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Rob Ford’s mysterious meeting schedule released only to reveal something everybody already knew anyway

Rob Ford’s calendar

The recent release of a copy of Mayor Rob Ford’s meeting schedule confirmed something we—and everybody else—already suspected: city council is deeply divided along what are essentially party lines. The documents, which the Toronto Star obtained through a Freedom of Information request, revealed that while the mayor met with council allies more than 20 times between February and June of this year—often visiting their wards to discuss local issues—he had precisely zero meetings with any of his left-leaning colleagues on council. Of course, we’re not exactly surprised by this black and white demonstration of partisanship, and it certainly works both ways (Adam Vaughan’s comments proved particularly choice in that regard). But the more the tenor of the politics at 100 Queen West resembles that of the politics at Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill, the more ridiculous it seems to uphold the notion that city hall is actually a non-partisan chamber.

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The Informer

Political Whoas

August 8, 2011 | 1:05 pm

4 Comments

PMO killed the YouTube star: fishin’ buddies Stephen Harper and Rob Ford (briefly) go viral

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mayor Rob Ford and a 39-centimetre fish became instant viral sensations last week when a video was posted to YouTube showing His Honour and His Worship cracking wise about a recent fishing trip (Ford caught the big fish) and the upcoming provincial election while attending an Etobicoke barbecue. Unfortunately, it seems that the prime minister’s pointed and partisan comments—he muses about the prior “NDP mess” at city hall and expresses his hope that Tim Hudak usher in a provincial Conservative government this fall to “complete the hat trick”—were deemed unfit for public ears. In other words, the video was summarily removed following a complaint from the Prime Minister’s Office.

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The Informer

Ford Focus

August 8, 2011 | 12:15 pm

5 Comments

Is Rob Ford’s commitment to customer service actually doing more harm than good?

Where the mayor’s customer service bureau lives (Image: Mark Watmough)

The Globe and Mail put Mayor Rob Ford’s much-vaunted commitment to customer service—and his pledge to return all the city’s taxpayers’ many phone calls—to the test this weekend, exploring the mini-bureaucracy that exists within the mayor’s office, designed to filter and respond to the concerns of Toronto residents. The article tells a complicated tale of a committed group of pleasant-sounding staffers, phone records that get destroyed at the end of every business day and a procedure that exists solely for dealing with complaints about the mayor’s brother, Councillor Doug Ford. While we tip our hat to the mayor for responding to select calls himself, we’re starting to wonder if this ersatz 311 service really only adds up to, at best, a duplication of a function offered by other departments, and at worst, a distraction that may harm the mayor’s mandate to improve customer service city-wide.

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The Informer

Gravy Train Wreck

August 3, 2011 | 4:30 pm

3 Comments

Things Margaret Atwood likes: libraries, book clubs, strong language; things Margaret Atwood does not like: Doug and Rob Ford

(Image: Marco Secchi/ Getty Images Entertainment/ Getty Images)

We’re guessing by now the Brothers Ford know exactly who Margaret Atwood is. After Doug Ford caused a bit of a brouhaha amongst the city’s class of left-leaning latte sippers by claiming he wouldn’t recognize Atwood if she passed him on the street—and that she should run for office if she wants to weigh in on matters of public interest (like, say, library closures)—Atwood decided to go on the offensive. First, the CanLit icon sparked something of a social media maelstrom, including our favourite, an “Atwood for Mayor” campaign on Facebook, before taking another swipe at the powers that be at city hall by cheekily offering to meet with book clubs at their local Tim Hortons as part of her campaign to spare Toronto’s libraries from the Rob Ford budget knife. But the author’s latest salvo in the lopsided war of words between her and the Fords is arguably her strongest: an interview with the Toronto Star in which she offers a cutting condemnation of the mayor, his brother and the current political climate in the city.

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The Informer

In Transit

July 8, 2011 | 4:55 pm

12 Comments

Conservatives call for licensing for cyclists as bikes-versus-cars rhetoric ramps up (again)

Image: Salim Virji

In the wake of a near-fatal bike-on-pedestrian crash off Dundas Street earlier this week, a number of noted Toronto right-wingers are taking the idea of a comprehensive system for licensing and regulating cyclists for another spin around the block. The fact that the cyclist—who was clearly at fault—will walk away charged with only a minor offence that carries a relatively minimal charge is what has city councillor committee member David Shiner, NewsTalk 1010 radio host John Tory and Toronto Sun columnist Michele Mandel in a huff. But here’s the rub: city hall has studied the issue numerous times in the last 25 years, and every time the conclusion is the same: too expensive, too difficult to enforce.

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The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

July 8, 2011 | 4:00 pm

Comments

TTC inks an advertising deal—cue station naming rights bonanza (or not)

Is this what the future holds for the city’s subway stations? (Image: Robert Taylor)

The TTC got its advertising deal. On Wednesday, the cash-strapped transit agency approved a 12-year, $342-million contract with Pattison Outdoor Advertising that could see your local subway stop renamed Pizza Pizza station, or something to the effect. The deal is supposedly part of the TTC’s plan to work its way out of the budgetary hole it’s found itself in—but given that the added revenue will work out to roughly one per cent of the agency’s $1.5-billion operating budget, it seems the transit commission may have sold its soul for a ham sandwich (or perhaps a slice of Pizza Pizza?).

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The Informer

Cityscape

July 7, 2011 | 9:30 am

1 Comment

Pier-less Burlington still waiting for its promised—but seemingly doomed—downtown waterfront attraction

A shot of the bay in Burlington (Image: Brie79)

Standing proof that mismanaged construction projects that drag on for years aren’t just the stuff of the 4-1-6, more than eight years and millions upon millions of dollars later Burlington residents are still waiting for what was supposed to be a landmark waterfront attraction to be complete. The Brant Street pier, an extension of Burlington’s main drag designed to curve outwards more than 130 metres into Lake Ontario, has seen its construction marred with unexpected costs, huge delays and freak accidents, including an incident where—seriously—a crane toppled over back in 2008.

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The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

July 6, 2011 | 2:30 pm

3 Comments

Former TTC general manager David Gunn thinks Toronto’s transit plans are off the rails

Karen Stintz and her blue balloon may be happy with Toronto transit—but is anybody else? (Image: Mike Beltzner)

David Gunn may have been invited to Toronto to share a few words of advice with TTC chair Karen Stintz and Mayor Rob Ford on improving the transit agency’s bottom line, but we have to admit we like what he ended up doing much better. The former TTC general manager checked his manners at the door and blasted the “insane” current transit plans and the “crazy decisions” of TTC brass. The now-retired Gunn took aim at nearly every aspect of Toronto’s system, from the expansion schemes for Eglinton and Sheppard to the overall cleanliness of subway stations. Really, pretty much everything the TTC is doing is terrible, according to Gunn. Of course, the TTC deserves a little—okay, a lot of—bashing, and we agree with some of what Gunn has to say. But his commentary, while deliciously incendiary, has left us a little worried, given the current civic administration’s existing affinity for transit cuts.

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The Informer

Political Whoas

July 5, 2011 | 4:35 pm

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The name game: city councillors look to scrap “priority neighbourhood” label

An apartment complex in a priority neighbourhood (Image: Danielle Scott)

In a bid to distance themselves from previous strategies that involved public investment and social programs—heaven forbid—a group of conservative Toronto councillors has come up with a bold new plan for dealing with problems in the city’s 13 priority neighbourhoods. Essentially, they want to stop calling priority neighbourhoods “priority neighbourhoods.” The group of councillors—led by Vince Crisanti, with support from Giorgio Mammoliti and Frances Nunziata, who all have priority neighbourhoods in their wards—say they’re hoping to remove the stigma caused by the designation, one they claim has not made a measurable positive impact, despite the influx of millions of public dollars. But we have to ask: are these kinds of semantic games really going to make a difference when it comes to actually helping low-income communities?

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The Informer

Cityscape

July 5, 2011 | 2:00 pm

8 Comments

Kristyn Wong-Tam is pushing an ambitious revitalization plan for Yonge Street—but will it fly at Rob Ford’s city hall?

The Yonge Street strip (Image: John Douglas)

Yonge Street dollar stores, strip clubs and head shops be warned: an ambitious new plan for revamping Toronto’s main drag is looking to erase some of the ramshackle shabbiness on the stretch between Dundas and Gerrard streets, adding wider sidewalks, a narrowed roadway and high-quality retail stores. Spearheaded by local councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, the plan is set to be fully unveiled Wednesday—in the always exciting form of a report—and is designed to look at ways to improve the troubled stretch following a suspicious fire that ripped through a heritage building at the corner of Yonge and Gould in January. The loss of that building served as a wake-up call to businesses and residents, highlighting the fragile and often overlooked history that exists on Yonge, particularly north of Dundas. But while we welcome any changes to the historic street—and, really, it should be one of downtown Toronto’s finest—we have to wonder: will this kind of thing make it past council with the Rob Ford regime running city hall?

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The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

July 4, 2011 | 5:30 pm

4 Comments

Rider, can you spare 15 cents? TTC looks to charge for text notifications

The Spadina streetcar—possibly late (Image: r h)

In a move consistent with a Rob Ford–led city hall that never misses an opportunity for cost savings—no matter how small—the TTC will consider a staff report this week that floats the idea of charging customers a nickel and a dime for receiving text messages that reveal when the next transit vehicle will show up.

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The Informer

The Harrowing Present

July 4, 2011 | 1:46 pm

10 Comments

Nobody missed Rob Ford at Pride—but his absence is still significant for the city

Where’s Rob Ford? (Image: Kyle Anstey)

Despite a somewhat dramatic game of last-minute will-he-or-won’t-he speculation, just as he promised, Rob Ford no-showed at Toronto’s Pride parade on Sunday, opting instead for a Muskoka weekend with his family. And just as they promised, rainbow-wearing revellers cared not as they packed the downtown core to celebrate under sunny skies and in the stifling heat for this year’s four-and-a-half-hour, squirt-gun-soaked festivities. But even though Ford’s absence didn’t do a thing to dampen the raucous atmosphere at Pride—of course, nobody thought Ford should be there because of his party tricks—we think the fact that city’s mayor didn’t attend the annual event for the first time since 1994 is still a troubling break from tradition.

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