Save our libraries – again

Fourteen years ago when then mayor Rob Ford cut millions of dollars from the library’s budget, tens of thousands of you joined our fight back. We need you to be library warriors again. 

Our union represents the 2,600 library workers at the Toronto Public Library (TPL). Our members work in some of the last truly free public spaces across our city which means that our members are often having to work outside of their scope (often as social workers), face violence on a daily basis and are stretched thin.  

This is not new. Decades of cuts to public services got us here. But Olivia Chow is the only mayor since amalgamation to actually invest in libraries. We’ve witnessed firsthand her proactive approach to problem solving. She put it in the city budget to have social workers and public safety-trained staff in libraries. 

We want every patron that visits us to feel safe, to feel welcome, and to feel like they belong. We want to create world-class, innovative programming. We want to continue being integral members of the communities we work and live in. The majority of our members live in Toronto. It matters to us that this city is safe and affordable. Olivia is our best chance of doing that. 

In just three years as mayor Olivia has achieved a lot. 

“Let’s not get distracted by all the noise of politics.”

Our city is safer – major crime is down, average wait times for 911 calls are down, 24/7 crisis workers are now available on the TTC. Our city is more transit connected than ever – rush hour subway wait times are down, the Scarborough Busway opened much earlier than projected. Our city is becoming more affordable – 15,000 affordable housing units are under construction, new renter supports and a bylaw to stop renovictions are underway. She’s balanced the city budget while expanding services and worked across party and jurisdiction lines to secure more funding for our city. 

Imagine all the good she can do with the next four years. She sees the potential of our vibrant city. And we see her fighting to make this a city we brag about. She understands that investing in our public services delivers the best return on our tax dollars. For example, she has promised to never, ever cut our libraries.

For example, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, every dollar invested in TPL returns $5.63 to us Toronto residents. And according to the Centre for Spatial Economics, for every $1 invested in public infrastructure there is up to a $6 boost in GDP in the long-term.  

But cities, like ours, across Ontario have been footing the bill for these investments through their property taxes for too long. It is the provincial government’s responsibility to fund services like childcare, long-term care homes, public health, and transit. But what happens when the province chooses not to fund their responsibilities? Cities, like ours, have to cover them or cut the services. 

“Too much of our city’s budget has to go to covering the loss of provincial funding.”

Earlier this year the Association of Municipalities of Ontario reported that in 2024 alone municipalities across our province had to use their local budgets to cover $5.4 billion in provincial underfunding. Again, not new. Municipalities covered $3.5 billion in 2019 (and billions more every year since). Which means Toronto is not alone. Municipalities across our province are cash-strapped. As Ontarians, we pay the second highest in property tax per capita in Canada (Albertans pay the highest). But to be fair, in Toronto, our property tax is lower than most of the GTHA. 

Too much of our city’s budget has to go to covering the loss of provincial funding. Cutting core municipal public services will not mean paying less property taxes. In fact, we’ve heard this script before, multiple times. We need the federal and provincial governments to cough up their fair share of the investment. And Olivia’s the mayor to make that happen.   

Let’s not get distracted by all the noise of politics. We love our libraries, our street festivals, our green spaces, our transit, our clean drinking water, our neighbours and most of all our city. And we know Olivia does too.