Eric
Beecroft, eminent Canadian

or municipal affairs,

that the ‘separation of storm

_ S€wers from Sanitary sewers, an

€sSential task to prevent the .
Pollution

2 of our water supply,
ned cost $154 million in the
ity of Toronto alone. In the

~ 7»: aS a whole the cost of this .

feeatation is estimated at be-
$20 and $30 billion.

NAS VEN obs BONE NERS No

MAYORS MEET AND DISCUSS

risis of urban growth

Vancouver, scene of the conference of mayors
and municipalities, is itself an excellent
example of rapid urban growth. Here its west

end, the district near Stanley Park, is seen in.

A 93-page report on Urban
‘Transportation, prepared by the
Canadian Mayors’ Federation in
cooperation with Central Mort-
gage and Housing -Corporation,
predicts that unless both federal
and. provincial governments
‘undertake a major share of road
and transportation costs in ur-
ban areas the latter'will strangle
themselves in vehicular traffic.

“These major transportation
undertakings,” the report says,
“should be provided from user
tax revenues, a field of taxation
occupied by the senior govern-
ments.”. Jt points out that the
federal government has failed
completely to recognize the
problem of providing urban
‘transportation — freeways and
‘rapid transit.

Air pollution problems aris-
ing from two sources, industrial

pollution and automobile pollu-

tion, defy municipal . control.
With no effective provincial
Jand-use legislation, municipali-
‘ties, are competing with one an-
other for industries: and: if one
municipality tries to effect anti-
pollution controls another will

Over the next decade if a plan- ‘Void them. The mayor of Castle-

Ned regional approach is not in- .

gar, B.C., cited the example of
the giant Consolidated Mining
and Smelting plant which has
set up its own little principality
of Tadanad and escapes taxes
from both Trail and Castlegar
while it belches pollution over
both these cities with utter dis-
regard of boundaries.

These were the problems that
superimposed themselves on the
conference and gave it a sense
of urgency. Adding frustration
to the urgency was the financial
dilemma in which municipali-

ties found themselves. In addi-
tion to facing problems of re-
gional government, which are

entirely beyond ‘solution within.

the present tax base of munici-
pal government, municipalities
‘are: Now bearing the costs. of
serysces in no way related to
property.

One mayor reported that edu-
cation costs in his municipality
equalled 52 cents of the tax
dollar. And the City of Vancou-
ver added that the cost of bor-
rowing interest to carry through
capital works, which could not
be financed on a pay-as-you-go
basis, was 23 percent of the gen-
eral purpose taxes collected.
The city admitted at the same
time that its capital works pro-
gram was not even sufficient to
keep up with deterioration.

How should local government
be recast to meet these prob-
lems?
Everyone agreed that some
form of regional government
was needed but, as Dr. Small-
wood said, “the $64,000 ques-
tion is what, where and how?”

Three alternatives seenied to_

present themselves:

(1) That nothing be done and

the crisis continue to develop
to the extent that it would re-

quire generations and unimagi- ©

nable sums of money to undo
the damage.

(2) That senior. governments
move in and impose some form
of regional government to deal
with at least the four major
areas of urban crisis,

(3) That federal, provincial
and municipal leaders work out
cooperatively in each area the

a blaze of brilliance at night.

main regional services in the
area. If. they fail to do so with-
in a period of three years, the
province would:step in and carry
out the plan.

The forms were much dis-
puted. Representatives from
Metro Toronto expressed satis-
faction with the way Metro was
working out there. Mayor Juba
of Winnipeg on the other hand
had nothing good to say for
Metro in that city. Many dele-
gates favored amalgamation ra-
ther than Metro, while still
others, perhaps the majority,
were for a loose form of regional
district which would respect the
autonomy of each member muni-
cipality but would legislate on
matters of a regional nature and
would draw its authority from
a combination of provincial leg-
islation and constitutional par-
ticipation of the member muni-
cipalities.

The conference was not con-
clusive about how precisely to
solve. the many practical prob-.
Jems facing municipal govern-
ment in Canada. Nor could it
have been. It did, however, set
the problems out in some con-
siderable depth and indicated
the need for deep-going changes
in municipal government and
forms and. the division of res- federal - provincial municipal
ponsibility, including finances 'élations.
and legislation, required for This must become a matter
their enactment. of urgency for the labor move-
ment in Canada, which remains
was in favor of the latter pro- far too aloof from civic politics.

posal the nagging question bo- Involved here’ is the material
thering the delegates was how? and cultural life of the over-
The jealous “village” concept in Whelming majority of Canadi-
municipal politics finds munici- 2MS. Involved also is the judi-
pal governments unwilling ~to Cclous allocation of our national
delegate authority for most of Wealth, the product of the man-

In. the back-
ground some of the lights reflect on English
Bay. fee

While the weight of opinion

‘the services which require a re- val and intellectual workers of

gional approach. In the U.S., for Our country.
example, where the crisis is Will it be squandered by the
much sharper than here, it was political representatives of mo-
estimated: that close to 20,000 nopoly capital while the urban
governments are governing 200 areas sink into a crisis of monu-
municipal areas. mental proportions? Or will la-
Dr. Smallwood proposed a bor, along with other democra-
combination of voluntarism and Ho-minded sections-of the popa-

atte lation, assert itself for an im-
coercion. He suggested that - cae ae z
ainthal sete Seen He mediate and rational solution to

signate the regions in a given Canada’s urban problem?
province, instruct the member. This was the challenge placed
municipalities .to get together before Canadians at the con-

‘and work out the forms neces- ference of mayors and municipa-

sary to plan and coordinate the lities.

Ww

A proposal by Hamilton’s Mayor Vic Copps that provincial and
federal governments completely take over all the costs of educa-
tion was greeted last week by the Oakville and District Labor.

~ Council.

The Hamilton mayor made his proposal at a press conference
in Vancouver on the eve of the annual conference of mayors and
municipalities, Pointing to the fact that education costs had Sky-
rocketted in all municipalities across the country, he said: ©

“We desperately need more assistance to relieve the home-
owner on a fixed income.” He also warned against any attempt to -
prevent municipal workers from exercising their right to strike.

The labor council, which represents 11,000 workers in the
Halton and Peel counties, sent a telegram to Copps congratulating
him on his stand. In it the council gave its full support to the

suggestion that a delegation of mayors presenta brief to the two __

senior governments on the take-over of education costs... ,