Province of Toronto

The term Province of Toronto has two senses: one political, the other ecclesiastical.

Proposed province of Canada

Some politicians and urban affairs commentators have proposed that the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada secede from the province of Ontario to become the Province of Toronto, the eleventh province of Canada. Some of the proponents of provincial status argue that Toronto's 2.5 million residents are politically and economically exploited by the rest of the province, and by the suburban Greater Toronto Area.

The provincehood movement idea has been supported at times by the late urban activist Jane Jacobs, entrepreneur Ed Mirvish, councillor Michael Walker, former councillor and current MPP for Beaches East-York Michael Prue, and former mayor John Sewell. Mel Lastman proposed creating a Province of Metro in the 1980s when he was mayor of the City of North York. North York was merged with other municipalities into the City of Toronto in 1997, and Lastman was elected mayor of the new city. He did not pursue the idea during his six years as mayor of Toronto. Tooker Gomberg, now deceased, who placed second to Lastman in the 2000 mayoral election, also favoured the idea. The creation of a new province is unlikely because it would require a constitutional amendment supported by the House of Commons, the Senate and two-thirds of the provinces making up 50% of the population. The issue is not currently being debated seriously.

By the numbers

If the City of Toronto were to merge with the Regional Municipalities of Durham, Peel and York, it would form the third most populous province. Other than that, little would change statistically. Prince Edward Island, at 5,660 km², would still remain the smallest province in Canada. Ontario would, likewise, still remain the most populated province.

References

ee also

*Provincial creationism
*Urban secession

External links

*http://www.provinceoftoronto.ca