Project description: 7:1

On January 1, 1998 Metropolitan Toronto ceased to exist. This came about as a result of the Ontario provincial government's controversial legislation, Bill 103 and its numerous follow-ups. Six of the seven city halls of the former municipalities became, for all intents and purposes, redundant as sites of local governance. As well, the number of elected representatives to serve Toronto's 2,400,000 residents was cut from 140 to 57, thus fulfilling the provincial government's desire to reduce the effectiveness of local democratic institutions. All decisions of any consequence were centralized at Toronto's "new" new City Hall. Ironically, given the cost-cutting rationalization put forward by the province, a multi-million dollar renovation of the council chamber and offices of this building was necessitated to accomodate twice the councilors it was designed for. And so it went.

In forcing through the amalgamation against the wishes of a large majority of the city's citizens, the provincial government cited the enormous savings that would surely follow the elimination of so-called "waste and duplication". In the eight years since there has been little evidence of these savings. Instead, valued social programs were cut, property taxes