So no one really should remember the farce of Sheppard "nearly" being shut down, just like no one remembers that Mayor Miller actually spent his first term pushing hard to extend the Sheppard "albatross" only to lose out to the Spadina extension.
The difference was, back then, the City was trying to pressure the province into paying more to fund transit. Nowadays, these tactics are being used against Torontonians to justify cuts to service.
The "structural deficit" that the Fordites keep talking about is basically the transit subsidy - almost half a billion dollars last year and growing. They could cut every windrow service and Christmas bureau they want, but until something is done about the transit subsidy, the budget problems will continue.
Which is why I had been hoping there was a long play behind Ford's early aggressive moves, beyond the Tea Party theatrics. If he showed the rest of our Toronto-hating province he was a serious waste fighter, perhaps he would create the political space that would allow increased provincial funding. But then he eliminated revenue sources like the VRT, turned down free public health nurses from the province, refused to cut even
windrow clearing (a "core" service for most Torontonians only since 1997), and allowed idiots like Doug Ford and Mammo to highjack his administration and turn it into a joke. It is now clear that Ford is just playing everything by ear, and there is no plan or strategy. He is pursuing subways because it
feels right to pursue subways, not because he has the slightest idea about how build them, plan them or pay for them. Even if Tim Hudak was elected, he couldn't give this bunch of clowns more money even if he wanted to.
Which is why the best move for Ford now is to behave, well,
like a conservative. He should stop flailing about pursuing grand, unfunded, unplanned visions and stick to what's doable, functional and affordable. That means Transit City. The alternatives are fantasies.
