[LordMandeep]

We all heard about Toronto's proposal of becoming a province, but as our cities grow bigger they need more powers and funding.

I don't think new provinces are a good idea but what about city states??

It could work, But if the GTA area (about 5.8 million people) becomes its own little city state, ontario would suffer.


Is it a good idea and would it work in your city???


But we all agree we should focus more on the big four cities in Canada.
(CALGARY,MONTREAL,TORONTO,VANCOUVER)

Its worked in Europe.

 

[bluenoser]

I would say yes to Toronto and Ottawa (which, incidentally, is one of the "big four"; Calgary isn't) and maybe to Montreal. This would be helpful in terms of federal politics because it would shrink the Ontario/Quebec blocs and help to distribute power more evenly throughout the provinces.

 

[ToRoNto g-town]

i would say no, if anythign split the provinces up into smaller bits but not city stated, Toronto still needs natural resorces which the gta cant offer

 

[nitzomoe]

I think it might be a good idea for toronto as long as Canada functions as a loose federation(many ontarians outside of the golden horseshore dont like the current situation either and would prefer a split) the provincial system is failing we need more direct government, a federation would also encourage a more equitoble sharing of the revenues.

 

[LordMandeep]

If any city should it should be Toronto and area. It be the 3-4 th biggest province anyway.

 

[vid]

Southern Ontario and Southern Québec should become states, and get an extra amount of responsability. Add Northern Québec and Northern Ontario into a transitional territory and work out the division of it into smaller provinces from there.

Just a thought The provincial building downtown would make a great legislature. They could congress in the cafeteria!

 

[phunky]

there is already the "toronto act" which gives toronto a lot more power, so i guess one reason they did this was to avoid toronto becoming it's own province.

 

[ssiguy2]

Well, I think that there could only be 3 realistic city-states: Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa/Hull.
I think they could also do with some changes with the provinces.
First, all three territories should become full provinces so they can keep their revenue from their natural resources. Maybe quasi-provinces as they should NOT have senate seats with so few people compared to even PEI.
I think N/E Ontario would do better in Manitoba. Socially and geographically it is much more aliened with Winnipeg than Toronto. Also N/E Ont has absolutly no relevance in Ontario politics or even Ontarians in general. If , for example, ThunderBay were to become part of Manitoba then their votes and seats would really matter.
I could also see Vancouver Island separating from BC. People in the rest of the country don't realise how different the people, economy, and politics are on "The Island" than on the "Mainland" as we call it. They are two different worlds.
Vancouver would probably be the capitol of BC and Quebec City still for Quebec but the question would be what Ontario city would replace Toronto as the "New Ontario"?
I would think it would have to be either Kingston or London.

 

[vid]

Kingston would make a good capitol for Ontario. London would be more centrally located though.

 

[Filip]

Question is what would happen to ALL the government buildings/offices and whatever in Toronto? The legislature, the ROM would have to be renamed, so would the AGO.. It would be a mess!

 

[Mr. Fat Jack]

I'm for redrawing the whole map. All the major cities, Vancouver Island, Northern Ontario and Quebec, Labrador, and greater autonomy for Native reserves.

 

[Coffee Stain]

Hmmm, there are some very good arguments from forumers here, I am starting to think that shuffling the current internal borders might be a good idea, Vid's ideas for Ontario and Québec are pretty good, more direct government, greater autonomy for Native reserves is a pretty good idea too, this is quite the thread I am curious to see what others will post, I cant say I really have an opinion on this issue yet......

 

[vid]

We're still a long country. We've got lots of kinks, let's work them out. Look at how many times maps of China or Europe have been redrawn in the past few centuries.

 

[samsonyuen]

The National Capital Region is a given. Arguments for Toronto and Montreal are pretty strong too, I think.

 

[Oaronuviss]

Did we all forget about our nation's population and size? lol.
Keep it as it is, just make a few changes.

 

[MTLskyline]

I'm going to toss another idea around.
A combined 'Maritime' province.
It's been discussed before, what do you think of it? I think that it could potentially be a good idea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_Union

as for city states I think it would be a better idea to just make a southern Ontario and southern Quebec, along with a National Capital Region that includes Ottawa and Gatineau.

 

[Katrina]

The problem is that cities grow. Would that mean the territory considered the city state would grow?

If so, when neighbouring cities get enveloped, what if they don't want to be a part of the state?

 

[vid]

The city state bounderies could be fixed, and everything within that would be the city state. People would live in the province and work in the city-state. A place like Toronto would have to build up, I guess. :/

 

[partybits]

We're still a long country. We've got lots of kinks, let's work them out. Look at how many times maps of China or Europe have been redrawn in the past few centuries.

Yeah, but those took numerous wars/civil wars to change over the boundaries. I really can't think of any examples (although there has got to be some) of redrawn boundaries that was not as a result of war or dictatorships. I'm all for attacking Alberta though. We'll whip beavers at them until they give us all their oil.

Other than that, if Canada could'nt even get Meech Lake/Charlottetown to get through, imagine trying to amend the constitution for a shit load of new provinces/territories. Pretty hard to see happening even though alot of it may make sense.

 

[vid]

The Congress of Vienna redrew the map of Europe, and while it was influenced by war (more specifically a desire for no more war. Boy, did they **** that up OR WHAT??! Am I right?! ) they didn't really fight much about it.

Well, Hitler killed 6 million people in revenge.. You know what, maybe we should just leave them? ...

*is scared*