Mr. Karsten, I understand. I don't mean to cut you off. It's just that time is limited, even though we have a very generous chair.
The point I'm making is that certainly I recognize that the ability to raise funds on the part of municipalities is constrained constitutionally. It's completely fair to make the case that you need help. I think you do need help, and I hope the federal government offers assistance, but I just want to know some of the parameters of how that would proceed.
You mentioned the provinces. To your credit, you did say your association realizes that there is a provincial role and that the province shouldn't abdicate its responsibility.
In 2019, the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance at the University of Toronto put out a paper, which I'm going to quote from briefly as follows:
With the exception of Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador, provincial governments in Canada also levy a property tax. The ostensible rationale for provincial levies is to fund a portion of public schooling, but in fact property taxes are often simply part of provincial general revenue—they are not always earmarked for education.
It then concludes:
...if provincial governments abandoned the property tax, municipalities would have sufficient revenues to meet expenditure needs and would not have to ask for additional tax tools.
Taking that into account, I know you're talking not about additional tax tools, but you're asking for money. I wonder whether the province should look at doing this. I know there have been questions raised as to whether the Ontario government would consider abandoning the provincial property tax.
Does the FCM have a particular view on it?