Rob Ford's Toronto

[typezed]

I wonder why the media doesn't call him out on this kind of blatant lying. I mean this guy can say whatever he wants. Instead of putting pressure on this guy by debunking all all the bullshit like this, they just sit there and take it.

Worse, Ford will say something polarizing like "Subways are better than streetcars", and instead of actually looking into the facts beyond it, or interviewing a couple experts, CTV and CP24 will commission a poll, "Are subways better?". And then that becomes the fact, subways are better because 60% of people say so (+/- 3% four times out of five). It's a circle of populism.

 

[Johnny Au]

Earth to Rob Ford:

Victoria Park and Warden Stations opened one year before he was born.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

You can take any politician and pull out things from their campaign that never materialized. In terms of accomplishing campaign promises, Ford has a better ratio than most in my estimation. I'd agree a lot of his promises were unfeasible, but with the exception of the "no service cuts" issue, he hasn't actively gone back on any of his promises. In fact, the bulk of them, he has either accomplished or made a push for in council.

And it's not just things that haven't materialized. As I demonstrated a few posts ago, Ford told blatant lies to mine votes. He lied about indisputable facts at least 8 times in one speech. There wasn't one bit of truth in those lies.

 

[jje1000]

Worse, Ford will say something polarizing like "Subways are better than streetcars", and instead of actually looking into the facts beyond it, or interviewing a couple experts, CTV and CP24 will commission a poll, "Are subways better?". And then that becomes the fact, subways are better because 60% of people say so (+/- 3% four times out of five). It's a circle of populism.

IMO this is how Ford has been able to keep up his support. Ford is the populist-politician, one perfectly evolved to today's world, where politics no longer dominates, but is simply another topic vying for your attention.

Like what CowboyLogic has pointed out, people don't have enough time to research and learn that we don't have enough money for a subway, or that Ford hasn't saved us that much money.

To counter this, the facts need to be stated, simply and loudly. Again and again until they're pounded into people's minds.

 

[Johnny Au]

Let's look at evolution.

It took one century before it becomes accepted by the mainstream. Even then, there are still Young Earth Creationists who use a two-millennia-old book rather than modern facts and evidence.

Those who want to use facts and evidence have to keep repeating them in lay terms, since some people are not easily convinced by even the most irrefutable facts or evidence.

 

[Adjei]

Worse, Ford will say something polarizing like "Subways are better than streetcars", and instead of actually looking into the facts beyond it, or interviewing a couple experts, CTV and CP24 will commission a poll, "Are subways better?". And then that becomes the fact, subways are better because 60% of people say so (+/- 3% four times out of five). It's a circle of populism.

I think the media in this city is lazy. I thought their job was to inform the public. Doug Ford can come on air and claim the Rob Ford has saved the city billions but if the media doesn't debunk this and state it over and over how wrong the information is, members of the public will hear this and believe it. This is why a lot of people out there feel that LRTs are exactly like what we see on St. Clair, they don't know that they can go underground or even be elevated. Rob Ford has managed to equate LRTs to what is on St. Clair and somehow convince the public that subways at least here in Toronto are the only option and that there is plenty of money to pay for all of it. Members of the public just don't care to research and be informed about this stuff like how we on this site are. I feel the media can do a better job of calling him out on his misinformation and helping to correct the many half truths that he tells especially concerning transit in this city. They are not doing their job.

 

[JWBF]

Looks like the province doesn't think an extension of the B-D subway will happen:

​http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/0...sive-for-smaller-local-contract-bids-critics/

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Looks like the province doesn't think an extension of the B-D subway will happen:

​http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/0...sive-for-smaller-local-contract-bids-critics/

Oh really!? You don't say. The unfunded Scarborough Subway isn't coming. Wow! What a surprise.

This Scarborough Subway was just Ford's attempt to cancel the Sheppard LRT.

 

[canmark]

I wonder why the media doesn't call him out on this kind of blatant lying. I mean this guy can say whatever he wants. Instead of putting pressure on this guy by debunking all all the bullshit like this, they just sit there and take it.

Maybe they're afraid to be branded like the Toronto Star as "out to get" Ford. Any 'fact' that the Star reports must be a de facto lie, therefore everything Ford says must be true.

It's like when Sarah Palin called the media out for their "gotcha" questions.

In some ways, the media can't win for trying. But I have some hope that they'll ultimately expose him--Wizard of Oz-like--as a fraud, a pretender behind smoke and mirrors.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Let me re-state exactly what Ford said. Ford said there would be 100km of new well-lit bike trails/lanes built before 2015.

So far in his term the city has built 2.5km of new bicycle lanes, and removed 2.5km from Jarvis.

By 2015 there will be an extra ~3.5km built along a route where there are already bicycle lanes today. Waterfront Toronto will add an extra Miller-legacy 2.5km, too (only 1km of which lacked bicycle lanes before).

Ford's are not unfulfilled promises, they are blatant lies that take advantage of people who are not very knowledgeable. It just so happens that a disproportionately large number of people in this forum understand enough economics, public policy, or transportation planning to see through his obscene fabrications.

Let's not forget, he also lead the fight to remove the Pharmacy and Birchmount bike lanes too. On top of the Transit City and Scarborough LRT cancellations (approximately $150M down the drain) another half million can be added to remove those bike lanes.

 

[syn]

And it's not just things that haven't materialized. As I demonstrated a few posts ago, Ford told blatant lies to mine votes. He lied about indisputable facts at least 8 times in one speech. There wasn't one bit of truth in those lies.

I actually counted 10 or 11

 

[innsertnamehere]

Easily the best example I've seen of Ford's lies. Nice how he put it all on one video:

[video=youtube;PGyqe3Ewz4I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGyqe3Ewz4I&feature=player_embedded[/video]

First of all, notice how he can only remember three words at a time before checking his notes again. All that crack screwed up his head . Okay. lets get started:

-LRT's stop at every block and every interersection
No Rob.

-Average speed under 17 km/h
No Rob.

-LRT makes pollution worse
No Rob.

-Subways move three times faster than LRT
No Rob.

-Both lines (SRT extension and the Sheppard Subway) will be open before PanAm games in 2015
No Rob.

-Busses are cheaper, faster and safer than LRT
No Rob.

-We'll fund the subways with private money
No Rob.

-The private sector will generate at least $1 Billion
No Rob.

-My plan is fully funded
No Rob.

So that is 9 blatant lies in that video 8 minute video alone. The man tells more than a lie a minute. Extraordinary even by political standards. There are many more half truths in there as well that I didn't bother to include.

I hate myself for going through that whole video the man talks like a 11 year old giving his first speech. Monotone, poorly written, three words at a time. Why anyone would vote for him is beyond me.

One more thing. What the hell is this crap? Has Ford and his staff never been on the subway? Could they not take 15 seconds to Google a map? They seem to think that the subway ends at Main Street. Or perhaps this was just another intentional lie to make people in Scarborough think that they have no subways.

the Willowdale station is also in the wrong spot. it should be between Bayview and Yonge.

 

[jje1000]

Maybe they're afraid to be branded like the Toronto Star as "out to get" Ford. Any 'fact' that the Star reports must be a de facto lie, therefore everything Ford says must be true.

It's like when Sarah Palin called the media out for their "gotcha" questions.

In some ways, the media can't win for trying. But I have some hope that they'll ultimately expose him--Wizard of Oz-like--as a fraud, a pretender behind smoke and mirrors.

The National Post, Sun, CP24 and Global don't mind Ford. The Globe is the prime example of what you're talking about. With them, it's an ambivalent wavering between lukewarm criticism and the "but he musta done SOMETHING good" Marcus Gee articles. They want to stay centrist, but in a Ford-tainted world, there isn't such a term.

 

[RC8]

the Willowdale station is also in the wrong spot. it should be between Bayview and Yonge.

Also, where is Coxwell station? And - while I understand that it's not to scale - it feels wrong to not show that Don Mills station is actually aligned with Woodbine (as opposed to Pape).

I've shown in a black box the extent of new subway he proposed if he had respected the relative east-west dimensions of the two lines:

Also, his map wrongly gives the impression that a very significant portion of the subway system is downtown - when in reality most of Toronto's subway system is well outside the core.

The level of incompetence shown in this graph alone should deem Ford's opinion on transit inconsequential. I'm sure most of us in this board could make a better graph than that... for free!

 

[Johnny Au]

The National Post, Sun, CP24 and Global don't mind Ford. The Globe is the prime example of what you're talking about. With them, it's an ambivalent wavering between lukewarm criticism and the "but he musta done SOMETHING good" Marcus Gee articles. They want to stay centrist, but in a Ford-tainted world, there isn't such a term.

If the CityNews Channel were not defunct, what would have been its view on Rob Ford?