[PHOTO] Down on the beach at Victoria-by-the-Sea, Prince Edward Island

The village of Victoria, located on the southern Northumberland Strait shore of Prince Edward Island roughly midway between the capital of Charlottetown to the east and the second city of Summerside to the west, is a lot like Ontario's community of Port Hope. Once regional centre located directly on a major travel route, both were bypassed by the beginning of the 20th century by road changes (in Victoria's case, by the Island's branch of the Trans-Canada Highway moving north to Crapaud), leaving vintage Victorian town centres intact for late 20th century tourists to discover. Victoria (branded by locals now as Victoria-by-the-Sea) is much smaller than Port Hope, being home to barely a couple hundred people in tourist season, but the general principle is the same.

These photos were taken on the shoreline a couple of kilometres east of Victoria, on a dirty road that cut down to the surf. It was gorgeous. (The first of these photos is now my cell phone's wallpaper.)







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[FORUM] What do you think about de-amalgamating cities?

On the 1st of August, the Toronto Star's Tara Deschamps asked the question of whether or not Toronto could de-amalgamated, that is, to shift from being a single megacity to the confederation of a half-dozen cities that existed up to 1998. The answer she got? It would be possible but very complex.

If you’re part of the camp that believes Toronto should turn back time and separate into smaller municipalities, Ryerson University politics professor Myer Siemiatycki says you’re probably out of luck because de-amalgamation is not a feasible idea.

“The idea of disentangling and de-amalgamating would probably cause more problems and challenges than it would resolve,” he says.

Among the difficulties with de-amalgamation is deciding how city responsibilities such as police and emergency services, transit and libraries would be split. There is also the city’s debt.

The growing costs for each of these areas could be hard for smaller cities to handle without the larger population, power and tax base of areas such as central Toronto and North York, warns Siemiatycki.

“The trick for Toronto is to figure out how you get the best advantages of centralized capacity and localized participation and attentiveness to residents,” he says.

The complex reorganization of Montréal following the secession of multiple suburban municipalities from a former megacity on the island of Montréal, regrouping them in a federation, would seem to demonstrate that it has limits. A larger urban agglomeration makes sense.

I would also add that, notwithstanding the serious cultural and political challenges of governing a large urban area like Toronto, responding to these issues by getting rid of any responsibility or control over certain areas is irresponsible. As a commenter said, "It seems like those who favour de-almagamation are nostalgic for the "good old days" when Toronto was much smaller. Just remember, they also used to close the pubs and covered the Eaton's windows on Sunday. Much less fun."

And you?