adma
Superstar
Rather than offering a candidate, I'll offer a fantasy mayoral race: Michael Thompson vs Kristyn Wong-Tam.
^ i wouldn't waste a millisecond reading that guy. he is having a great deal of fun at the expense of anyone naive enough to fall for it.
the Star is on the verge of going out of business?
HE is in possession of the video?
please.
People who voted for Ford simply wanted an obstructionist in the Mayor's seat, and that's what they got. A seal trained to honk once for "no" on a horn would have done exactly the same job.This is quite accurate. Ford's platform was merely an extension of his irrational persona.
People who voted for privately funded subways, buses that'd somehow cost less and carry more people than streetcars, and billions of dollars in savings from 'efficiencies' voted for Rob Ford and Rob Ford only. No one even moderately educated would have put forward such a platform: it was entirely Rob Ford's creation.
It was a meeting of “big city mayors,†but the mayor of the biggest city in Canada was missing. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford skipped Thursday’s Big City Mayors’ Caucus meeting in Saskatoon, which kicked off the 75th Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference.
True to his past record of never attending an FCM meeting, even as a councillor, Mayor Rob Ford was represented by Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti at the mayors’ meeting that launches the June 1-4 conference and helps set the priorities of the 2,000-member federation.
Many of the mayors attending the conference said, in a conference call with media, that municipalities desperately need Ottawa to hand over more than the 8 cents for every tax dollar they currently receive.
Eleven Toronto councillors are attending the conference, which gives municipal politicians a chance to rub shoulders with federal government ministers such as Denis Lebel, minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, who will speak Friday. NDP leader Tom Mulcair, Liberal leader Bob Rae and Green Party leader Elizabeth May will also give addresses.
The municipal politicians, in turn, are expected to appeal for help with the staggering costs of infrastructure replacement and transportation initiatives.
FCM, which lobbies Ottawa on federal policies and programs affecting municipalities, just released a report criticizing senior governments for taking the lion’s share of taxes and leaving the cities crumbs. The report says Canadian cities have been in decline for 25 years and face a collective $123 billion municipal infrastructure deficit.
This is the first time the event has been held in Saskatoon.
Asked about the role of Toronto and Ford in the organization’s lobbying efforts, Mammoliti said that “Mayor Ford keeps constant communication with those of us who do come to FCM … He agrees wholeheartedly that we need more money from the federal government — 8 cents does not cut it ...’’
Ford recently told Toronto reporters: “I don’t go to FCM. Since when do I go to FCM?’’
And I think that's why they won't be upset if the Ford circus prevents the city from getting anything done. As long as he isn't ousted, Ford being ineffectual is fine by them.People who voted for Ford simply wanted an obstructionist in the Mayor's seat, and that's what they got.
And I think that's why they won't be upset if the Ford circus prevents the city from getting anything done. As long as he isn't ousted, Ford being ineffectual is fine by them.
Oh, right, I get what you're saying now. Ford causing all this furor is actually working to their favor because it's preventing anything else from getting done. Gotcha.But if he's actually powerless to prevent council from rolling right over him, what good does he do them? He can say "no" all he wants now, but without his cadre of yes men around him, he's got no juice. Even people who approve of his ideas (probably not the right word) should be able to acknowledge that he can't implement them any more.
I get what you're saying now. Ford causing all this furor is actually working to their favor because it's preventing anything else from getting done.
Yep. I think Fordites are less interested in Ford accomplishing any particular agenda (like building subways) and more in preventing city government from doing anything. At their core, Ford supporters seem primarily anti-government, and the Ford circus certainly is keeping City Hall from working.
Yep. I think Fordites are less interested in Ford accomplishing any particular agenda (like building subways) and more in preventing city government from doing anything. At their core, Ford supporters seem primarily anti-government, and the Ford circus certainly is keeping City Hall from working.
Exactly. With Transit City, for instance, Ford merely succeeded in delaying such desperately needed transit by blathering "subways" over and over again. Everyone who knows anything knows that suburban subways are impossible and idiotic, but I don't think Ford and his goons want subways; they just want to obstruct all public transit development by insisting on obviously-impossible proposals. It's an obstruction tactic.
Yup delay tactics to make sure nothing gets built by proposing useless things such as a Finch subway, who advocates for building a subway on Finch when there are other pressing transit needs???
Someone who wants votes along Finch?
I lived near South Common in Mississauga years ago, and everyone I knew would have voted for a politician who promised a subway along Dundas.
People who rely on overcrowded buses in gridlocked suburban arterials to move from point A to point B are very volatile voters. Understandably, too.
It's funny that the same people who preach fiscal responsibility are the ones who are demanding subways on Finch.
What a bunch of idiots.