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(Image: Matt Elliot)
Last week, Rob Ford’s refusal to outline financing plans for his Sheppard subway scheme had councillors complaining and Josh Colle requesting a pie graph. Today, in a recap of all the transit tomfoolery, blogger Matt Elliott delivers this imagined version of what that pie chart might have looked like. We’d say Elliott has done a fine job capturing the mayor’s point of view—maybe Ford could have used his skills before the big vote. Read the entire story [Ford for Toronto] »
(Image: Christopher Drost)
Though Rob Ford did everything he could think of (short of making a pie chart, at least), his dream of a Sheppard subway extension finally died yesterday afternoon when city council voted in favour of a light rail line. After a brief sulk, Ford came out as pugnacious as ever, vowing “the campaign starts now and I’m willing to take anyone on, streetcars against subways in the next election.” Fine, but how will the mayor manage for the more than two years to go before then? We rounded up what the pundits think about the circus transit vote, and what it means for the mayor.
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In the end, the death of Mayor Ford‘s subway promise was both fast and inevitable. So too was its adaptation into the Downfall meme. If his Fordship can boast about achieving one thing this week, it’s appearing in a list that includes: Xbox Live, Sarah Palin and Taylor Swift.
(Image: Christopher Drost)
After months of debate and some memorable hissy fits from Rob Ford, city council has voted 24-19 in favour of an LRT line on Sheppard, officially killing Ford’s dream (and campaign promise) of a subway to Scarborough. After the vote, the mayor didn’t stick around to hear the applause and bravos, instead charging “into his office in a flying wedge of aides,” according to the Globe and Mail’s Marcus Gee (geez, you’d think Ford would be used to embarrassing transit losses by now). We’re sure the mayor won’t be silent for long, though—he vowed during the debate that, win or lose, “this will be a big election issue.” We’re sure we’ll hear all about it during his radio show this week. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »
(Image: Christopher Drost)
Some last-minute stalling by Rob Ford and company yesterday meant council broke for the evening before killing Ford’s subway forever voting on transit for Sheppard Avenue. Despite its anticlimactic end, the day’s 10-plus hours of council hijinks was exciting stuff (enough to set Jonathan Goldsbie bouncing, at least). Raymond Cho questioned Doug Ford’s grasp of the English language, Giorgio Mammoliti promised crazy stunts to block an LRT on Finch, and we witnessed the bizarre spectacle of council’s right-wing begging for new taxes while the centre and left politely declined. Today, this always-exciting, often-embarrassing saga should (finally) reach its dramatic conclusion. Stay tuned. Read the entire live blog [Torontoist] »
A streetcar on St. Clair long before all this "disaster" business (Image: Toronto History)
For months, Rob Ford has been characterizing LRTs as streetcars and characterizing streetcars—like the one on St. Clair—as neighbourhood-destroying trolleys of doom. Dubious, the Toronto Star dispatched a few of its bravest reporters to the area, who found trendy condos and stylish restaurants rather than a neighbourhood gone bad. As for the right-of-way’s impact on local traffic, a morning drive along St. Clair from Gunns Loop to Yonge took a mere 20 minutes, and the same trip by streetcar, only 29 minutes. To be sure, commute times change depending on the time of day, and not all St. Clair residents support the right-of-way. But calling St. Clair a “disaster” seems somewhat far-fetched—not that a wee fib now and then has bothered the mayor before. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »
(Image: Christopher Drost)
As city council heads into the big Sheppard transit vote, we bring you some final evidence that Rob Ford has lost control of his allies on the transit file. Scarborough’s Ron Moeser—whom Ford claimed on Monday was “100 per cent” in the subway camp—sent an email yesterday to his colleagues on council expressing support for an LRT. (Karen Stintz helpfully posted the whole thing on her website.) Meanwhile, members of Ford’s inner circle, including budget chair Mike Del Grande, will submit a proposal to use new taxes or levies to fund the subway at the meeting today, whether or not they have Ford’s backing. Our guess is they don’t—at a pro-subway meeting last night, Ford said, “You’re either with us or against us, there is no in-between.” Read the entire story [National Post] »
(Image: Christopher Drost)
–Councillor Josh Colle, describing the kind of subway funding information he’d like from Rob Ford before tomorrow’s council vote on Sheppard Avenue transit. If Ford loses (and it looks like he will), he can’t credibly claim that council had unreasonable expectations—on the pro-light rail side we have a panel of experts with numbers and facts, and all Colle wants from the mayor is a measly pie chart. [Toronto Star]
(Image: Christopher Drost)
Only a day until the meeting that will determine Sheppard Avenue’s transit future, and councillors with crucial swing votes are still asking Rob Ford to clarify financing plans for his darling subway. Centrist Josh Colle said “it’s in the mayor’s court” to outline revenue tools, and Gloria Lindsay Luby, a conservative councillor who might vote with the mayor if Doug would only shut his trap, says she suggested a referendum on increasing property taxes to pay for transit, but hasn’t heard back from the mayor’s office. Apparently, Ford’s camp has been busy with other, more important matters—specifically, handing out out flyers emblazoned with colour pictures of light-rail crashes. Because nothing raises the tenor of a political discussion like disaster porn. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »
(Image: West Annex News)
Fed up with know-it-all panels with their “data” and “facts,” Rob Ford has pledged to block the construction of an LRT on Sheppard Avenue if he loses a crucial council vote on Wednesday (which is looking likely). “If we don’t get the subway…we’re not going to waste people’s money and build an LRT,” Ford said on his radio show yesterday. The sour grapes logic suggests Ford is running out of time and options since experts (and more experts) have nixed his subway plan and council has indicated it supports LRT. We only hope the mayor won’t attempt a Tank Man manoeuvre. Read the entire story [Toronto Sun] »
When you actually look at the facts, instead of just dismissing everything as hogwash that you don’t agree with, LRT is the best solution in this corridor.
–Eric Miller, University of Toronto transit expert and member of Rob Ford’s most hated transit panel, with an unequivocal boost for light rail on Sheppard and a sideways jab at the mayor. Miller (who in the past has been diplomatic about Ford’s subway scheme) struck out at Ford for calling the group of experts “biased” and recommending that council ignore their findings. Miller went on, “The mayor recognizes that he can’t win this discussion on the basis of the facts, on the merits of the case, ’cause they aren’t there. So the strategy is then to sling mud and to denigrate the work of the panel.” [Metro Morning]
(Image: Christopher Drost)
Even after all his AstroTurfing and truth bending (or whatever you want to call this), things look bad for Rob Ford’s subway scheme. The expert transit panel appointed to examine options for Sheppard Avenue will—as expected—urge city council to chose light rail, according to some early reports. The experts gave low scores to the idea of a full subway line on Sheppard, but also to the proposal of a subway-LRT hybrid—which means even a compromise that includes subways is looking more and more unlikely. At a pro-subway demonstration at Sheppard and Victoria Park, Ford gave a version of his usual, mature response to subway obstacles, dismissing the panel as irrelevant and “biased,” though he hadn’t yet seen the report. That’s some sore loser behaviour from a guy who’s had weeks to get on the winning team. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »
(Image: Mike Beltzner)
Now that she’s done booting the mayor’s allies off the TTC board, Karen Stintz wants to close a flailing shell corporation created to further Rob Ford’s subway scheme. Last year, Ford and Co. revived an inactive TTC subsidiary, renamed it Toronto Transit Infrastructure Ltd. and quickly burned through the $161,000 it had in the bank on legal fees, research and a salary for Ford’s Sheppard subway guru, Gordon Chong (who hasn’t been paid since July). The corporation had to beg the city to pay for a KPMG analysis it had commissioned and ask the mayor’s office to compensate Chong’s researcher—which made up a sizable chunk of Ford’s total expenses last year. At first glance, Stintz’s plan to kill the TTIL is another sign she’s through playing nice with the mayor. But isn’t she just following Ford’s playbook by thinking like a business owner and getting rid of the waste? Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation wants to open a big ol’ casino in the GTA, which it says will create jobs and spark private investment (and, if Doug Ford has his way, help fund a Sheppard subway). According to OLG chair, Paul Godfrey, the ”world-class gaming centre” could pour billions into the province’s coffers and attract scores of tourists. Not true, says the Toronto Star’s Royson James, who thinks casinos are just a fancy way to take money from the poor and vulnerable to fund services that the middle-class refuse to pay for. Downtown councillors like Adam Vaughan have already shown they’ll fight plans to put a casino in their wards, while the two Dougs (Ford and Holyday) are focused on the potential windfall. We’re bracing for another protracted fight down at city hall—and we might, in the spirit of the matter, place a wager on the outcome. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »
(Image: Mike Beltzner)
TTC chair and reality TV star Karen Stintz may have handed Rob Ford a pair of decisive political defeats, but she continues to maintain she has no plans to steal his job. In a profile in Saturday’s Globe and Mail that contains, among other things, details of her piano lessons and dog-walking regime, Stintz even offers the mayor some re-election advice. Ford can win again, she says, if he sticks closely to his mandate (think barebones fiscal conservatism, not tantrum throwing and subway building). Stintz also manages a near compliment for Ford, saying, “As difficult as these issues have been, I still fully respect the Office of the Mayor.” We’re just wondering if she’d respect it even more if she were in it. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »
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