re. Mayor demands one cent of GST

My apologies to people for the duplication of this letter. I originally sent it to the Toronto Star. When they didn't call about printing it and the Scarborough Mirror published an article on the same topic, I resubmitted it to them. Both papers eventually printed my letter.

The way I see it, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has two choices. His government has already said it intends to reduce the GST from six per cent to five per cent, having already dropped it from seven per cent. His government doesn't want, or think it needs, the extra penny it's currently collecting.

Now I doubt many people noticed last year's GST reduction. Except for a few big-ticket items, it mainly meant a couple extra pennies in your pocket. However, our cities desperately need the money to repair our crumbling infrastructure, to maintain essential services and to stop the relentless rise of property taxes.

Meanwhile, federal Liberal leader Stephane Dion refuses to commit to rebuilding our cities. Flaherty can score a huge public relations victory by simply saying "yes" to Mayor David Miller's one-cent solution.

This should be a no-brainer. It's not only good for our cities and for Canada, it's smart politics.

Gary Dale