Using the Tiebout Framework for Pareto Optimality

comprised the Metropolitan Toronto region were amalgamated into a single Toronto megacity. The Ontario government, headed by then Premier Mike Harris, had argued for the downloading of responsibilities to and the streamlining and rationalizing of local governments across the province, and the consolidation of Metro Toronto governments and services was their most ambitious and highest profile undertaking to date. One of the main aims of the province was to increase efficiency and eliminate duplication in the provision of local services towards an end of cost savings. At the time, there was little evidence, either academic or physical, to support the belief that these cost savings and efficiencies would accrue as a result of consolidation. Even more absent was any real attention paid to Metro residents ’ opposition to the initiative. Whether residents would gain from amalgamation was an issue overshadowed by the province’s drive to cut spending by local government. Today, six years later, we can ask “Was the Megacity a success? ” More precisely, did amalgamation lead to more efficient service delivery and savings? Ultimately, and most importantly, were the residents of Metro Toronto made better-off as a result of amalgamation? To answer these questions, a framework for analysis is essential. In 1956, Charle