Something like a GTA-wide regional municipality of some kind would help. Sure there's the concern that it would dominate the province and rival the provincial government, but maybe it's time we realized that's not such a bad thing. Urban regions are more relevant than provinces nowadays. In the meantime the only regional planning we have is from the province itself. And in that respect the province has done a pretty good job - the Greenbelt, Places to Grow, Metrolinx. Even the previous Convervative government got into that game with the Oak Ridges Moraine. But at the end of the day Metrolinx lacks real powers, Places to Grow has flaws, and the Greenbelt will only live as long as the government of the day wants it to. Something more permanent and less prone to political whims needs to be created.
The article mentions unchecked sprawl and later mentions Places to Grow in a dismissive manner, saying it remains to be seen if it will actually do anything. While it has flaws, it has already shown results. Higher densities are being built, transit use has increased, and less land is being built on. It has forced municipalities to rethink how they grow - sure there's still greenfield growth, but the amount of infill has skyrocketed. Just in the Markham Centre area where I live, the amount of development planned and underway is staggering. And while the results of what's been built has been mixed at best, plans for the next waves of growth promise to be better, and a huge improvement over MCC and SCC.
Absolutely agree that our biggest weakness is government cheapness, whether it's new subway lines or streetscaping or arts funding. And our national culture of stinginess. We have a "can't do" attitude, reminding ourselves of our low national population density (irrelevant in southern Ontario) or that we just can't afford what other countries do without a second thought. And then there's the glorifying of the countryside and wilderness, and the idea that farmers and miners are the salt of the earth who support the corrupt, overspending city. It's an attitude that results in Toronto being chronically underfunded. Things are slowly changing in places like Toronto and Ottawa but it's the same as it's ever been in small towns. Ultimately, to go full circle, there needs to be a permanent regional government for the GTA, like merging the regional municipalities. Something like that would be powerful enough to get the resources the city needs.