FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2015
Contact: Andrea Micieli, President
E-mail: andrea@torontotaxpayer.ca
Web: www.torontotaxpayer.ca
TORONTO AND YORK REGION TAXPAYERS COALITION STATEMENT ON OLYMPICS BID
Toronto, ON – This morning, Mayor John Tory announced his decision to decline a bid for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
The Toronto Taxpayers Coalition together with our regional partner, the York Region Taxpayers Coalition, is satisfied this debate has come to an end. Our position can be summarized as follows:
First, world class cities like Toronto don’t need events like the Olympics to prove ourselves as “world class.” Toronto is already among the elite cities in the world because of our diversity, economic opportunity, and our culture.
Second, there is an issue with the process when such a decision is left in the hands of the Mayor alone. “In the future, the Toronto Taxpayers Coalition would expect to see changes to allow input from Toronto City Council, the provincial and federal governments, but most importantly, the public” says Toronto Taxpayers Coalition President Andrea Micieli. Taxpayers would, after all, be footing the bill for what is expected to be billions of dollars required. The public should have a say in whether public funds will be used to this end.
Third, with a short timeframe to draft a potential Olympics bid, neighbouring local governments were not given the opportunity to collaborate. “A Summer Olympics would not affect Toronto alone. Governments such as York Region and Peel Region would be expected to share the financial burden. Mississauga declined last week. That is a strong sign the GTA was not prepared,” says York Region Taxpayers Coalition President Maddie Di Muccio.
Just 11 months ago, Torontonians went to the polls to shape our city’s future. At the time, hosting the 2024 Olympics was not part of Mayor Tory’s platform. In future elections, we are calling on potential council and mayoralty candidates to be forthcoming with the voting public about multi billion dollar ambitions, such as hosting the Olympics, and allow the public the opportunity to have input via the ballot box.
Andrea Micieli,
Toronto Taxpayers Coalition President
Maddie Di Muccio,
York Region Taxpayers Coalition President
About the Toronto Taxpayers Coalition:
Founded in 2010, the Toronto Taxpayers Coalition is a non-partisan advocate for the municipal taxpayer. We are committed to lower taxes, less waste, and holding government to account with respect to how they spend taxpayers’ hard-earned money. While taxes are a fact of life, properly tendering contracts, prudent fiscal planning, budgeting, and spending will dramatically reduce the tax burden on Toronto residents.
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