My question is related to…

My question is related to the entire premise of Ontario's growth planning strategy. Why is it that the highly centralized Ministry of Finance "projects" how many people a town will grow by and then requires that towns design their plans around said projection? If a town makes the requisite investments, incentivizes businesses, and plans effectively, shouldn't it be free to attract more people? In other words, why are towns responding to arbitrary determinations by actuaries based on historical data (which may or may not have any bearing on the future) and/or the desires of central planners (who cannot possibly understand the scope and complexity of millions of individuals acting in their own best interest) instead of being able to make their own localized plans and choices? In this model, the province can respond its investment decisions to the decisions by citizens of where they want to live an work? Surely, a market-based decentralized system where government responds to the people (not the other way around) is superior.