Metropolitan Toronto
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The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was the name of the highest level of municipal government in the Toronto, Ontario area from 1954 to 1997. It resembled, in some ways, a regional municipality, being formed of smaller municipalities but having more responsibilities than a county or district. It was commonly referred to as "Metro" to avoid confusion with the old City of Toronto, which was within its borders.
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Formation
In 1954, the former York County was split into two entities: [North] York County (which became York Region in 1971), and Metro; the line of division was the old concession line along Steeles Avenue. Metropolitan Toronto took in the city of Toronto as well as the villages of Long Branch, New Toronto, Mimico, Swansea, Weston, Forest Hill, Leaside and the townships (renamed "Boroughs") of Etobicoke, York, North York, East York and Scarborough. Metropolitan Toronto consisted of twelve councillors from Toronto (including the mayor) as well as a representative (usually a mayor or a reeve) from each of the surrounding municipalities. Metropolitan Toronto also had planning authority over the surrounding townships, including the townships of Vaughan, Markham and Pickering, but these areas did not have representation on Metro council.
Growth
Frederick Gardiner was the first Metro Chairman and, under his leadership, Metropolitan Toronto underwent a period of substantial growth, including the construction of its early subway network and a number of highways, including the Gardiner Expressway, named in his honour. As a result of the growth that followed over the next thirteen years, both inside and outside Metro, the Province of Ontario reorganized the city, consolidating the thirteen municipalities into six and dividing up representation on council according to the percentage of each municipality's population within Metro. Long Branch, New Toronto and Mimico were absorbed into Etobicoke, Weston was absorbed into York, Leaside into East York and Swansea and Forest Hill into Toronto. Metro Council was now dominated by the suburban majority, but continued to address suburban and inner city issues in equal measure. All of the boroughs, except for East York, eventually renamed themselves cities in their own right.
Services
The following is a list of services that were funded and provided by the Metro government:
- Welfare, homes for the aged, children's services (i.e., child care),Policing, Public transit Toronto Transit Commission, Regional parks including the Toronto Islands, waterfront park and valley parks systems
- Regional planning
- Arterial roads and expressways
- Ambulance services (now Emergency Medical Services)
- Water filtration and distribution
- Sewage treatment
- Solid waste disposal (but not collection, which was a lower tier responsibility)
In addition, the following agencies were Metro government agencies:
- Metro Toronto Zoo (now Toronto Zoo)
- Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts
- Exhibition Place
Political Structure
Members of Metropolitan Toronto Council also sat on their respective lower-tier councils and were not directly elected to the upper-tier council, and because Toronto councillors often voted in a bloc, inner city issues tended to dominate. A reorganization in 1988 changed the composition of the Council, when the Province of Ontario required direct elections to Metro Council and severed the links between the two tiers. Now only the mayors of the six member municipalities sat on both the upper-tier and lower-tier councils. Metropolitan Toronto became more difficult to manage, and the incentive for the lower-tier councillors to scapegoat Metro council (which they no longer sat on) increased tensions. Also, there was a growing sense that Metropolitan Toronto, set up to encompass the urban region of Toronto was no longer relevant, serving barely 50% of what was becoming known as the Greater Toronto Area.
At inception in 1953, Metro was headquartered at 67 Adelaide Street East. When Toronto City Hall opened in 1964, Metro and the former City of Toronto shared accommodation and Council Chambers. At a later point. committee facilities and Councillor's Offices were relocated to 390 Bay Street, across from City Hall. The Council continued to meet in the Toronto City Hall Council chambers. In 1992, Metro moved out of Toronto City Hall and into a newly constructed Metro Hall at 55 John Street. (Brisbin, Brook, Beynon, architects)
Subsequent Metro Chairmen were William R. Allen, Albert Campbell, Paul Godfrey, Dennis Flynn and Alan Tonks and were elected by Metro Council itself, as opposed to Gardiner who was appointed by the province. The Metro Chairman was, for many years, an ex-officio member of the Council without having to be elected to Metro Council by constituents as either a local mayor, Controller, alderman or councillor. Beginning in 1988 the Metro Chairman was required to also achieve election as a Metro Councillor representing a ward. The position was abolished in 1997 with amalgamation.
Amalgamation
In 1995, Progressive Conservative leader Mike Harris campaigned on reducing the level of government in Ontario and promised to examine Metropolitan Toronto with an eye to eliminating it. In the end, noting the number of services that Metro coordinated between the six member municipalities and citing possible savings, the Province of Ontario amalgamated Metro and the six municipalities within it. On January 1, 1998, the single City of Toronto, or Mega-city as it is still called, was born.
External Links
- Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto Act (http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/RepealedStatutes/English/90m62_e.htm) (Repealed in 2000)
- York County (http://www.worldhistory.com/wiki/Y/York-County,-Ontario.htm)
- Metro Toronto Act 1954 (revised 1988) (http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/RepealedStatutes/English/)
- Metro Toronto (http://www.worldhistory.com/wiki/M/Metropolitan-Toronto.htm)