Rob Ford's Toronto

[calimehtar]

Doug Ford's rant about Liberal spending is, as usual, distorted. Of course it's true that the Liberals failed to get the deficit under control, but the "billions of dollars this province wasted on eHealth ... helicopters ... and gas plants" need some perspective:

eHealth does work, so the argument could be made that nothing was wasted on it (of course they wasted *some* of that money but actually eHealth is a pretty good deal compared to similar attempts at electronic medical records systems elsewhere in the world).

No question that Ornge was scandalous, but how much was really wasted? I count no more than $10 million.
http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2012/02/17/ornge-fiasco-shows-taxpayers-sick-of-waste-our-opinion

And the gas plants fiasco - they should have just built the thing like they did in downtown Toronto - is a red herring since all three parties promised to kill it. The total for this could have been as high as half a billion which is a lot of money, but not enough for a subway.
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com...e-liberals-the-next-one-will-likely-be-worse/

 

[RC8]

Yes, conservatives and the NDP criticising the Liberals for the gas plant fiasco makes zero sense. If the NDP and the Conservatives promised to scrap the plant, and people would vote the liberals out for it, what did you expect them to do? It's so ridiculously hypocritical to go on a rant about the government killing the power plant you vowed to kill yourself.

 

[Electrify]

Speaking of taxes....I owe an extra 480 dollars. Any chance it can go towards transit improvements?

Perhaps the government could setup a charity to help fund transit? That way you could help fund transit, as well as reduce the outstanding balance as a charitable tax deduction.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Yes, conservatives and the NDP criticising the Liberals for the gas plant fiasco makes zero sense. If the NDP and the Conservatives promised to scrap the plant, and people would vote the liberals out for it, what did you expect them to do? It's so ridiculously hypocritical to go on a rant about the government killing the power plant you vowed to kill yourself.

Let's not forget the Conservatives scrapping the Long Gun Registry...

 

[Voltz]

Hasn't Doug claimed they have saved the city $1.5 billion or so? According to Ford's logic subways should be well under construction by now with that money.

 

[BurlOak]

Hasn't Doug claimed they have saved the city $1.5 billion or so? According to Ford's logic subways should be well under construction by now with that money.

No matter how much they save, unless they put something into transit, it won't help fund anything. Ford should have put half of savings into transit - so if workers got a 0% wage icrease instead of the expected 2%, then 1% could be put into a transit fund and 1% used to lower taxes. Maybe Ford feels there is no point putting money into transit at this time because the money will be spent on the wrong types of transit.

 

[VTB]

Maybe Ford feels there is no point putting money into transit at this time because the money will be spent on the wrong types of transit.

That is one interpretation, I suppose.

From all he has said and done, my take is he has no intention of building ANY transit. He just wants to talk about it as an election platform ............. or when he is forced to do so.

 

[RC8]

If Ford gave up his car for 6 months he would soon become an advocate of many things he hates now. His support and opposition of things is clearly based on a very selfish perspective completely derived from his own very limited experience of life and the city.

The fact that if we all drove a car gridlock would be worse and taxes would necessarily be higher just flies past him right now. No one even remotely rational and fiscally conservative would hold the view that we need more people driving cars in this city.

 

[jje1000]

Not going to post the entire thing because it belongs elsewhere, but I find this a fairly clever move by Stintz despite being awful for transit improvements in the short run. By sacrificing the Scarborough LRT in lieu of a Scarborough Subway, she eliminates one of Ford's talking points- that Scarborough deserves a subway. Moreso, this essentially puts Ford on a bind- does he want his subway or does he want no taxes? It'll be interesting how he'll handle this.

TTC chair Stintz and other councillors want Scarborough subway revived
ELIZABETH CHURCH
The Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Apr. 26 2013, 11:45 PM EDT
Last updated Saturday, Apr. 27 2013, 12:07 PM EDT

A group of Toronto city councillors, including TTC chair Karen Stintz, is pushing the province to revive plans for a Scarborough subway as part of talks on new fees and taxes for building transit.

Converting the aging Scarborough Rapid Transit line to an extension of the Bloor-Danforth subway is back on the table, several councillors say, and informal talks with Queen’s Park have begun. Plans are in the works to introduce the subway project as part of an expected debate on transit funding at the next council meeting. It’s a move that could put Mayor Rob Ford in a bind by linking a Scarborough subway – one of his long-held ambitions – to the new transit taxes he abhors.

[...]

Ms. Stintz pointed out that Mr. Ford himself supported the Scarborough extension of the Bloor-Danforth line in his 2010 election platform. “If he goes back to his own platform he will see it is there,” she said.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...t-scarborough-subway-revived/article11586060/

 

[Torontovibe]

No matter how much they save, unless they put something into transit, it won't help fund anything. Ford should have put half of savings into transit - so if workers got a 0% wage icrease instead of the expected 2%, then 1% could be put into a transit fund and 1% used to lower taxes. Maybe Ford feels there is no point putting money into transit at this time because the money will be spent on the wrong types of transit.

No, it's more like Ford feels there is no point putting money into transit because he doesn't use it. With the Ford bros, it's all about self interest, so if they don't personally benefit from something, they don't want it. Don't hold your breath waiting for our mayor to build you a subway. He has no intention of doing anything to help public transit. Actions ALWAYS speak louder than words.

 

[Irishmonk]

Yeah, because nobody on here ever makes fun of the mayor's weight/appearance.

Funny how it's usually his defenders who bring up the subject.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

No, it's more like Ford feels there is no point putting money into transit because he doesn't use it. With the Ford bros, it's all about self interest, so if they don't personally benefit from something, they don't want it. Don't hold your breath waiting for our mayor to build you a subway. He has no intention of doing anything to help public transit. Actions ALWAYS speak louder than words.

This. If Ford wanted privately funded transit in this city, shovels would be in the ground by now.

 

[historydude2012]

Not going to post the entire thing because it belongs elsewhere, but I find this a fairly clever move by Stintz despite being awful for transit improvements in the short run. By sacrificing the Scarborough LRT in lieu of a Scarborough Subway, she eliminates one of Ford's talking points- that Scarborough deserves a subway. Moreso, this essentially puts Ford on a bind- does he want his subway or does he want no taxes? It'll be interesting how he'll handle this.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...t-scarborough-subway-revived/article11586060/

*Bangs head against wall*

STOP HAVING THIS CONVERSATION AND PICK ONE ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry...being from Scarborough I'm really ,really tired of politicians saying "well lets go with this option" ..."no lets go with this very similar but marginally different option".

Folks...its an LRT/subway either way going through what is effectively a right-of-way. Pick an option, go with it, and just get it done! Yea I understand there are capacity issues, yadada. But we have over 25 years of ridership on the SRT to know what kind of demand we are looking at now and into the future for any future transit line there. Stop being wishy-washy people concerned about what will get you elected or not and just pick what we can afford (and what makes financial sense to build).

I wasn't alive when the SRT was constructed. Personally, being as selfish as I am, I'd like to think that we will have chosen its replacement by the time I'm dead (I know, how selfish am I?).

 

[Electrify]

Not going to post the entire thing because it belongs elsewhere, but I find this a fairly clever move by Stintz despite being awful for transit improvements in the short run. By sacrificing the Scarborough LRT in lieu of a Scarborough Subway, she eliminates one of Ford's talking points- that Scarborough deserves a subway. Moreso, this essentially puts Ford on a bind- does he want his subway or does he want no taxes? It'll be interesting how he'll handle this.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...t-scarborough-subway-revived/article11586060/

When this was first announced as part of the OneCity transit strategy, Ford denounced it because it involved increasing taxes. So I guess that answers your question...

If Ford could run on the transportation platform of the status quo and that everything is fine the way it is, he would have done so. But even he knows that such a platform would spell doom at the polls. So he invented a strawman of free subways created by the private sector, and unfortunately, some bought into it.

If he had any real respect for taxpayers, he would come clean that his transportation platform is no platform at all and quit insulting our intelligence. Hell, even Rocco Rossi proposed extending Allen Rd. Was it a dumb idea? Absolutely, but he was honest about his intentions and had a vision, which is more than anyone can say about Ford.

 

[Electrify]

*Bangs head against wall*

STOP HAVING THIS CONVERSATION AND PICK ONE ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry...being from Scarborough I'm really ,really tired of politicians saying "well lets go with this option" ..."no lets go with this very similar but marginally different option".

Folks...its an LRT/subway either way going through what is effectively a right-of-way. Pick an option, go with it, and just get it done! Yea I understand there are capacity issues, yadada. But we have over 25 years of ridership on the SRT to know what kind of demand we are looking at now and into the future for any future transit line there. Stop being wishy-washy people concerned about what will get you elected or not and just pick what we can afford (and what makes financial sense to build).

I wasn't alive when the SRT was constructed. Personally, being as selfish as I am, I'd like to think that we will have chosen its replacement by the time I'm dead (I know, how selfish am I?).

The SRT itself isn't that bad, just everything about it. Why didn't the TTC ever order more trains as it hit capacity? Why did they not put in more escalators at Kennedy and Scarborough Centre? Why is there a recycling plant pumping noxious fumes into Ellesmere and Midland stations, rather than a transit oriented development?