2014 Municipal Election: Toronto Mayoral Race

[GenerationW]

Soknacki only will not win because Tory is in.

And Ford, and Chow, and probably Stintz. If he drops another two percent, he'll go from fringe candidate to really fringe candidate.

 

[r937]

john parker, my current councillor, wants to extend redway road through crothers woods to connect to the bayview extension, because a girl was killed on a street in leaside

but back to the mayoral race...

I'm learning things from tory I didn't know before, e.g. he wasn't at rogers when negative billing started... tory's apprehensive parent to ford's evil toddler is quite the drama

chow is driving me nuts with that bedtime story tone and cadence

sok improves with each appearance

(what would you rather have, a fringe candidate or a fridge magnet?)

 

[kaboi]

Soknacki's problem is that Ford (and to lesser extent, Chow) is in the race. Not Tory.

Exactly. His platform is the only one not promising free rainbows for everyone. It's solid and consistent in its vision. The only reason it's not getting traction is the fear that Ford may still have enough clout to win.

If Ford were not a factor Soknacki would be polling higher.

 

[adma]

john parker, my current councillor, wants to extend redway road through crothers woods to connect to the bayview extension, because a girl was killed on a street in leaside

If anything *could* kill Parker, it's the Redway Road extension proposal...but it seems rather low-intensity at the moment.

To repeat: I wouldn't put a lot of weight behind Parker's thus-far mediocre elected mandates as a barometer for whatever happens to him. And come to think of it, I'm not so bullish as Greg Banks re a lot of the "likely" winners and defeats that he's offering...

 

[evvabeing]

Big Ideas: Mayoral candidates split on ranked balloting

Question: Would you petition the province to amend Toronto’s Municipal Elections Act to instate a ranked ballot system?

Olivia Chow

Position: Yes

I’ve been a longtime advocate of democratic reform, and we should. I’d also petition the province and federal governments to change their voting systems, too.

David Soknacki

Position: Yes

As outlined in my policy paper on governance, ranked balloting is a system that encourages candidates to build consensus, rewarding those who work to unite. Success will come to candidates with broad appeal. By being able to select candidates in preferential order, voters can select who they wish, without voting strategically.

John Tory

Position: No

Both the city and the province are examining electoral reforms and I look forward to seeing the results of those studies. While I am in favour of examining ways to improve civic engagement I wouldn’t pre-empt that process.

Rob Ford

The Star did not receive a response this week from Ford’s campaign.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ral_candidates_split_on_ranked_balloting.html

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

Typical Tory answer from a Tory campaign that has finally learned that it is best for him to keep his mouth shut. My impression is that Tory can be easily swayed over to a yes towards ranked ballots so I am not too alarmed by his answer. In any case the province promised this and this is in the province's jurisdiction anyway.

 

[salsa]

John Tory

Position: No

Both the city and the province are examining electoral reforms and I look forward to seeing the results of those studies. While I am in favour of examining ways to improve civic engagement I wouldn’t pre-empt that process.

I look forward to seeing the results of the studies that will prove that the Scarborough subway will not have the ridership to justify it, or that it might cost more than anticipated. I await Tory's flip flop upon seeing those results. Just kidding, pro-subway people are not interested in facts.

 

[GenerationW]

pro-subway people are not interested in facts.

Neither are pro-LRT people.

 

[evvabeing]

A Living Wage for Toronto

To pay basic rent and basic bills and put food on the table, a person in Toronto needs to make at last $16 per hour and minimum wage is nowhere close to that and this is even more inadequate for people with children.

[...]

According to the CMHC, housing is considered affordable when a household does not spend more than 30% of its gross income on housing costs (rent, mortgage, utilities). But in 2013 average market rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto is $1,007/month. For this unit to be affordable, a household must be making at least $40,280/year or $19.37/hour (assuming a 40-hour work week, 52 weeks/year)

Furthermore, according to data from the National Household Survey, in 2011, 44% of renters and 28% of homeowners spent above the affordability threshold on housing costs. By this standard, someone making minimum wage in Ontario makes $22,880/year and could afford to spend $572/month on rent and utilities.

[...]

there are more children living in poverty in this city today than there were when the fiscally illiterate Mr. Ford took office.

Enough with the grandstanding and empty words. The other candidates for mayor have given this topic only slippery lip service or have passed the buck back to the province. Not acceptable. This city can, and should fix its own wagon.

As such I am calling for an institution of the living wage here in the city of Toronto. We are a grown-up city. Let’s act like it.

http://ariformayor.com/a-living-wage-for-toronto/

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

That is a massive announcement, even from a fringe candidate.

 

[picard102]

Isn't that somewhat of a provincial initiative, rather than municipal? Should the city really be paying people to live here beyond their means?

 

[the lemur]

Neither are pro-LRT people.

That's a bit of a broad brush either way. There does, however, seem to be a large contingent of 'subway at any cost' people for whom it's not about ridership or feasibility of funding but about feelings: 'We deserve a subway, because reasons, and anything with less capacity is an insult'. The 'facts' they are interested in are things like LRTs supposedly not working in the cold and only lasting somewhere between 15 and 30 years. On the other hand, some LRT supporters see a chance to put one wherever a subway isn't warranted, where BRT would be appropriate for a long time to come.

 

[evvabeing]

A day on the campaign trail: Eight hours with David Soknacki

Soknacki’s rare honesty — about taxes, about the police budget, about himself — has helped him win the fervent support of the small number of people who support him. His response is perfectly understandable. Why, right now, should he be enjoying this? It’s hard to have fun when you’ve spent “much” more than $100,000 of your own money on an exhausting campaign for eight months and are still stuck at 3 per cent in the polls, 25 points behind a global laughingstock, even though your policy proposals have been praised and imitated.

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

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Soknacki was a non starter right from the beginning. I doubt he would have won without Tory in the race.

Soknacki's problem is that Ford (and to lesser extent, Chow) is in the race. Not Tory.

And Ford, and Chow, and probably Stintz. If he drops another two percent, he'll go from fringe candidate to really fringe candidate.

Exactly. His platform is the only one not promising free rainbows for everyone. It's solid and consistent in its vision. The only reason it's not getting traction is the fear that Ford may still have enough clout to win.

If Ford were not a factor Soknacki would be polling higher.

And at that, Chow is blowing this at an alarming rate. I don't think David Soknacki would be getting Ford votes, but then again I thought Chow had this in the bag.

Neither are pro-LRT people.

That's a bit of a broad brush either way. There does, however, seem to be a large contingent of 'subway at any cost' people for whom it's not about ridership or feasibility of funding but about feelings: 'We deserve a subway, because reasons, and anything with less capacity is an insult'. The 'facts' they are interested in are things like LRTs supposedly not working in the cold and only lasting somewhere between 15 and 30 years. On the other hand, some LRT supporters see a chance to put one wherever a subway isn't warranted, where BRT would be appropriate for a long time to come.

So GenerationW who's side are you on? The only thing pro LRT people can be accused of is not listening to the masses. The people want subways because they don't think it's fair downtown has some and they have to ride above ground LRT's during winter. Then again, many subways don't meet the current density requirements. An empty Sheppard subway is not appealing despite what many suburbans say. So really, who's side are you on?

Lemur, I have to be honest. People supporting LRT would make bad politicians. Saying suck it up to people that will stand outside at Sheppard and Markham or wherever is not going to bring them over to LRT.

 

[the lemur]

Lemur, I have to be honest. People supporting LRT would make bad politicians. Saying suck it up to people that will stand outside at Sheppard and Markham or wherever is not going to bring them over to LRT.

It won't, no. And yet they wouldn't bring that up if they were offered bus service where no transit existed before. I think Soknacki has a chance at winning people over to LRT if he can emphasize that it's achievable within a shorter timeframe at a lower cost and will still be an improvement over bus service in terms of frequency and capacity. But he needs to get in people's faces more. He's just not on the radar for some voters.

Tory doesn't seem committed to LRT in any meaningful way and it's easy to imagine him ignoring it altogether if elected. Ford is similarly hell-bent on 'subway or nothing', but it's no big deal to him if the result ends up being that 'nothing' or if he spends years dangling the prospect of a subway in front of his supporters. Sorry, folks: I tried, it can't be done, the lefty elites got in the way.