Wanderings – The goose droppings of ill-informed leaders

This past weekend, federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre decided to step into the fray of municipal politics with all the grace of a Canada Goose, leaving traces of his visit like the geese so often do.

The future maybe-Prime Minister was in Aurora, Ontario on one of his friendly business social media/photo-op tours. During an interview with Village Media’s AuroraToday, Poilievre responded to the call of some municipalities, who are requesting that a portion of the GST go to municipalities to help with infrastructure funding.

“Municipal governments, don’t ever let them bullshit you, are bursting with cash, and they’re wasting it all,” he said in the interview. “That’s why we don’t have enough infrastructure. Cut the bureaucracy, get their hands out of people’s pockets.”

The Leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition continued by saying that current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will give more money to “incompetent, greedy, money-hungry municipal politicians. I will cut the bureaucracy, and axe the tax.”

Understandably, the mayor of Aurora – Tom Mrakas – did not take too kindly to the remarks of the number two politician in Canada. In a statement, Mrakas said Poilievre was “ill-informed” and that saying municipalities were “flush with cash does not reflect the reality we face.”

There is so much to unpack in Poilievre’s comments, starting with the facts. The federal government has no direct input or rule over municipalities. Section 92 of the Constitution Act places complete control of what and how municipalities look and operate into the hands of provincial legislatures.

Saying the councils of the 444 municipalities in Ontario are flush with cash and wasting money is tarring these municipalities and their leaders with a very large brush.

Municipalities are not flush with cash. In fact they are the opposite. Municipal government is where the buck stops.

A quick refresher for the Carleton MP and others – municipalities in Ontario cannot run structural deficits like the provincial or federal governments can. Municipalities also cannot borrow for operations, again unlike the provincial and federal governments. If a municipality needs money for a project or to provide its services, it raises taxes.

Some municipalities have development charges and those fees go to paying for infrastructure. That doesn’t just mean water and sewer pipes or roads – it can include things like fire trucks or other municipal needs. When municipal growth outpaces the ability and affordability to add the infrastructure as quickly as it’s needed, that costs money too.

It’s not surprising that Poilievre thinks municipalities are “bursting with cash” because he has never served in municipal government and seen how it works and what the financial constraints are that municipalities have to work in. He has worked as a political communications consultant, and on Parliament Hill as a staffer before his election as a Member of Parliament in 2004 at 25 years old. He has experience in bureaucracy for sure. Calling municipal leaders incompetent is certainly not a chapter in Dale Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends and Influence People either.

There is a lack of judgement on display and even maturity by dropping to profanities and name calling which should be concerning to say the least. What should be just as concerning is the lack of research put into Poilievre’s axe the tax rhetoric.

Many of his Ontario MPs are former municipal politicians including Scott Aitchison (Huntsville), John Brassard (Barrie), Eric Duncan (North Dundas), Terry Dowdall (Essa Township), Shelby Kramp-Neuman (Centre Hasting), Chris Lewis (Kingsville), John Nater (West Perth), Doug Shipley (Barrie), and Ryan Williams (Belleville). Poilievre could have fact-checked with any or all of these people to know what is what. But that would not fit his narrative.

What is clear from this outburst from the Conservative Party’s leader is that research is not something he does, and that it’s okay to play fast and loose with the facts. If that is the case for one interview and one topic in a suburb of Toronto, what does that say for the rest of his policies and upcoming election platform?

This column was originally published in the December 4, 2024 print edition of the Morrisburg Leader.