4 Million Reasons To Act Right Now
(Tory's Worst Election Promise Ever)On October 18th, Our Public Library published its preliminary budget for 2023.
It’s devastating.
Inflation is currently hovering around 7%. This means keeping the doors open at Our Public Library costs more today than it did last year. And it will cost more next year than it does today.
Following Mayor John Tory’s orders, the increase to Our Public Library’s budget is less than the rate of inflation.
This means cuts. In fact, $4.1 Million in cuts!
Details of TPL’s “line-by-line savings” will not be available until after the election (how convenient), but the budget does show that in order to achieve their “affordability measures/savings” of $4.1 Million, Our Public Library will need to cut planned open hours.
Toronto Deserves Better!
Cuts to Our Public Library are nothing new for Mayor Tory. He claims to be a supporter, referring to the fact that under his watch, the Library budget has been increasing every year.
But that’s not the whole story.
Adjusted for inflation and Toronto’s booming population, Today, Our Public Library now receives less money per resident than when Tory was first elected in 2014!
And Mr. Tory’s voting record speaks for itself:
- Mayor Tory voted against funding digital literacy for seniors.
- Mayor Tory voted in favour of Staffless Libraries.
Are these the actions of a Library supporter?
The pandemic brought this City to its knees, but Tory’s response to inflation is going to kill it.
And the media has noticed:
- ‘A massive axe blow to the best library system in the country’
- Why is the Toronto Public Library facing service cuts? Ask John Tory
- Toronto Public Library considers service cuts amid city request for 0% budget increase | CBC News
- Overflowing garbage, broken transit, decrepit ferries — Toronto, can’t we do better?
- John Tory says low property tax increases are needed to protect seniors — but there’s already a program for that
If you care about Our Public Library, then please act now by sending an email to Toronto’s top three Mayoral candidates (cc your City Councillor and the Toronto Public Library Board) and ask them:
As Toronto’s Mayor, will you stop these cuts and commit to increasing TPL’s funding above the rate of inflation?
There’s never a better time to ask for commitments than just before an election.