So much for that “adult conversation” we were going to have about funding transit. Now that Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has backed down from her pledge to get serious about its $50-billion price-tag, we’re back where we started, spinning fantasies about the vast sums to be found in “efficiencies,” corporate tax hikes and private-sector partnerships.

Bowing to internal pressure, Wynne removed gas, sales and income tax from the list of “revenue tools” presented by the advisory panel she appointed last year. But as its chair Anne Golden made clear, either we pay now, despite the cost, or pay more later.

It was interesting, though, that the Premier felt she had to assure Ontario voters that residents of North Bay should not and would not have to pay for Toronto’s fancy new subway system. Perish the thought that any Ontarian north of Eglinton Ave. should have to fork over his or her hard-earned cash to of all places, Toronto.

We’ve come a long way from the days when Wynne’s own minister of transportation and infrastructure, Glen Murray, as mayor of Winnipeg, told anyone who would listen how much he loved Toronto and wished it continued prosperity. A strong and rich Toronto, he said, helped keep the highways of Manitoba clear of snow. The whole country, Murray insisted, needs a strong and prosperous Toronto. Add to that Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary . . .

But that sort of talk doesn’t go down too well these days. There’s more to be gained slagging the Big Bad City than supporting it.

Since former premier Mike Harris launched his assault on Toronto in the 1990s, Torontophobia has been enshrined in the political culture as well as provincial legislation. The forced amalgamation of the city and it suburbs in 1998 was a disaster from which the mutant municipality has yet to recover.

The essence of Harris’s argument was that since so many amenities and services are in Toronto, Toronto should pay for them. Whether it’s the Royal Ontario Museum or the Art Gallery of Ontario, old-age income supplements or welfare payments, let Toronto take care of itself.

That may play well out in the hinterland, but let’s not delude ourselves into thinking the rest of the province doesn’t depend to a greater or lesser extent on Toronto. Toronto isn’t just a city; it’s an engine that consumes as much as it generates. Its effects are felt far and wide. From Kingston to Kenora, Madoc to Marathon, the city touches everything in reach. It is the capital, not of the universe, but the cultural, intellectual, economic, entertainment, corporate, political hub of the province. Its main streets, amenities and institutions belong to all Ontarians.

That’s no reason North Bay should pay for transit in Toronto, which is highly unlikely. And for what’s it’s worth, when we pay provincial taxes, we pay as Ontarians.

But, for example, if congestion in the GTA costs $6 billion to $12 billion every year, we shouldn’t forget that everyone of us pays. It’s not called a tax, but that’s what it amounts to; pennies or more on all the goods and services we buy.

With debate debased to monosyllables, Wynne’s job isn’t easy. Already, the Liberals have flip-flopped painfully. The first example that comes to mind is the Scarborough subway, a misguided populist fiction that has gained widespread political support because of its emotion appeal.

Wynne’s promise was that we would get real, have a grown-up discussion and make the hard decisions. Apparently, that’s too much for us to handle. We have reverted to form, turned back to the lies we like to hear though we know they’re not true.

Christopher Hume can be reached at chume@thestar.ca

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