ONTARIO ELECTION: MUNICIPAL FUNDING REFORM

Fp Leader, Paul McKeever, to Join Toronto Candidates at Union Station

WHAT: Freedom Party leader Paul McKeever will join with a number of Freedom Party of Ontario candidates from Toronto-area ridings to distribute Freedom Party's municipal funding reform plan flyer to the public, including many commuters who arrive at and depart from Union Station each working day. The flyer addresses the related concerns of both Torontonians and commuters.

DATE: Thursday, September 18, 2003.

TIME: 12:00 Noon to 1:00 PM.

PLACE: Front Street, in front of Union Station. 

WHY: Freedom Party takes the position that, by subsidizing municipal expenditures with provincial tax revenues, centralization of housing and employment is unwisely encouraged. Freedom Party takes the further position that such centralization not only transfers wealth from communities that do not receive comparable provincial subsidies, but also contributes to:

• rising housing costs in and around such centres;
• depressed wages;
• longer commutes;
• higher levels of pollution;
• traffic congestion;
• road rage; and
• time away from family life.

To reduce these negative effects, Freedom Party of Ontario proposes that municipal expenditures be paid for only with municipal revenues (i.e., not with provincial revenues). Freedom Party proposes that property taxes be replaced entirely by a municipal consumption tax, the rate of which would be set, for each municipality, by its municipal government. The form of the consumption tax would be determined in co-operation with municipalities, but could include a municipal component collected through the existing provincial sales tax system.

The Freedom Party of Ontario's proposals on municipal funding and subsidies, entitled "Your Home and Your Town", can also be found in Fp's election platform, The Right Direction, which is available at:

https://freedomparty.on.ca/platform.pdf (Adobe .pdf format)

https://freedomparty.on.ca/platform/html/cover.htm (HTML format)

Paul McKeever (who will be running in the riding of Oshawa, against Sid Ryan and Jerry Ouellette) is available to discuss this matter. You can contact him directly at:

***-***-**** (cell)

Freedom Party is expected to run candidates in 35 to 50 of Ontario's ridings in the coming election.

For further information: Paul McKeever, Leader, Freedom Party of Ontario.
Oshawa Office Telephone: 905-721-9772.
e-mail