Admiral Beez
Superstar
That’s my vote. Tory for mayor third term. What’s he going to do otherwise, return to radio hosting? He‘ll want to see us past Covid.
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- Thread starter King of Kensington
- Start date
King of Kensington
Senior Member
Tory is very much a modern-day version of his mentor, Bill Davis.
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King of Kensington
Senior Member
Dropping a hint?
Admiral Beez
Superstar
So, Matlow what’s your plan?
ShonTron
Moderator
Yeah, apart from distinguishing his adequate, forgettable and occasionally regrettable mayoralty from the absolute flustercuck we had before him, there’s very little Tory can point to and say “that’s my legacy.” The Bentway? Please.
I don’t dislike him as much as I did during the first term –he finally started to use his political capital to get things like new permanent bike lanes and Yonge Street improvements approved, which he would have opposed in the 2014-2018 term. Being mayor during a pandemic can’t be fun, especially for a guy like Tory, who’s suddenly unable to hobnob at galas and such.
He’ll want the one extra term to enjoy the privileges of the office and have real stuff to point to — the Ontario Line and Scarborough extension well underway, a few major GO improvements completed that he can call “SmartTrack” and maybe one or two major public space improvements.
I don’t dislike him as much as I did during the first term –he finally started to use his political capital to get things like new permanent bike lanes and Yonge Street improvements approved, which he would have opposed in the 2014-2018 term. Being mayor during a pandemic can’t be fun, especially for a guy like Tory, who’s suddenly unable to hobnob at galas and such.
He’ll want the one extra term to enjoy the privileges of the office and have real stuff to point to — the Ontario Line and Scarborough extension well underway, a few major GO improvements completed that he can call “SmartTrack” and maybe one or two major public space improvements.
Admiral Beez
Superstar
What did the last two mayors before Tory accomplish? What's Ford's legacy? or Miller's?
Miller decided to quit before getting Transit City irrevocably underway, exposing it to cancelation by his successor and leaving Toronto with over a decade of delay on mass transit. I mostly remember Miller for is foisting giant waste rollie bins onto every home and giving us Fantino as police chief. Well, to be fair Miller's administration did give us the Regent Park redevelopment that has been good for my neighbourhood, so I'll give him that - though it's going to be over 20 years from ideation to completion. Ford will need to stick around if he wants his own Regent Park legacy.
Towered
Senior Member
Ford's legacy is chaos and upheaval for no reason. He did not accomplish a single positive thing.
Towered
Senior Member
Canceling the SSE to bring back the LRT!
Admiral Beez
Superstar
How about Lastman? Calling in the army for a snowstorm? Fear of being boiled alive in Africa?
What bar are we holding Tory up against exactly?
Oh god, I'll be dead before that change is completed and running. Can't we have political leaders just finish the projects underway when they took office?
Towered
Senior Member
It's a very low bar. I don't recall a truly dynamic mayor in my lifetime. Eggelton seemed to be around forever, but I can't think of a single thing he accomplised.
My parents regularly trashed Sewell as a downtown pinko socialist, but he was before my time.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
King of Kensington
Senior Member
Has Tory made inroads with "Jennifer Keesmaat Liberals"?
christiesplits
Senior Member
Brad Bradford is a good example. Keesmaat initially endorsed him (he was a former staffer) until her campaign fizzled and he jumped on the Tory train, gaining his endorsement and campaign resources to eke out a council win. Bradford has spearheaded some good projects in Beaches East York, but has also been a Tory loyalist in council, including voting against opening the books on the Gardiner rebuild and against reopening the Scarborough subway debates (I hope he returned his urban planner card afterwards).
I think a lot of liberal/centrist types find Tory inoffensive, and a return to stability after the Mayor Ford fiasco. How a high society Bay Street insider is a "breath of fresh air" is beyond me, but it got him over 60% of the vote in 2018. Even the Toronto Star endorsed him.
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Northern Light
Superstar
Lets be fair; Brad is the most pro-intensification member of Council; and is pushing increased density in his own ward (mine); he hard pushed the Danforth bike lane through; he himself, bikes everywhere.
Aside from being politically astute; Brad is a pragmatist who doesn't want to waste time voting for things that won't pass/change anything.
I don't mean to come off as his blind defender, we aren't close/personal friends.
I don't agree with every vote/choice he's made either.
But I have had a few chats w/him; I find him incredibly frank which I quite like.
I also think, on balance, he walks the walk in terms of actually doing things much better than many of his nominally more progressive peers.
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Note that he also just got Council to vote in favour extending the Danforth bike lane to Victoria Park as well. In doing so, he jumped ahead of the Cycling dept, which is scrambling to find a way to make it happen.
King of Kensington
Senior Member
Yup, Tory has broken the core/suburb juggernaut. He's got the trust of suburban conservatives but also the support of a lot of centrist Liberals downtown. He appeals to people who like competent technocrats.