I'm generally not in favor of handing out tax dollars to every needy hand that comes grubbing. But if the government is going to mug you for your hard earned money and funnel it into a "disaster relief fund", you'd like to think you're going to get a little back when your house is leveled by a tornado...
More than 600 Vaughan homes were damaged; 38 were declared unsafe to live in. The estimate for public damage and recovery costs is about $730,000.
Vaughan has asked for about $400,000, most of that related to overtime pay for city workers, Jackson said.
A letter from Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Watson to the mayor's office explained that Vaughan didn't meet the criteria set out by the ministry's Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program.
Contrary to the suggestion that a tornado doesn't qualify as a disaster, it sounds more like the real deal breaker is the curse of affluence...
The program "is really intended for use in exceptional circumstances, where the event was of such magnitude that it is beyond the ability of the municipality to manage," said Adam Grachnik.
"Vaughan, as a municipality, we determined has it within their fiscal capacity to manage it."
I wonder how the Liberal-friendly, predominantly Italian community of Vaughan feels, now that they've discovered they are only considered citizens of this province when it's time to collect the taxes, but not when it's time to give some back. I wonder if they'll remember this when it comes time to vote again.
And I wonder if Dalton McGuinty truly understands what it's like to stiff rich Italians, who have honed the science of grudge-holding to a fine art.
Vaughn is obviously not Chocolate City. Most of that Italian community will be missing the victim's rally/protest/handout lineup because they will be too busy cleaning up and rebuilding.
Posted by: Texas Canuck | October 26, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Texas Canuck. You sure got that right!
Posted by: Bob Devine | October 26, 2009 at 01:10 PM