Proposal for the Province of Toronto

[6] In fact, the remedy he proposes has been discussed, off-and-on for decades, by a variety of urban advocates dedicated to securing more power, autonomy and clout for Canada's largest city.Arguments posited for Toronto or GTA provincehood include those stating that the area's residents are politically and economically exploited by the rest of the province.

[6] Another argument presented is the urban issues faced by Toronto not present in other cities or rural areas of Ontario, including the delivery of public services to large numbers of immigrants and visible minorities,[1][7] gun control,[1] and differences in the delivery of education and health care to its residents.

[4] Back in the 1970s, Paul Godfrey, when he was Metro chair, argued before the Royal Commission on Metropolitan Toronto that the region should have the range and flexibility of a province in its decision making.

In 1991 academic and future member of parliament Ted McWhinney argued before a parliamentary committee that if Quebec were to separate Ontario would need to be broken up to rebalance confederation.

[15] Mel Lastman proposed Toronto provincehood in 1999 while attending the Mayors Summit of the Americas in Miami, Florida;[16][17] he later retracted his comments, but by then, they had already spurred discussion of the idea in the media.

[17] On 9 February 1999, councillor Michael Walker presented a notice of motion to Toronto City Council on behalf of the committee.

[4] It also indirectly influenced federal policy, as the New Deal for Cities in 2003 was one of the platforms for Paul Martin[17] after he succeeded Jean Chrétien as Prime Minister of Canada.

[21] In November 2000, just before the election, he stated that "the province of Toronto idea, though it's a long shot and a long-term solution, is something I favour.

Thunder Bay mayor Lynn Peterson opposed Murdoch's proposal, stating that one of the perceived issues was inconsequential, specifically that policies defined in the Ontario legislature are not Toronto-centric.

[28] In 2018, some activists revived the proposal again, after Ontario premier Doug Ford introduced legislation to reduce Toronto City Council from 47 to 25 seats, months after the 2018 municipal election was already underway.

[29] For any part of Toronto and the surrounding region to secede from Ontario to create a new province would require an amendment to the Constitution of Canada.

Paul Lewin's campaign in the 2003 mayoral election used the slogan "Free 416", referring to the regional use of the city's area code as a nickname,[35] while advocating a Province of Toronto.