Tale of two cities that's rich in irony

Last week when in Toronto I stumbled into a 1997 version of a tale of two cities. Canadians said Hong Kong and Toronto were twinned by the prospect of monumental change, uncertainty and dramatically altered expectations.

I went to Toronto at the invitation of the Chinese Canadian National Council and the National Action Committee on the Status of Women to address them on the impending changes in Hong Kong.

While Hong Kong is about to be taken over by China on July 1, Toronto faces the prospect of forced amalgamation with five sister cities on January 1 next year into a giant city of Greater Toronto.

One major complaint about this mega-city concept is that the provincial Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris has denied its population a direct say on its future. This sounds too much like Hong Kong.

A bill on the amalgamation is before the Ontario legislature although a referendum held in early March in the six cities showed the vast majority of the voters were opposed to the idea.

According to the plan, during the transition period, the Harris government will appoint a board of trustees to supervise the activities of the six cities' elected officials.

When the new authorities take over - like Hong Kong after the handover - the elected representatives will be banished and a new system of elections will be imposed which is designed to frustrate any rejection of the new status quo.