2
facing each other. Between the two moons sits a round, pod-like dome,
reminiscent of an alien spacecraft, designed for city council sessions. Completed
in 1965, this complex was created to house inner city local government, along
with an upper or regional tier known as Metropolitan Toronto that included the
downtown unit plus five inner suburban boroughs.
In 1992, a boxy glass and granite tower known as Metro Hall was
constructed a few blocks southwest of Toronto City Hall, to offer a dedicated
home for metropolitan-wide government. Only six years later, the Ontario
provincial government eliminated Metro, the old City of Toronto and the five inner
suburban boroughs as part of an amalgamation or megacity scheme. This forced
merger opened up considerable commercial leasing space in Metro Hall and
assorted borough properties across Toronto, at the same time as it transformed
the old downtown city hall into the home of an enlarged City of Toronto.
Among the most intriguing parallels in this saga of urban fits and starts is
the following. Both the pre-1986 Greater London Council and pre-1998 City of
Toronto had progressive urban leaders and a solid record of assisting local
women’s groups. Both cities had been important centres of feminist activism
dating back to the nineteenth century. In the eyes of their respective
Conservative central governments, though, the GLC and old City of Toronto were
radical, high-spending, cheeky sources of political opposition. Margaret Thatcher,
as British prime minister, and Mike Harris, as Ontario premier, had little patience
for “loony left” urban politicians and their allies.
2
The latter included, according to
Convention