Toronto’s budget debate was more about theatrics than tackling real challenges

At Toronto’s Medieval Times dinner theatre, you can watch 11th-century Spanish knights joust for their monarch. As you savour roast chicken and a tankard of 7 Up, you will quickly perceive that the falls are choreographed and the lances designed to break.Toronto’s budget debate on Tuesday felt oddly the same. There were thrusts and pratfalls; some people wound up looking silly; the outcome was predetermined. Yet $18.8-billion and the quality of life for millions of people were, in theory, at stake.In truth, Mayor Olivia Chow’s budget faced no serious interrogation. It included a 6.9 per cent property tax increase and significant new funds for the police and the TTC, as well as libraries and student nutrition programs. Ms. Chow has defined Toronto once again as a city that cares. Council’s right wing blustered, waved their wooden swords and fell on their behinds. Cue the applause.