2014 Municipal Election: Toronto Mayoral Race

[salsa]

It's a little more than a pipedream, given how little sway he has with council and his questionable chances of re-election, but:

No streetcars, no streetcars, no streetcars:

http://www.thestar.com/news/city_ha...resurrects_talk_of_abandoning_streetcars.html

Why does the media have to report every dumb thing he says. This guy is becoming more and more irrelevant and we all know that streetcars are not going away anytime soon.

 

[ehlow]

FYI the mayor didn't want a transit line on Eglinton, underground or not. He would have preferred nothing on Eglinton (the current bus lines only). His transit plan in 2010 was Sheppard East extension to STC and replacing SRT with a subway.

It was Stintz and Metrolinx that prevented him from doing that and created the "compromise" plan which was the fully underground Eglinton.

 

[the lemur]

Just to jog your memory a bit - the mayor claimed it can all be built with private money and wouldn't cost taxpayers a cent. Who didn't do their job again? And besides, it was a joint project between the city and the province, with the city funding pretty much nothing. His worship is not in a position to task anyone to do anything that the jurisdiction he presents didn't pay for.

AoD

Right. He insisted the private sector would be beating down the doors of City Hall offering to fund whatever transit he could think of, and instead the private sector said 'We totally support public transit but we're not paying squat to get it built'. Then Ford tasked Gordon Chong with figuring out all the ways of paying for transit construction, and when the good dentist delivered a report outlining the various fees, charges and tolls that could be implemented, RoFo promptly dropped the thing in a drawer, outraged at the mere suggestion of tolls.

 

[the lemur]

FYI the mayor didn't want a transit line on Eglinton, underground or not. He would have preferred nothing on Eglinton (the current bus lines only). His transit plan in 2010 was Sheppard East extension to STC and replacing SRT with a subway.

It was Stintz and Metrolinx that prevented him from doing that and created the "compromise" plan which was the fully underground Eglinton.

He also had no clue what a Scarborough LRT would entail.

 

[WislaHD]

He also had no clue what a Scarborough LRT would entail.

He still doesn't.

 

[Johnny Au]

Chow is one very popular candidate with visible minorities, as she is the only major mayoral candidate who is a visible minority. She was born dirt poor and learned the value of money. She can use her own experience to connect with first-generation immigrants, which actually comprise a large percentage of Toronto's population.

Rob Ford was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

 

[GenerationW]

Ford's first fatal mistake was canceling Transit City without approval City Council (aka the people who run this city). If he did that Transit City could very well be dead right now.

Council barely reacted when he unilaterally declared Transit City dead. His fatal mistake was never offering council a substitute plan, specifically the MOU he stupidly kept in his pocket for months.

 

[salsa]

Chow is one very popular candidate with visible minorities, as she is the only major mayoral candidate who is a visible minority. She was born dirt poor and learned the value of money. She can use her own experience to connect with first-generation immigrants, which actually comprise a large percentage of Toronto's population.

Rob Ford was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Yet many people believe Ford represents the average person. He is quite popular for minorities.

 

[edmundoconnor]

http://torontoist.com/2014/04/duly-quoted-olivia-chow-on-not-being-another-david-miller/

Reader question: “Can you please tell us how you will be any different than the man that ran from Toronto with his tail between his legs David Miller?”

Olivia Chow: “I’m not male. Not white. Want to start there?”

 

[GenerationW]

http://torontoist.com/2014/04/duly-quoted-olivia-chow-on-not-being-another-david-miller/

Reader question: “Can you please tell us how you will be any different than the man that ran from Toronto with his tail between his legs David Miller?”

Olivia Chow: “I’m not male. Not white. Want to start there?”

So we should/shouldn't vote for someone because they are/aren't white or male. What kind of an answer is that?

 

[jml]

The question wasn't specifically "Why should we vote for you instead of David Miller?" It was how are you DIFFERENT from David Miller. Which she answered quite plainly. To those in the know, I think the answer was cannily designed to signify that she'll be a mayor who cares about women's and minority issues.

Where I think her answer misfired is that she missed a chance to more widely differentiate herself from Miller's agenda for a cheap joke instead. Daniel Dale then asked for clarification and she did do that somewhat, though.

 

[BurlOak]

Council barely reacted when he unilaterally declared Transit City dead. His fatal mistake was never offering council a substitute plan, specifically the MOU he stupidly kept in his pocket for months.

No doubt that Ford was an idiot, but he still created the environment where a better transit plan could be formed. Unfortunately, most councillors do not know anything about transit. The few who do, and the non-elected senior players in municipal and provincial government, thought it more important to defeat Ford than to create better transit. The irony is that Ford would have self destructed regardless, so we could have had both - a better transit plan and a weakend Ford.

 

[the lemur]

http://torontoist.com/2014/04/duly-quoted-olivia-chow-on-not-being-another-david-miller/

Reader question: “Can you please tell us how you will be any different than the man that ran from Toronto with his tail between his legs David Miller?”

Olivia Chow: “I’m not male. Not white. Want to start there?”

What kind of a question is that?

Why should anyone assume a current candidate is at all like a former one?

 

[Johnny Au]

The Olivia Chow campaign team sent an e-mail looking for volunteers. I happily volunteer.

 

[WislaHD]

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/david-soknacki/soknacki_b_5124951.html

David Soknacki - Let's Partner Tech Startups With City Hall

I believe City Hall should see the startups in these incubators as potential partners. We can solve Toronto's problems by harnessing Toronto's ingenuity. Part of this process, of course, will mean opening up increased access to public information. Open Data is developing as a key resource for citizen engagement, just as it can be a tool for small startups to develop new software applications.

As Mayor, I will make sure Toronto leads the way in data transparency. I want to disclose more datasets at accessible standards than any other comparable city in the world. But this information must also be easier for coders and citizens to use. Toronto's existing Open Data releases often have limited value because the data isn't in a usable format, or it isn't presented in a way that's friendly for casual review by ordinary citizens.

My plan is simple: give Toronto's talented, innovative minds more access to City staff and data. Together, we'll find creative solutions, offer better services and encourage more Toronto startups in return.

More impressive stuff from David Soknacki.