Letter: Greater Sudbury: Guilty of evil empire thinking?

Greater Sudbury’s managers are stuck in an empire ideology, spending on what is wished for, building legacies of wealth and power

Article content On July 1, we celebrated the anniversary of Canada graduating from a colony to a Dominion under the British Parliament through a confederation of four colonies. There are no celebrations of Canada’s birth as an independent nation from Britain. That happened on April 17, 1982, when Canadian weather is not party-friendly.

Recommended Videos Canada became an independent nation within an imperial ideology. Seventeen years after the Confederation of Canada, the British Empire, having few places left to colonize, transformed into a commonwealth of existing colonies in 1884. It formally enacted the British Commonwealth of Nations in 1931.

In the last 44 years, since becoming an independent nation of the Commonwealth of Nations, Canada – one of the richest resource nations on Earth – has spent too much of its wealth on interest payments. Nowhere is this ideology of greed and power more visible than in the City of Greater Sudbury. Since 2016, Greater Sudbury increased its debt from about $30 million plus interest to about $700 million in 2023.

That debt is growing. The interest payments owed by Greater Sudbury grew from $187,000 a year to $8.5 million. These debts impoverish everyone in Greater Sudbury.

Greater Sudbury’s managers are stuck in an empire ideology, spending on what is wished for, building legacies of wealth and power. If they exceed what they can tax, they borrow or annex surrounding communities. Greater Sudbury’s debt will be paid by future taxpayers – a classic government Ponzi scheme.

Is annexation of the entire Sudbury District the empire’s next intended financial rescue? Our municipal governments are copying the empire ideology of Canada’s southern neighbour, far more than we would like to believe. In October’s municipal election, elect local representatives with realistic priorities.

We can stop this if you are ready. Thomas Price Our Towns Our City Institute Whitefish