way in expanding transit or addressing the
backlog of needed repairs at Toronto Com-
munity Housing. Here’s another way to
look at it. If Toronto had an open bidding
process, there would be no need to bring
in road tolls. That’s right. The city could
save about the same amount of revenue it
hopes to collect through tolls by tendering
construction work in a fairer way.
This begs the question. Shouldn’t open
tendering be an obvious choice as Toronto
looks for savings to fund transit and other
infrastructure projects? After all, Mayor
Tory vowed that “all options” would be
considered and city manager Peter Wal-
lace has said, “We need to demonstrate
that we’re investing [Torontonians’] hard-
earned tax dollars properly.”
Toronto could prove that it’s willing to do
right by taxpayers by teaming up with the
Association of Municipalities of Ontario,
the Large Urban Mayors’ Caucus and the
Ontario Chamber of Commerce. They’ve
all urged the Ontario government to fix its
antiquated labour laws.
“Restricted tendering increases project
costs, harms local economic development
and prevents the public from getting the
best value for its tax dollars,” said Gary Mc-
4
business elite canada
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FEBRUARY 2017
