Tuesday's battle of words at budget committee between councillors Adam "Downtown" Vaughan and Doug "Suburbs" Ford over wading pools highlighted an important crutch in city hall politics: language.
In particular, language when referring to the "downtown" and "the suburbs".It's time city council drop these references and start referring to the city as Toronto. We are not calling for the disappearance of the former cities of Etobicoke, Scarborough or North York but for council to refer to them by their names and not as "the downtown" and "the suburbs".This kind of language does little to unify the city and its residents. It only furthers what many Torontonians believe is a battle between the old city and the rest of Toronto. Most newcomers to Toronto don't consider their homes in Malvern, Rexdale or Lawrence Heights to be any where other than firmly places within Scarborough, Etobicoke, North York and, yes, within the City of Toronto.It's been 13 years since the province amalgamated the six former municipalities into a single municipality. So why, after more than a decade, can't city hall start facing the reality that Toronto is one city not many. After all, it's seen that way by the provincial and federal governments, and the rest of the world. To people outside the city, the former municipalities are places within a much larger city. And yet, the battle between "downtown" and "the suburbs" continues unabated at city hall. It's an unfortunate fact that, as Councillor Ford pointed out, "the people of Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke aren't getting their fair share," but that's a function of economic development rather than intentional politicking. However, for Vaughan to say, "I have nothing against the folks in North Etobicoke - I'd love to help them. My ward has been sending tax dollars there for decades" is really something else. How does "downtown" money differ from money in "the suburbs" - there are several businesses in the "suburbs" that pay their fair share of tax dollars too. Tax dollars are funds for the entire city to pay for what needs paying for, not a mine, mine, mine mentality.Infrastructure, like wading pools, is something the city as a whole needs to discuss. Not based on "downtown" versus the "suburbs" but as a unified city that needs to make difficult decisions on a daily basis - not just during budget time.Councillors across the board have to start putting aside their petty differences and start looking at a city that's made up of neighbourhoods with different needs, and stop finding ways to keep Torontonians separated with outdated language like the "suburbs" and "downtown".