And over the past few weeks, it’s become a flashpoint between the leading contenders.
asserted
it → become → contenders
At press conferences late last month, Brad Bradford proposed a revamp of Toronto’s budget.
asserted
Bradford → propose → budget
He pitched turning the city’s water division into a corporate utility, like Toronto Hydro.
asserted
He → pitch → Hydro
The move, he said, would allow the city to reduce residents’ water bills.
asserted
city → say → bills
Major capital projects, which are currently funded using money taken from those bills, would instead be paid for through debt financing.
asserted
which → fund → financing
He said dividends from the new corporate utility, meanwhile, would help pay for another campaign promise: a cut to the city’s municipal land transfer tax.
asserted
dividends → say → tax
Bradford has said he believes he could accomplish the water utility change in 2027.
uncertain
he → say → 2027
Incumbent Olivia Chow has accused Bradford of wanting to privatize Toronto’s water.
asserted
Chow → accuse → water
It’s a move, she said, that could risk dirtying some of North America’s cleanest drinking water.
uncertain
that → ’ → water
She even got environmental titan David Suzuki involved.
asserted
Suzuki → get → ?
Bradford has repeatedly rejected those claims and accused Chow of fear-mongering.
uncertain
Bradford → reject → mongering
“I would resign my seat if Toronto Water was ever privatized,” he said in the pair’s final head-to-head debate.
asserted
he → resign → debate
As for dirtying the water, “you know that’s not true …
asserted
that → dirty → water
You have just engaged in all these wild accusations, misinformation.”
asserted
You → engage → accusations
It’s a lot, it’s complicated and it’s all being debated in the midst of a dead-heat electoral race.
The Star has talked to legal and government finance experts, who have reviewed Bradford’s proposals.
asserted
who → ’ → proposals
They say the ideas are ambitious and worth debating.
asserted
ideas → say → ?
They also say that without a business plan, they’re high risk.
asserted
they → say → plan
There are also some promises being made that would require, they note, stars to align that aren’t all within a mayor’s control.
asserted
that → be → control
Will Toronto’s water be ‘privatized’?
asserted
water → privatize → ?
Currently, the city’s water system is a municipal government department, the head of which reports directly to the city manager and mayor.
asserted
head → report → manager
Major infrastructure decisions and rates are decided by city council.
asserted
decisions → decide → council
Bradford’s proposal would change that.
asserted
proposal → change → that
It would create a corporation in charge of Toronto’s water.
asserted
It → create → water
“The Ontario government has passed legislation necessary to do it.
asserted
government → pass → it
The door is wide open and available,” Bradford said.
asserted
Bradford → say → ?
“So why hasn’t Toronto walked through it?”
asserted
Toronto → walk → it
Generally, a corporate water utility is like a publicly owned company where the government owns the shares and any revenue goes back into maintaining pipes and plants.
asserted
revenue → own → pipes
In contrast, privatization would mean selling the system or its operations to private companies, whose primary goal is to generate profits for outside investors.
asserted
goal → mean → investors
Bradford has said privatization “will never happen” under his plan and has promised to create bylaws to ban it.
asserted
privatization → say → it
Critics point out that longer-term questions of privatization might no longer be strictly in Toronto’s hands, if a large degree of control is shifted to a board overseen by the province.
uncertain
degree → point → province
Last year, the province brought in new legislation called the Water and Wastewater Public Corporations Act.
asserted
province → bring → legislation
It’s intended to create a public corporation model for water and wastewater services so lower-tier municipalities, many with small or mid-sized water entities, can consolidate their networks into an arm’s-length regional corporation.
asserted
municipalities → intend → corporation
The purpose is to shift capital borrowing onto the corporation’s balance sheet rather than the municipality’s, protecting local credit ratings and freeing up debt capacity for other projects.
asserted
purpose → shift → projects
One sentence in particular in the law has raised eyebrows: that “no shares of the corporation are held by a person other than a municipality, the Province of Ontario, the Government of Canada or an agent of any of them.”
asserted
shares → raise → them
Bradford has said the law “expressly prohibits” privatization, referring to this line.
Joel Bakan, a longtime law professor at the University of British Columbia, sees it differently.
asserted
Bakan → say → it
He notes that the regulations don’t define what can be designated as “an agent.”
asserted
what → note → agent
What qualifies as “an agent” could be a private company, a public-private partnership like Metrolinx or the Canada Infrastructure Bank, which facilitates private investment in infrastructure projects, Bakan said.
uncertain
Bakan → qualify → projects
(The office of the minister of municipal affairs and housing, Rob Flack, who would oversee these utilities, did not respond to questions asking for clarification Friday.)
asserted
who → oversee → clarification
Echoing other lawyers the Star consulted, Bakan said that while the law calls these entities public corporations, it does not explicitly outlaw private-sector participation or ownership structures.
asserted
it → echo → participation
In other words, Bill 98 limits who can own shares but doesn’t guarantee lasting public ownership.
asserted
who → limit → ownership
…and 35 more, not listed.
The Aporia
