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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Saturday, 20 February 2010 03:44 |
Hold the phone, a monumental event has occured in Windsor. I'm currently awaiting a call back from Environment Canada to see if the reports are true that Hell has frozen over.
It's only taken twelve years, but Windsor Star columinst Gord Henderson has actually almost, kind of, admitted that he might possibly, once, have been wrong.
Health care is a provincial responsibility
We've been down this road before. In the spring of 1998 I was among those who were urging councillors to ignore the public hysteria and approve a $14-million levy (a surcharge of about $25 annually on an average property tax bill) for the much-needed expansion and renovation of area hospitals.
I conceded at the time that I "wasn't thrilled by the concept of compulsory giving" and hoped it wouldn't become "a handy tool to raise funds for every worthy cause under the sun."
I clearly remember this being pitched as a one-timer, an unprecedented and not-to-be-repeated emergency funding tactic to help bring Windsor's hospitals out of the Dark Ages at a time when the Mike Harris government was perceived as giving this Conservative wasteland the back of the hand.
Wrong, shouted older and less naive critics. The levy, they warned, set a dangerous precedent and it would be only a matter of time before some well-meaning group with a mom and apple pie cause would be back at this tantalizing trough.
How right they were.
I'm heading out early tomorrow with my binoculars to watch the unheard of spectacle of pigs flying throughout the Windsor region.
PS. A suggestion for Council when they consider this and any other requests. Insert an option box on this years final tax bill offering taxpayers an option to contribute $25 dollars per year towards a fund that will go to community initiatives such as the requests from Hotel Dieu, Windsor Regional and the McGivney Centre. Many will argue that it's a worthy cause and it is. If the County wishes to contribute taxpayer funds, that is their right and they will have to face their electors this year to explain their decision.
In Windsor, let's give taxpayers a choice. Those that wish to support this would simply have to check a box on their tax bill, those who don't won't be forced to contribute, or at least will have the option of contributing directly to the charitable foundation and reaping the benefits of a tax deduction.
Municipal governments should be focused on running and funding the services and infrastructure they are mandated to support. The remainder should be quickly and loudly rejected back to the appropriate level of government to fund.
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Last Updated on Saturday, 20 February 2010 04:01 |
