Jennifer Keesmaat's Toronto

[TransitBart]

Perhaps I ought to have used language without sexual connotations. This election is going to be vicious. It may not be the place for a newcomer. No matter how capable. There will be blood on the floor. We may want someone with more leadership experience.

 

[steveintoronto]

Thanks for posting this, I'd never seen her interviewed before and she's really bright and sincere.

And incredibly informed, save for her "secede" comment, and "not running for Mayor"...lol. Never say "never"...

She's certainly got a lot of attention with her "secede" bomb. I'm sure she knows that legal course isn't possible, but did it just to make waves...shock waves. I normally don't follow "Twatter", but just to see how naive some other posters are, I followed various strings. People who should know better, Margaret Atwood, for instance, are tweeting ridiculous things.

It's not just Trump that shouldn't tweet...

There are legal avenues that can be pursued. "Secession" isn't one of them. The term sure rings the doorbell though.

There's a couple more excellent interviews with Keesmaat on-line:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jennifer+keesmaat

 

[Northern Light]

.... People who should know better, Margaret Atwood, for instance, are tweeting ridiculous things.

It's not just Trump that shouldn't tweet...

You know, there's been just a wee bit of talk about TDS or Trump Derangement Syndrome.

The above being something of euphemism/catch all to describe otherwise reasonable-ish people moving from fair comment and criticism or even righteous indignation to blaming
the fact its Monday on The Donald.

It appears were developing something of our own set here with FDS or Ford Derangement Syndrome.

I didn't vote for him (directly or otherwise), don't support a good chunk of what he's said or done, thought the nicest thing you could said about his council term was 'without merit'.......and yet

I find myself on the verge of defending the man if only to restore a sense of calm and order.

The world's end is not nigh (unless someone knows something, in which case, do share, and that merits its own thread w/caps) LOL.........

He's (Ford) obnoxious and impulsive. His actions are not without consequence. But on balance he's caused only a minor disturbance in 'the force' thus far.

Everyone take a deep breath.

There may yet be things to be really worried about.........

For today, secession, is not only impractical, improbable, unlikely and unwarranted but unworthy of public discussion and just a tad disproportionate.

But let's not hold that against someone who knows the value of a news bite..........wait a minute........where have we seen a pol or prospective pol who would say something they don't even buy
just to get attention.........

 

[steveintoronto]

You know, there's been just a wee bit of talk about TDS or Trump Derangement Syndrome.

I just realized that I screwed up, big time!

Here is the Twitter link, and the ridiculous comments in fact weren't *from* Margaret Atwood, but *to her*!

I started here:
https://twitter.com/CpcFact/status/1022938255464050689

And ended up here somehow:
https://twitter.com/MargaretAtwood/status/1023344543612186624

In fact, she'd just tweeted the news story.

I was wrong in accusing her of the madness, but I wasn't wrong in flagging how ridiculous and unaccountable Twitter is, and those who mindlessly copy and paste them as if they're God's Gospel on the gallop.

There's been a series of them posted in other analog strings here on the "secession" follies. Not one of them makes the case that the poster claims. In fact, it was from tracking them that I ended-up on Atwood's string. There is the occasional tweet that is based on legal acumen. The vast majority are just mime and innuendo.

My apologies for any misleading aspersions on Atwood.

 

[animatronic]

You know, there's been just a wee bit of talk about TDS or Trump Derangement Syndrome.

The above being something of euphemism/catch all to describe otherwise reasonable-ish people moving from fair comment and criticism or even righteous indignation to blaming
the fact its Monday on The Donald.

It appears were developing something of our own set here with FDS or Ford Derangement Syndrome.

I didn't vote for him (directly or otherwise), don't support a good chunk of what he's said or done, thought the nicest thing you could said about his council term was 'without merit'.......and yet

I find myself on the verge of defending the man if only to restore a sense of calm and order.

The world's end is not nigh (unless someone knows something, in which case, do share, and that merits its own thread w/caps) LOL.........

He's (Ford) obnoxious and impulsive. His actions are not without consequence. But on balance he's caused only a minor disturbance in 'the force' thus far.

Everyone take a deep breath.

There may yet be things to be really worried about.........

For today, secession, is not only impractical, improbable, unlikely and unwarranted but unworthy of public discussion and just a tad disproportionate.

But let's not hold that against someone who knows the value of a news bite..........wait a minute........where have we seen a pol or prospective pol who would say something they don't even buy
just to get attention.........

He’s consolidating power through “loyalty tests” to make sure everyone toes the party line. Propose something minor but controversial and see who pushes back. He did the same thing back in 2010 with reducing bus service to make sure Rob’s excomm members played ball.

Once he gets these wins he will move on to bigger fish. So don’t just write it off as insignificant.

 

[Northern Light]

He’s consolidating power through “loyalty tests” to make sure everyone toes the party line. Propose something minor but controversial and see who pushes back. He did the same thing back in 2010 with reducing bus service to make sure Rob’s excomm members played ball.

Once he gets these wins he will move on to bigger fish. So don’t just write it off as insignificant.

We don't disagree.

Its the 'bigger fish' that concern me!

Or as John Lorinc put it over here: http://spacing.ca/toronto/2018/07/28/lorinc-doug-fords-barbarians-are-at-the-gate/

Our eyes, in other words, will be constantly directed towards the shiny, noisy object – municipal governance! — and therefore away from all the other stuff taking place in the wings.

In other words don't get too excited by the 'small stuff'.....its what you're not looking at that matters.

 

[steveintoronto]

He’s consolidating power through “loyalty tests” to make sure everyone toes the party line. Propose something minor but controversial and see who pushes back. He did the same thing back in 2010 with reducing bus service to make sure Rob’s excomm members played ball.

Once he gets these wins he will move on to bigger fish. So don’t just write it off as insignificant.

If he doesn't pull this off, Palace Coup is inevitable. They screwed Elliot to install him. If he doesn't pay off, he's gone. Back to the label factory, if it hasn't been repossessed yet.

@Northern Light : Lorinc nailed it! I was going to respond to posters enamoured of the concept of God coming down to smite the evil Doug with their incorrect miming of what Lorinc interprets correctly:

Okay, “taken” isn’t fair. But COTA, despite an arduous gestation, remains a law steeped in its own tentativeness and institutional limitations. It is, to state the most obvious point, a provincial law, and therefore provides no external source of independence for the City for Toronto. Sections 91 and 92 of the British North America Act – the division of powers if you missed the trailer — are still alive and kicking. Nothing in COTA seriously eroded the subservience of the city to the province.

As for COTA itself, the introductory framing seems, upon re-reading, to be as wobbly as it is high-minded. Section 2 states, “The Province of Ontario endorses the principle that it is in the best interests of the Province and the City to work together in a relationship based on mutual respect, consultation and co-operation.” Section 3: “For the purposes of maintaining such a relationship, it is in the best interests of the Province and the City to engage in ongoing consultations with each other about matters of mutual interest….”

http://spacing.ca/toronto/2018/07/28/lorinc-doug-fords-barbarians-are-at-the-gate/

Exactly! I'd started reading this article an hour or so ago, and got distracted (too much up on my taskbar) and was going to respond to a couple of other posters but realized they're convinced that the syntax God would save their ingrained mime.

There is some hope for an injunction. The COTA isn't it! It's the missives by the SCC that offer hope. I get tired of posting them, most aren't reading them. It's more than 140 characters...they want convenient instant answers pre-digested and spat out by the Twitter machine. And then believe any shid anyone writes.

They couldn't publish it if it isn't true...right? Phhhhh....Putin must be killin' himself laffin'...

The harsh reality is that this stuff is just politics pretending to be law. The specific politics lurking behind the language is the rare alignment that allowed Dalton McGuinty and David Miller to work out special status for Toronto without causing the rest of the province to lose its shit. Today’s politics is different, and I’ll bet that the inevitable omnibus bill the Ford Tories table will gut and fillet COTA.

Bingo!

 

[Towered]

I voted for Tory last time to stop Ford, but I haven't been overly impressed by his tenure. His stubbornness on the Gardiner rebuild and pushing the stupid Scarborough subway are especially offensive to me. I've been waiting for a sensible progressive candidate to support against him, and Keesmaat fills that role to a T. I couldn't have asked for a better person.

 

[Juan_Lennon416]

...and she will be 1000 times better as mayor than the so-called great David Miller.

 

[EagleEye]

And incredibly informed, save for her "secede" comment, and "not running for Mayor"...lol. Never say "never"...

She's certainly got a lot of attention with her "secede" bomb. I'm sure she knows that legal course isn't possible, but did it just to make waves...shock waves. I normally don't follow "Twatter", but just to see how naive some other posters are, I followed various strings. People who should know better, Margaret Atwood, for instance, are tweeting ridiculous things.

It's not just Trump that shouldn't tweet...

There are legal avenues that can be pursued. "Secession" isn't one of them. The term sure rings the doorbell though.

There's a couple more excellent interviews with Keesmaat on-line:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jennifer+keesmaat

I have absolutely no problem with her saying she wasn't going to run and then changing her mind. She's changed it for the right reasons, for the greater good. She isn't afraid of hard work, and she's genuinely passionate about the city. I was quite pissed at her for backing off the LRT but after watching that I understand why she did it.

 

[EagleEye]

I voted for Tory last time to stop Ford, but I haven't been overly impressed by his tenure. His stubbornness on the Gardiner rebuild and pushing the stupid Scarborough subway are especially offensive to me. I've been waiting for a sensible progressive candidate to support against him, and Keesmaat fills that role to a T. I couldn't have asked for a better person.

I don't like Tory's sneakiness. They should release the updated cost of the Scarborough subway extension when it comes out but he's keeping it hidden because he damn well knows the price has gone up and doesn't want it to interfere with the election. I also don't believe for a minute that he didn't know Ford was going to slash council.

 

[steveintoronto]

I have absolutely no problem with her saying she wasn't going to run and then changing her mind. She's changed it for the right reasons, for the greater good. She isn't afraid of hard work, and she's genuinely passionate about the city. I was quite pissed at her for backing off the LRT but after watching that I understand why she did it.

Agreed with every point. That she did change her mind makes her stance even more pertinent for me.

I suspect, in retrospect, her "secede" comment wasn't off the cuff, but a carefully planned PR hook to guarantee getting catapulted to the front pages. I think we all suspected she was just below the horizon on the alert for any eventuality that would make the decision for her.

And this is it, and the timing is superb...

 

[SunriseChampion]

That was my point. It is a big jump from the sidelines to mayor. Even a capable
person will face a learning curve and this environment is anything but normal/traditional.

Does it really matter though? Look at our history. Lastman. Miller. The Crackhead. Tory.

Dude, people will elect a demented dog, given the option.

The Yanks elected a spastic 80s coke head and our new premier is a cruel joke only people with my sense of humour would come up with and you're worried about some lady who seems wiser than 95% of city hall denizens?

Nah, bruv.....she's at least as qualified as any of the other previous mayors. Deffo overqualified, in fact, when compared with the crackhead and the furniture shill.


As for the secession talk: good for her. A spastic man says something like that and he's lauded as being "honest" and "straight-talking". A relatively reasonable woman says it and it's "bloody hell, what a fool".


That being said, I'm probably voting for my homie Clarke.

 

[SunriseChampion]

You know, there's been just a wee bit of talk about TDS or Trump Derangement Syndrome.

The above being something of euphemism/catch all to describe otherwise reasonable-ish people moving from fair comment and criticism or even righteous indignation to blaming
the fact its Monday on The Donald.

It appears were developing something of our own set here with FDS or Ford Derangement Syndrome.

I didn't vote for him (directly or otherwise), don't support a good chunk of what he's said or done, thought the nicest thing you could said about his council term was 'without merit'.......and yet

I find myself on the verge of defending the man if only to restore a sense of calm and order.

The world's end is not nigh (unless someone knows something, in which case, do share, and that merits its own thread w/caps) LOL.........

He's (Ford) obnoxious and impulsive. His actions are not without consequence. But on balance he's caused only a minor disturbance in 'the force' thus far.

Everyone take a deep breath.

There may yet be things to be really worried about.........

For today, secession, is not only impractical, improbable, unlikely and unwarranted but unworthy of public discussion and just a tad disproportionate.

But let's not hold that against someone who knows the value of a news bite..........wait a minute........where have we seen a pol or prospective pol who would say something they don't even buy
just to get attention.........

Yeah, whatever, mate....the guy is a tit.

 

[SunriseChampion]

I voted for Tory last time to stop Ford, but I haven't been overly impressed by his tenure. His stubbornness on the Gardiner rebuild and pushing the stupid Scarborough subway are especially offensive to me. I've been waiting for a sensible progressive candidate to support against him, and Keesmaat fills that role to a T. I couldn't have asked for a better person.

Damn, if you're offended by that you are most deffo not invited to my wedding should I ever lose my mind enough to get married.

I say this as someone who would personally volunteer my weekends to help destroy the Gardiner downtown. Volunteer. Unpaid. Weekends. Me. Maybe I have lost enough of my mind to get married.

We can agree on Keesmaat though.