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Karen Stintz calls for transit sanity; Giorgio Mammoliti calls for the opposite (i.e. a Finch subway)

Early reports from city hall suggest Rob Ford and the rest of council are in for a transit-themed slugfest at today’s special council meeting. Karen Stintz, who started the whole brouhaha when she said what everyone already knew about Ford’s grand vision to bury the Eglinton Crosstown, has already made her recommendations. In short, she wants council to reaffirm its support for LRT lines on Finch and Eglinton, convert the Scarborough RT to an LRT line with an extension to the Malvern Town Centre (as funds become available) and establish an expert advisory panel regarding transit on Sheppard Avenue. Meanwhile, Giorgio Mammoliti—and only Giorgio Mammoliti—wants a subway on Finch. Watch the proceedings live here »

(Images: Karen Stintz, Mike Beltzner; Giorgio Mammoliti, Christopher Drost)

The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

February 8, 2012 | 11:05 am

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Sue-Ann Levy scores an early BINGO on her Transit City scorecard

(Image: Matt Elliott)

Too bad Matt Elliott’s Transit City bingo card doesn’t include a cash prize—because Toronto Sun columnist Sue-Ann Levy would’ve claimed it before the game even really started. In the pages of the paper this morning, Levy’s recycling of Rob Ford’s tried-and-true talking points scored her an easy B-I-N-G-O along the top row, and council’s special session on the city’s transit plan hadn’t even yet begun. Of course, given the rancorous debate on the issue so far, we’re sure Levy won’t be the only winner today. Read the entire story [Toronto Sun] »

The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

February 7, 2012 | 2:25 pm

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B-I-N-G-O! Seriously, check out this awesome Transit City bingo card

(Image: Matt Elliott)

In their hasty attempts to defend Rob Ford’s transit plan despite mounting opposition, the mayor and his supporters have (rather dogmatically) relied on a trusty set of talking points to do their heavy lifting for them. In a bid to show just how tired Ford and Co.’s anti–Transit City arguments really are—that light rail will be a repeat of the St. Clair streetcar screw-up, that Ford was elected with a mandate to build subways and that Scarborough is getting shafted—city hall blogger Matt Elliott created “Transit City Opposition Bingo” (yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like). Tune in to tomorrow’s special council meeting—or just grab the nearest copy of the Toronto Sun—and see how long it takes to win! Read the entire story [Ford for Toronto] »

The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

February 7, 2012 | 1:10 pm

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Will some councillors vote for Rob Ford’s transit plan at their own ward’s expense?

(Image: Christopher Drost)

Rob Ford will likely endure another public defeat at a special council meeting tomorrow, this time over his beloved Sheppard subway, the Eglinton LRT and the potential return to a transit plan much like supposedly dead-in-the-water Transit City. Of course, it’s not the least bit surprising that Ford is unwilling to make nice with TTC chair Karen Stintz, who’s leading the campaign against Ford’s own transit plan, on this. We know the mayor doesn’t like compromising, even if the alternative is losing a vote at council. What is rather surprising, though, is some councillors appear willing to support Ford’s plan at the expense of the wellbeing of their own wards. As municipal blogger Matt Elliott writes, Vincent Crisanti and Giorgio Mammoliti are poised to stand with the mayor even though that would be tantamount to robbing their constituents of expanded transit. Crisanti sides with Ford on almost every issue, while Mammoliti is big on subways and wants one for Finch Avenue. That means either he’s willing to sacrifice his own ward just to oppose Stintz, he’s uninformed of the financial and logistical considerations involved in building a subway, or Ford has made him a ridiculous offer to maintain his allegiance. Given that we’re talking about Hot Wheels here, we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s all three. Read the entire story [Ford for Toronto] »

The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

February 7, 2012 | 12:15 pm

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Marcus Gee wants Metrolinx to endorse a transit plan (for crying out loud!)

After enduring a crummy PowerPoint presentation from Metrolinx, apparently, city columnist Marcus Gee is a little cranky. In the pages of Globe and Mail, Gee argues that what the city needs to solve its transit problem is a nonpolitical agency to tell city council, the province and the citizenry what to do. Of course, such an agency exists: it’s Metrolinx. As Gee points out, Metrolinx was established to provide oversight and guidance—some might even say leadership—on regional transportation planning. Curiously, though, the organization has remained mostly on the sidelines while Rob Ford and Toronto council duke it out for transit supremacy (heck, even Nick Kouvalis is in on the action). Instead of choosing a side, or, you know, settling the dispute, Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig invited journalists to attend a presentation designed to “provide information” and “restate principles.” In other words, to bear witness as Metrolinx continues to waffle. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »

The Informer

Political Whoas

February 6, 2012 | 5:15 pm

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City hall and CUPE come to an agreement, avoid a work stoppage and live happily ever after (only not really)

(Image: Christopher Drost)

Following months of public bickering, negotiating through the media and much sabre rattling, the discussions between CUPE Local 416 and the city, which everybody expected to result in a work stoppage, are over. The details of the agreement have yet to be released, but both Doug Holyday and Rob Ford are heralding the deal as a victory for the taxpayer. And given union president Mark Ferguson’s defeatist language in the wake of the all-night bargaining session, it seems that in the end the city did come out on top.

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The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

February 6, 2012 | 12:15 pm

2 Comments

Local experts blast Rob Ford’s transit plan, turning his government-as-business rhetoric against him

(Image: Christopher Drost)

Just in case the mayor is feeling a little too confident after city hall’s victory over CUPE 416 in the recent labour negotiations, a group of over 100 planning experts, academics and other civic leaders issued a letter denouncing the current state of transit planning in the city. The letter challenges Rob Ford’s steadfast commitment to burying the Eglinton LRT and calls for it to be built partially above ground, as well as for a form of “higher-order” transit on Finch West and Sheppard East and the conversion of the Scarborough RT line to light rail.

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The Informer

Political Whoas

February 3, 2012 | 5:30 pm

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Shrewd move by provincial Liberals puts John Tory in charge of Ontario Place revitalization

The Cinesphere is one of the facilities now shut down (Image: Loozrboy)

Earlier this week, the provincial government shut down Ontario Place to make way for a major redevelopment of the entertainment park in time for Canada’s sesquicentennial in 2017. More interesting that the redevelopment, though, is Dalton McGuinty’s government’s choice to have former Progressive Conservative leader John Tory captain it. By all accounts, it’s a deft political manoeuvre—one that effectively limits the scope of criticism for whatever plan the Liberals decide to implement. Still, Tory will be fighting a tough fight. Ontario Place’s attendance numbers are low, the space is expensive to keep open, and the draw has been largely uninspiring for years. While it’s tempting to celebrate revitalization plans, that’s probably not the Liberals’ real agenda. As the Toronto Star’s Martin Regg Cohn suggests, McGuinty is likely more concerned with shutting down a site that costs $20 million a year. In other words, the government is cutting costs and wrapping that in nice political packaging. Read the entire story [Torontoist] »

The Informer

Ford Focus

February 3, 2012 | 11:05 am

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Millionaires Doug and Rob Ford are “dead against” city councillors getting any kind of pay increase

(Image: Christopher Drost)

Doug Ford says he and the mayor won’t be accepting a pay raise in 2012, ostensibly an act of selfless devotion to protecting the public purse—or, you know, another self-promotional stunt by a wealthy businessman. Technically, the minor pay hike is actually a cost-of-living increase, but Doug told the Toronto Sun he couldn’t wait to see which of his colleagues rides the gravy train all the same. Of course, Ford already donates his salary to charity (a solid gesture, no doubt). But we still find it a little rich for a pair of millionaires to be taking a stand over what’s essentially pennies to them. Read the entire story [Toronto Sun] »

The Informer

From the Print Edition

February 3, 2012 | 8:05 am

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Jan Wong: Why aren’t schools teaching kids about the pleasures and perils of sex?

The answer is simple: our curriculum is shamefully outdated, and the Liberals are too scared to fix it
By Jan Wong | Illustration by Jesse Lefkowitz

Adam and Eve nibble an apple from the Tree of Knowledge and suddenly realize they’re both naked. Unfortunately, sex ed isn’t part of God’s plan, and He evicts them from the Garden of Eden. These days, some folks in Toronto are acting quite God-like themselves, insisting that the next generation live in innocence and ignorance. Heaven forbid our youth get to know themselves in the Biblical sense.

Our public schools are under attack by an evangelical Christian organization called the Institute for Canadian Values, whose leaders believe, as a basic ideological tenet, that teaching up-to-date sex education in schools will corrupt and confuse our children. The institute is run by a man named Charles McVety, who is quite skilled at getting media attention. Shamefully, most journalists have checked their brains at the door, blandly covering the institute’s actions and claims without questioning their legitimacy or standing up against the influence of the church on the state.

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The Informer

City Sindex

February 2, 2012 | 11:22 am

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Both brothers Ford end up on the integrity commissioner’s bad side

Like blonde hair, an obsession with football and a love for public weight loss campaigns, it appears the ability to piss off Janet Leiper, the city’s integrity commissioner, runs in the Ford family. A pair of reports has emerged from the commissioner’s office reprimanding both Mayor Rob and Councillor Doug for their sundry misbehaviour. First, there’s the mayor, who, as a councillor, accepted donations to his personal charity from lobbyists. And although council ordered Ford to repay the donors, all he has provided is letters from three of those lobbyists who don’t want to be reimbursed. Leiper says Ford’s stubbornness could constitute a violation of the Lobbyist Code of Conduct. Meanwhile, a complaint filed by activist Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler is keeping Doug Ford busy. After a run-in at city hall, Freudenthaler filed a complaint alleging the councillor threatened him. The councillor called the complaint—and the integrity commissioner’s call for an apology—“a bunch of horseshit” and said the activist is “a little prick.” During the exchange, Doug reportedly told Chaleff-Freudenthaler that “what goes around comes around,” a comment he has now gone to fantastically awkward lengths to explain. Doug’s comments have received more and flashier coverage than Rob’s alleged missteps, but the stories suggest a mutual failure from the brothers to recognize that their actions can have consequences. Or, to put it another way, that what goes around comes around. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

The Informer

Political Whoas

January 31, 2012 | 3:30 pm

6 Comments

City issues preemptive explanation for a lockout: CUPE made us do it

Despite the February 5 deadline for an agreement in the labour negotiations between the city and CUPE Local 416, Doug Holyday promises city hall won’t lock out workers when the clock strikes midnight. That’s reassuring news for anyone who enjoys garbage collection and pickup hockey; however, the promise comes with a caveat. The Globe and Mail reports: “Holyday did not rule out a possible lockout beyond February 5, but suggested the city would only take the measure if provoked.” So what we really have here is a small commitment from the city—no weekend lockout—nicely packaged in some clever PR. By suggesting they’ll only lock out workers if provoked, the city has issued a preemptive explanation for a labour stoppage to citizens: CUPE forced our hand. We have to hand it to Holyday and Co. on this one. They’re doing a shrewd job of maintaining the upper hand. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »

The Informer

Ford Focus

January 31, 2012 | 1:30 pm

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Rob Ford’s powers as mayor may not be as grand as he thinks they are

Mayor Rob Ford (Image: City of Toronto)

With Rob Ford’s transit plans poised to grind to a rather embarrassing halt after a local law firm, solicited by Councillor Joe Mihevc, argued that the mayor legally lacked the power to unilaterally kill Transit City, the city hall press corps is pontificating about what, exactly, the powers of the mayor’s office are. (Of course, it probably would’ve been better to explore the limit of those powers before Ford went ahead and cancelled the multi-billion-dollar transit plan.) While Ford maintains he acted within his rights, based on a perceived mandate from voters to build subways, most reports are suggesting otherwise.

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The Informer

Political Whoas

January 30, 2012 | 5:45 pm

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Mike Del Grande jokes about millions of dollars just for a few LOLs

The budget chief, perhaps pondering making another funny (Image: Christopher Drost)

Last week, silver-tongued Mike Del Grande asked the executive committee to redirect $16.4 million in funding from Regent Park to another project. Naturally, councillors like Pam McConnell, the representative for Regent Park, were pissed. As the Toronto Sun reports, the lefties at city hall argued that the move was tantamount to firing a torpedo into Regent Park. And, according to Del Grande, therein lies the joke. That’s right—the joke. Apparently, the budget chief wanted to get council’s left riled up and “give them a taste of their own game playing.” He told NewsTalk 1010 this morning that “it was kind of humorous to see their heads explode.” Since Del Grande is such a barrel of laughs, we thought he might find this funny too: city staff will now be wasting taxpayer dollars preparing a report based on his fake request. Read the entire story [Toronto Sun] »

The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

January 30, 2012 | 4:15 pm

1 Comment

Why hasn’t Metrolinx conducted a benefit case analysis for the most expensive transit project in the country?

Here’s a bit of underreported news, courtesy of the folks over at Spacing: while Metrolinx usually conducts benefit case analyses on major projects, there’s been no such scrutiny of the Eglinton LRT, which is, um, a pretty major project (as in $8.2 billion major). John Lorinc writes that this means no comparison between the originally planned LRT and Ford’s wonky alternative has been completed; no study of what happens if ridership climbs faster than expected is underway; and no test of the mayor’s claim that a right-of-way on St. Clair Avenue saddled the area with crippling gridlock was conducted. Also, it turns out taxpayers from outside the 416 are actually the ones paying most of the fees to bury the LRT and keep the mayor happy—which is just the kind of disrespect for taxpayer dollars that we would expect to make Ford furious. But, hey, the mayor is building subways because, well, that’s what he says he was elected to do. Read the entire story [Spacing] »

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