2014 Municipal Election: Toronto Mayoral Race

[Midtown Urbanist]

Going back to what I said over the weekend, all these moves by Chow and Tory just reek of pandering and a complete lack of leadership. They really are not much better than Ford in this manner, just nicer presented.

Actually that's not true, since I think Ford is harmful as mayor. Still though, I don't think I want either of Chow or Tory to be mayor.

 

[adma]

Short of PR and personal embarrassments, the city made it 4 years with Ford as Mayor without their being a "disaster" as a result. Given that, I somehow doubt another 4 years would result in a disaster.

You might as well be suggesting that we don't need to be grousing over heritage "disasters" on the horizon because past such "disasters" haven't turned Toronto into a lawless Fort Apache sort of place...

 

[Silence&Motion]

LOL! As soon as the topic of disasters came up, I thought "cue Adma with a photo of a heritage building covered in EIFS".

 

[Southcore]

Going back to what I said over the weekend, all these moves by Chow and Tory just reek of pandering and a complete lack of leadership. They really are not much better than Ford in this manner, just nicer presented.

Actually that's not true, since I think Ford is harmful as mayor. Still though, I don't think I want either of Chow or Tory to be mayor.

Now that the euphoria has died down after the first debate and we have a long 7 months to go I'm starting to come to grips with the fact that while Chow, Tory (hell even Stintz) would be a significant improvement over Ford, I'm not so high on either of Tory or Chow. Here's a 30 minute interview of Chow by Edward Keenan (one of the best for city reporting) talking about a whole lot of nothing:

http://www.thegridto.com/city/politics/the-keenan-wire-radio-program-april-2-2014-broadcast/

The part about children being at the heart of the cities and needing to make friends was really lame, as was the side stepping of the 'keeping taxes in line with inflation' question. In fairness Tory wasn't a whole lot better the week before (March 26 podcast).

 

[Admiral Beez]

Never forget that John Tory is a bully:

He designed the infamous Jean Chrétien mouth ads for the 1993 election.

That's as tiresome as Nfitz calling everyone a bigot. At least get your facts straight. John Tory cannot design an ad, you have media designers for that. Second, no one would intentionally pick on another leaders physical disabilities in an ad, it's rightfully suicidal. Campbell's election team has admitted that they got outplayed with that ad by Chrétien, one of Canada's great political pugilists.

 

[Southcore]

Campbell's election team has admitted that they got outplayed with that ad by Chrétien, one of Canada's great political pugilists.

The little guy from Shawinigan!

http://youtu.be/PikszBkfTHM

EDIT: Tory at 2:18, haha.

 

[Filip]

That's about as relevant as the Chow co-op housing thing.

In other news, Tory said that he's unwilling to take down the Gardiner if it increases commute times. This is not the Civic Action John Tory that got me pumped for the next election.

I agree with Tory. Unless there's a reliever in place (or another option such as drastically enhanced east/west transit) you shouldn't touch the Gardiner.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

I agree with Tory. Unless there's a reliever in place (or another option such as drastically enhanced east/west transit) you shouldn't touch the Gardiner.

The part of the Gardiner we are discussing taking down would only impact commute times for a really really insignificant percent of drivers driving into the city.

Anyone have that infograph handy?

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

I agree with Tory. Unless there's a reliever in place (or another option such as drastically enhanced east/west transit) you shouldn't touch the Gardiner.

But you can't 'not touch' the Gardiner. It's falling down, and fixing it will be off the charts costly.

I think the candidates need to take a much more serious look at the scheme floated by the new owners of the detergent plant (Great Gulf?). Tearing down the eastern Gardiner, realigning the DVP to ameliorate the bottleneck at the bottom, and a serious contribution by a private company (in exchange for opening up its development, which will create hundreds of new Toronto jobs)? Adding a GO stop and accommodating the DRL for the public transit angle? Why aren't Stintz, Chow, and Tory FIGHTING to be the sponsor of this proposal?

 

[JasonParis]

Going back to what I said over the weekend, all these moves by Chow and Tory just reek of pandering and a complete lack of leadership. They really are not much better than Ford in this manner, just nicer presented. Actually that's not true, since I think Ford is harmful as mayor. Still though, I don't think I want either of Chow or Tory to be mayor.

I don't understand it either. It's the most realistic proposal and maybe even the best considering the political environment.

 

[Filip]

The part of the Gardiner we are discussing taking down would only impact commute times for a really really insignificant percent of drivers driving into the city.

Anyone have that infograph handy?

As someone who is coming from the west into downtown, I can bet every penny I have that it's going to be a lot more than what these experts are quoting. I mean these are the same people who don't know how to properly time traffic lights and cause crippling traffic jams downtown (try Richmond at Bathurst for ex).

But you can't 'not touch' the Gardiner. It's falling down, and fixing it will be off the charts costly.

I think the candidates need to take a much more serious look at the scheme floated by the new owners of the detergent plant (Great Gulf?). Tearing down the eastern Gardiner, realigning the DVP to ameliorate the bottleneck at the bottom, and a serious contribution by a private company (in exchange for opening up its development, which will create hundreds of new Toronto jobs)? Adding a GO stop and accommodating the DRL for the public transit angle? Why aren't Stintz, Chow, and Tory FIGHTING to be the sponsor of this proposal?

Isn't the 'new' proposal to rebuild the Gardiner closer to the rail berm? I fully support that, but replacing it with an enhanced Lakeshore is not a realistic option at this point in time. Let's try again when we have proper regional transit.

 

[W. K. Lis]

she resigned it before registering for mayor

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/can...nts-replace-olivia-chow-ottawa-135650392.html

Some do not quit their old jobs. How else does one expect not to expense city hall office expenses unless you keep your old job? Unless you have an inheritance.

 

[jusbokeh]

Some do not quit their old jobs. How else does one expect not to expense city hall office expenses unless you keep your old job? Unless you have an inheritance.

whats your point?

olivia chow made sure she stayed on long enough to qualify for a full MP pension. so she will be rolling in 75k a year for life of the taxpayer.

 

[r937]

...75k a year for life of the taxpayer.

while the antagonism in your other adjectives unsettled me, this part rings true

there is only one taxpayer, across all levels of government

 

[TheTigerMaster]

As someone who is coming from the west into downtown, I can bet every penny I have that it's going to be a lot more than what these experts are quoting. I mean these are the same people who don't know how to properly time traffic lights and cause crippling traffic jams downtown (try Richmond at Bathurst for ex).

I don't think so. Gardiner East moves only 4,000 people per peak hour. That's much lower than the rest of the road. To put that number into perspective, more people are transported through Bloor-Yonge station in approximately 120 seconds. [Four trains, each with 1,100 passengers]