In a 23 April article, Globe and Mail (Canadian national newspaper headquartered in Toronto) columnist John Barber noted that opponents of the subregional Toronto megacity have proposed a municipal "Magna Carta." The column, "Parliamentary System Defeated Megacity Foes" described the political process that made passage of the Ontario government's subregional municipal amalgamation ("Megacity") bill a forgone conclusion.

As Barber put it:

"... the citizen led megacity challenge asks the court to make a formal declaraion, a sort of municipal Magna Carta, to guarantee the following three rights:

The right to governance in important matters, including financial matters, by elected representative rather than appointees;

The right to the preservation of territorial integrity except in accordance with the consent of the citizenfy, or in meaningful consultation with the citizenry; and

The right to municpal institutions in a form which accords substantially with the democratic wishes of the citizenry."

Barber concluded:

"That may seem modest and reasonable to ordinatry people, but in Canada such a declaration is in fact wild-eyed radical. And that, of course, is the whole problem."