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Rob Ford's Toronto

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Silence&Motion said:
I agree. There is a real risk that if Hudak becomes premier, he might just go over Toronto council's head and impose elements of Ford's agenda from the provincial level. A very troubling (and realistic) possibility is that he might cancel something like Transit City based on the premise that it doesn't have the mayor's support, and replace it with only a vague promise to "look into" future subway expansion.
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He isn't saying what he will do or not, which is probably the greatest reason of any not to trust him on this file. Its not like he doesn't have countless studies to pick and choose from. Like Ford his plan seems to be driven entirely by an anti-LRT ideology (if his plan is to build subways in Scarborough, unless it is a subway between Kennedy and the STC/McCowan its certainly not remotely being driven by fiscally conservative thinking).

That and Hudak will apparently has reaffirmed that he will take what I assume are the profitable parts of the TTC (subways, light rail and possibly streetcars) and hand them to Metrolinx. You know, because he is super generous.
 
historydude2012 said:
He isn't saying what he will do or not, which is probably the greatest reason of any not to trust him on this file. Its not like he doesn't have countless studies to pick and choose from. Like Ford his plan seems to be driven entirely by an anti-LRT ideology (if his plan is to build subways in Scarborough, unless it is a subway between Kennedy and the STC/McCowan its certainly not remotely being driven by fiscally conservative thinking).

That and Hudak will apparently has reaffirmed that he will take what I assume are the profitable parts of the TTC (subways, light rail and possibly streetcars) and hand them to Metrolinx. You know, because he is super generous.
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Hudak wants to upload/download, whatever word they make up to transfer ownership of, all expressways (400-series, Gardiner, and Don Valley) to Metrolinx. Metrolinx will get "regional" control over them, meaning Toronto, Hamilton, Barrie, Oshawa, etc. will end up paying for it from... property taxes? regional sales tax? tolls? basically, not from provincial general revenue (to show that "they" will show a "financial benefit" on the province's budget).
 
Johnny Au said:
Shades of Mike Harris would re-appear if Hudak becomes premier and Doug Ford becomes MPP.
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I can see it even worse; like (as we've been reminded of over the past week) on an 80s Thatcherite scale of tension-in-the-air--if not beyond...
 
adma said:
I can see it even worse; like (as we've been reminded of over the past week) on an 80s Thatcherite scale of tension-in-the-air--if not beyond...
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Hudak is nothing like Thatcher. Thatcher was a balanced leader, who saved a nation from itself. Hudak is a right-wing nut bar.

(I disliked Thatcher BTW - but that doesn't mean I didn't respect her, or think that much of what she did was necessary. If only we were to see right-wing politicians in Canada of such greatness. But no, even our best example - Mulroney - admitted to taking envelopes of cash from lobbyists while in office - and then lied about it under oath.)
 
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Why is outsourcing jobs at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) upsetting? Why is outsourcing jobs at City Hall, fine with some people? Isn't contracting out garbage collection in the west end of Toronto the same?

Now if only the garbage collection could be done in the Far East...? But, then there are other jobs at City Hall that could be done in the Far East, couldn't it? Your job could be next to be outsourced. First to go would be the union jobs (which some seem to be fine with), then it will be your job.

After all, we have to care for the taxpayers of the city. Even if it leads to the loss of your job due to outsourcing.
 
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W. K. Lis said:
Why is outsourcing jobs at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) upsetting? Why is outsourcing jobs at City Hall, fine with some people? Isn't contracting out garbage collection in the west end of Toronto the same?

Now if only the garbage collection could be done in the Far East...? But, then there are other jobs at City Hall that could be done in the Far East, couldn't it? Your job could be next to be outsourced. First to go would be the union jobs (which some seem to be fine with), then it will be your job.

After all, we have to care for the taxpayers of the city. Even if it leads to the loss of your job due to outsourcing.
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That's the thing, many right wingers are fine with other people losing their jobs but when it starts hitting too close to home, all of a sudden it's a problem. Sure, it starts at the bottom but eventually, it will hit the higher ups too. By that time, of course, it will be too late to stop. It's all in the name of higher and higher corporate profits.
 
pman said:
While I agree Ford can't do overwhelming damage under a weak mayor / strong council system, I'm concerned that for the Harper government and for the provincial PC's Ford appears to be the Voice of Toronto. Not that the Conservatives at either level would deign to piss on Toronto if we were on fire, but Ford's insane positions give the federal government and a potential PC provincial government some cover for simultaneously ignoring or adding to Toronto's problems, while continuing to treat us as a tax farm.
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The problem also lies in the rewriting of the laws. See Doug and Rob's attempts to reduce the number of councillors in half? It's along the lines of amalgamation, where the suburbs will inevitably get a lead over the city core. This rewriting of the laws and shutting down of watchdogs has already happened up in the Harper government, and in the Ford's attempt to get rid of the ombudsman. It's a deliberate attempt to erode responsibility in government, and until the Fords are out of municipal politics will this end on this level of government. To say that they're impotent is potentially underestimating the amount of damage they can do, especially if Doug and Hudak get into power (in which case city decisions can be rendered moot).
 
jje1000 said:
The problem also lies in the rewriting of the laws. See Doug and Rob's attempts to reduce the number of councillors in half? It's along the lines of amalgamation, where the suburbs will inevitably get a lead over the city core. This rewriting of the laws and shutting down of watchdogs has already happened up in the Harper government, and in the Ford's attempt to get rid of the ombudsman. It's a deliberate attempt to erode responsibility in government, and until the Fords are out of municipal politics will this end on this level of government. To say that they're impotent is potentially underestimating the amount of damage they can do, especially if Doug and Hudak get into power (in which case city decisions can be rendered moot).
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I think it's time to redraw the wards in Toronto. Denser areas are far underrepresented.

Take a look at the population density vs. the number of wards

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Downtown Toronto, the single most dense area in Toronto is represented by a SINGLE councillor. The same thing can be said about surrounding wards. At the same time, areas with lower population density in Western Etobicoke and Eastern Scarborough have greater political representation. This is clearly not a very fair or democratic system. The Downtown ward alone should have representation from at least two councillors. I would like to see legislation that would mandate that the drawing of wards be revisited every 20 years to solve this issue. If the Fords bring up the issue of the number of councillors, it would be a great time to bring this issue up.
 
TigerMaster suggests that municipal wards should be reviewed at least every 20 years. This has been happening for quite a while as Ward boundaries and Federal constituency boundaries are connected and the recent practice in Toronto has been that every Federal constituency has two Councillors. Federal constituencies are revised after every census and the Federal boundaries are in the process of being redrawn based on the 2011 census to create more equality of population. (See: http://www.redecoupage-federal-redistribution.ca/content.asp?section=on&document=index&lang=e ) There are most likely going to be more Federal constituencies in Toronto based on their Report. (This has certain problems, such as splitting of St Lawrence - but will doubtless be adopted in some form.)

IF the City does things as they have in the recent past the size and boundaries of municipal Wards will also change. Of course, this will mean MORE Councillors and I am not sure that is really a good thing.
 
DSC said:
TigerMaster suggests that municipal wards should be reviewed at least every 20 years. This has been happening for quite a while as Ward boundaries and Federal constituency boundaries are connected and the recent practice in Toronto has been that every Federal constituency has two Councillors. Federal constituencies are revised after every census and the Federal boundaries are in the process of being redrawn based on the 2011 census to create more equality of population. (See: http://www.redecoupage-federal-redistribution.ca/content.asp?section=on&document=index&lang=e ) There are most likely going to be more Federal constituencies in Toronto based on their Report. (This has certain problems, such as splitting of St Lawrence - but will doubtless be adopted in some form.)

IF the City does things as they have in the recent past the size and boundaries of municipal Wards will also change. Of course, this will mean MORE Councillors and I am not sure that is really a good thing.
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Ah that is great to know!

I don't really care for more councillors, but having more councillors across Toronto is better than having underrepresentation in denser areas of the city.

Does anyone know when the wards were last redrawn?
 
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