Our demands are simple:
1: Stop the Cuts
Toronto has spoken. People in this city value their services, and do not want to see them cut. Homeless shelters, community start up grants, parks and public housing are not gravy. People depend on these services every day, and we will fight to keep them. We also understand the connection between the services and the people who provide them – and so we reject outright the ongoing attack on public sector workers and Ford’s dangerous privatization schemes.
2: Expand Services for All:
Even before the current round of cuts began, Toronto’s services were woefully inadequate. The waiting list for subsidized daycare spots in this city is 19,500 people long; public transit is unaffordable and inaccessible; the average wait for public housing placement is over five years; every winter an untold number of homeless people freeze to death on the streets for lack of shelter space. Rather than see our services in Toronto be even further devastated, we demand that they be increased to the standards we deserve!
3: No Bailouts to Cops & Corporations:
The proposed 2012 operating budget for the Toronto Police Services currently stands at $969.7 million; its officers, the highest paid in all of Canada, recently received a four year 11% raise. This is on top of the $1.2 billion that was spent on last year’s G20 police state. Toronto also has one of the lowest corporate tax rates of any city in North America. We demand that corporate tax rates be raised and the city’s bloated police budget be reigned in!