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Ford asks province for more than $150M

Ford the school yard bully!

“I haven’t talked to [Premier Dalton McGuinty] face to face about that request of $150-million. And if he says ‘No,’ obviously there’s a provincial election coming up,†Mr. Ford told Newstalk1010. “I want to work with him, not against him. But obviously if he’s not helping out the city, I’m going to have no choice but to work against him. I don’t want to do that.â€

I haven't heard that kind of childish, bullying threat since I was in grade school. Ford needs to go to the office and sit on his brain for awhile.
 
This could backfire really really badly for Ford. Municipalities operate at the pleasure of the Province. If McGuinty is re-elected, he's going to make Ford's life a living hell for 4 years. If the province wanted to, they could even enact legislation to essentially castrate the Mayor and give full power to city council. The Mayor would just be the figurehead. That's just one option.

Of course, Ford is probably betting on the odds of McGuinty losing the Oct. election. Given Dalton's dismal 16% approval rate, that's a good bet, but not by any means a guaranteed one. Voters still don't know his competitor and it could well turn out that the old adage "the devil you know is better than the one you don't" holds true. Also, McGuinty isn't up for re-election, MPP's are. If people know their MPP's names and not the other guy, then the incumbent has the edge. Finally, Ontario is not a Conservative party province. Many voters identify themselves with Liberal or NDP and they're not going to change that over night. If I were to bet safely, I'd say that the Liberals squeak by with a minority government win in October.

Ford may have just committed the deadly mistake that we all knew he would inevitably make.
 
Hudak will only tank if the Liberals are successful at painting him as a mini-Harris, or as someone trying to hide something. The conservatives need to release their platform soon- and it better be good!

Also, Ontario gets fairly conservative in the suburban regions, and in the southwest, I think.
 
Ford's gamble is kind of like saying "hit me" when you already have 17 points in Blackjack. What makes him think that a Hudak government that inherits an enormous deficit is going to give Toronto any more money than McGuinty, particularly when most of the Conservative MPPs will come from ridings that hate giving Toronto any special treatment?
 
... and Japan was an evil empire several decades ago. Modern Ontario is predominantly Liberal and trends in recent Federal and Provincial elections have upheld that. Of course things can and will swing, but although McGuinty is personally unpopular, the current generation of Ontario voters is mostly centre and centre left.

My point is that the real measure of the outcome of the provincial election is still a few months away once the electorate get a look at Hudak and McGuinty starts throwing his own punches. Ford has placed his bets way too early.
 
Ford's gamble is kind of like saying "hit me" when you already have 17 points in Blackjack. What makes him think that a Hudak government that inherits an enormous deficit is going to give Toronto any more money than McGuinty, particularly when most of the Conservative MPPs will come from ridings that hate giving Toronto any special treatment?

Coming back to the original story...I thought Ford didn't want provincial (taxpayer) money to begin with. Didn't he just vote against money from the province to provide screening for various infectious diseases? Going cap-in-hand to Queen's Park is tantamount to raping your grandmother, isn't it??? Does it really matter to him which pervert (Lib or Con) is groping granny's left bosom?
 
Er...you forgetting 1943-1985?

Unfortunately, when it comes to our governments, conservative doesn't meant the same thing it used to.

Coming back to the original story...I thought Ford didn't want provincial (taxpayer) money to begin with. Didn't he just vote against money from the province to provide screening for various infectious diseases? Going cap-in-hand to Queen's Park is tantamount to raping your grandmother, isn't it??? Does it really matter to him which pervert (Lib or Con) is groping granny's left bosom?

He's playing a game I think....trying to get Toronto's financials as an issue in the upcoming provincial election. I think it will backfire on him and us. Either that, or he's even less intelligent than I though he was.
 
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This could backfire really really badly for Ford. Municipalities operate at the pleasure of the Province. If McGuinty is re-elected, he's going to make Ford's life a living hell for 4 years. If the province wanted to, they could even enact legislation to essentially castrate the Mayor and give full power to city council. The Mayor would just be the figurehead. That's just one option.
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So you think the Premier is willing to completely restructure the municipal system for the entire province out of some sort of political spite? After being re-elected to office? Regardless of the public's response? The time? The cost?

And who exactly are you calling childish?

Mayor Ford is fighting for us guys! He wants more money for the people of Toronto. How can anyone, opponents or supporters, conceive this as a negative?
 
Mayor Ford is fighting for us guys! He wants more money for the people of Toronto. How can anyone, opponents or supporters, conceive this as a negative?

This is a negative because of the hypocracy of cutting taxes here in Toronto while expecting the province to cover the difference. All he's doing is shifting the tax burden from one government to another. It's all tax money, so one way or the other, we'll still foot the bill.
 
Very true, however those bunch were socially quite progressive. We can't say the same of the likes of Harris and Hudak, who are socially conservative.

Actually, they're not--they're more libertarian than anything, even if they rely on the socons for support.

As for Ford--he may be trying a Danny Williams thing; but as always, he reminds me more of those Coleman Young-type "bad black mayors"...which may still be a key to his populist appeal...
 

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