[nfitz]

Which suburbs? Sounds like he was appealing to those living in 905, who are inconvenienced driving into downtown. Perhaps someone should tell him that they don't get to vote. Mind you, perhaps someone should tell him that the only Transit City line he doesn't want to cancel, is the only one the City of Toronto is providing any funding for!

 

[kettal]

1. Rip out bike lanes on busy roads and make biking less safe
2. Many people don't feel safe on these roads, so the number of people cycling decreases
3. Therefore the number of cycling deaths/injuries decreases
4. Therefore cycling is now more safe

Genius!

Hmmm, Globe and Mail forgot to include this:

"But the avid cyclist — who once rode 1,900 km to raise money for charity — isn’t siding with the car in the city’s road war. In fact, he pledged to expedite building more bike lanes, but on quieter streets."

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/01/21/12564911.html

Also, I should say that any candidates putting forth real ideas get my respect. So far we've only got vague rhetoric from the othes.

 

[GraphicMatt]

Rossi has shown himself to be a complete opportunist - desperate to define himself as some kind of anti-Miller. These aren't ideas - they're just reactionary drivel from someone who has decided he can win an election by claiming he'll do the opposite of what his predecessor was doing.

I don't think this will work, thankfully. Partially because I think Miller would have won again had he decided to run.

 

[js97]

Hmmm, Globe and Mail forgot to include this:

"But the avid cyclist — who once rode 1,900 km to raise money for charity — isn’t siding with the car in the city’s road war. In fact, he pledged to expedite building more bike lanes, but on quieter streets."

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/01/21/12564911.html

Also, I should say that any candidates putting forth real ideas get my respect. So far we've only got vague rhetoric from the othes.

You know what? I think Kettal is the only one that has the actually facts. Journalism students, take note, this is how you misrepresent a candidate, whether intentionally, or not.
He said he'll take out bike lanes from MAJOR streets and REPLACE them on Parallel/QUIETER streets. Am i the only one that sees the logic in this?

and he's NOT stoping transitng, he's REVIEWING it. Last time I checked, we where short 400 million to buy those new trains from bombadier .... where do you think that money is coming from? 're-allocated TTC funds'? it's all mish/mash accounting.... the tax payers will get stuck with the bill.

 

[js97]

Rossi has shown himself to be a complete opportunist - desperate to define himself as some kind of anti-Miller. These aren't ideas - they're just reactionary drivel from someone who has decided he can win an election by claiming he'll do the opposite of what his predecessor was doing.

I don't think this will work, thankfully. Partially because I think Miller would have won again had he decided to run.

Thank god that mr miller is not in.

for those miller supporters,

how do you think we should deal with the fiscal debt? raise property taxes even more?

 

[khris]

Wow, this Rossi guy should definitely comes off as anti-transit.
Get rid of bicycle lanes, and review new transit. Wow. If I lived in Toronto, I would definitely not vote for him.

 

[GenerationW]

Rossi has shown himself to be a complete opportunist - desperate to define himself as some kind of anti-Miller. These aren't ideas - they're just reactionary drivel from someone who has decided he can win an election by claiming he'll do the opposite of what his predecessor was doing.

I don't think this will work, thankfully. Partially because I think Miller would have won again had he decided to run.

Miller would be in tough against any viable candidate. The anger from the garbage strike is still out there, and it's not just from the right.

Rossi, a relative unknown, is smart to play to that anger in an attempt to build a higher profile. Time will tell if it works.

 

[GraphicMatt]

Thank god that mr miller is not in.

for those miller supporters,

how do you think we should deal with the fiscal debt? raise property taxes even more?

Yes, absolutely. Any candidate who tells you they're not going to raise property taxes will have a destructive effect on this city. Nobody likes taxes, but they're necessary.

Miller would be in tough against any viable candidate. The anger from the garbage strike is still out there, and it's not just from the right.

Rossi, a relative unknown, is smart to play to that anger in an attempt to build a higher profile. Time will tell if it works.

I think Miller would have had a tough fight versus Tory, but Tory's out. Miller vs. the current field would have made for a victory for the incumbent, in my estimation. His team never even really tried to spin the results of the garbage strike to his benefit and, either way, I don't think that will be the issue/event that defines this election.

 

[Archivist]

Any "review" of transit city, given the dynamics of agreements and funding from other levels of government, amount to flushing millions of dollars down the toilet. Rossi himself admits that the "review" is really designed to cancel the project, since he's already stated that his "review" is a moratorium. That's not only the federal and provincial cash gone - all gone - it's every hour that every person put into the plans for Transit City. It's all lost, over, meaningless. A "review" of transit city, even if we were generous and assumed what he means is deciding on other approaches to transit, means that nothing happens on the transit front for an additional decade. Imagine a Toronto in 2020, with an additional one million extra people scattered across the CMA, with nothing new on the transit front save the York University extension and the Sheppard LRT. If that's your goal, vote for this demagogue.

 

[SimonP]

What a horrible set of policies. If the only two major candidates end up being Smitherman and Rossi, I now know who I would vote for. They are anti-transit, anti-bikes, and anti-environment, but unfortunately there is an interest in this sort of stuff in some parts of town. What I did find really interesting in the Globe article was this quote:

"Mr. Rossi's suggestion that he would freeze all new transit projects until he has reviewed the city budget would not only put countless constructions jobs at risk, it reflects a troubling lack of understanding of the city's finances," a senior member of George Smitherman's campaign said. "These projects are funded almost entirely by the province, sometimes with federal help." Mr. Smitherman, the former deputy premier, is the race's early front-runner.

It's interesting to see Smitherman come out in favour of Transit City, if indirectly. Even with the previous support of the province, he too could have come out against it.

 

[TonyV]

A Rossi win would "tank" Toronto

A huge note of thanks to Mr. Rossi for clarifying his positions. He is now officially the "old fart" candidate. Now we can have a field day with him.

The election has been defined. It will be a car-centric vs. urban-values election. I definitely get the feeling that we are going to find out just how "urban" or "suburban" Toronto really is.

Rossi sucks. His policies would increase congestion, not decrease it. We'll lose investment with Rossi's policies.

I am all in favour of opening and examining the city's books, getting private-sector input on TTC, outsourcing services, etc., but we can't afford not to build transit. That's city-suicide. Rossi would savage the TTC, and cut routes, and encourage more cars ... I know his type. Toronto's choking on cars already.

Prediction: he'll come in second, with a large suburban vote. No city-building on his agenda at all.

 

[Archivist]

Here's what someone should put onto YouTube. "Image of a planning document, ca. 1930, showing a Queen Subway, fade to another image, ca. 1975, of an extended subway system for Toronto, fade to another image, ca. 1987, another transit plan, gradually pan to a shelf after shelf of studies, reports, commissions, (perhaps from the Urban Affairs library at City Hall)." Text: Reviews. In the last 30 years, the City of Toronto has built more feet of review of transit, than they have built of transit itself. Shelves and shelves of reviews of transit, plans, funding arrangements, more plans and more reviews. Bureaucrats in meetings. Announcements. Press Releases. Changes and more reviews. Now Mr. Rossi is campaigning on a transit moratorium. He wants to have more transit reviews, more studies, and is placing funding arrangements for Toronto transit under threat.

Toronto wants transit, not reviews. Shovels, not reviews.

 

[js97]

A huge note of thanks to Mr. Rossi for clarifying his positions. He is now officially the "old fart" candidate. Now we can have a field day with him.

The election has been defined. It will be a car-centric vs. urban-values election. I definitely get the feeling that we are going to find out just how "urban" or "suburban" Toronto really is.

Rossi sucks. His policies would increase congestion, not decrease it. We'll lose investment with Rossi's policies.

I am all in favour of opening and examining the city's books, getting private-sector input on TTC, outsourcing services, etc., but we can't afford not to build transit. That's city-suicide. Rossi would savage the TTC, and cut routes, and encourage more cars ... I know his type. Toronto's choking on cars already.

Prediction: he'll come in second, with a large suburban vote. No city-building on his agenda at all.

That's a little presumptuous no? the doomsday scenario? and just as a sidenote... Has miller built ANY transit in his 8 year term? (lots' of plans, soundbytes, ideas...)

I'm all for transit, I live in the heart of the city. I was at his speach at the empire club, and I can tell you that article completely misrepresented what he was trying to say.


p.s. yes raise taxes... unfortunately, most people miss the point that raising property taxes affects the middle class the most. My friend told me once he could care less that someone has to pay an extra grand on their multi-million dollar home. And he's right, those homeowners could care less either. It's the families in the middle class neighbouhoods that get affected the most. The tax increase is a larger portion of their income than to the CEOs in forest hill.

What will end up is with only the affluent affording homes in the city... with a few token 'affordable housing' complexes scattered across the city. I.E. Manhattan? perhaps this is the ultimate goal?

 

[SimonP]

p.s. yes raise taxes... unfortunately, most people miss the point that raising property taxes affects the middle class the most. My friend told me once he could care less that someone has to pay an extra grand on their multi-million dollar home. And he's right, those homeowners could care less either. It's the families in the middle class neighbouhoods that get affected the most. The tax increase is a larger portion of their income than to the CEOs in forest hill.

What will end up is with only the affluent affording homes in the city... with a few token 'affordable housing' complexes scattered across the city. I.E. Manhattan? perhaps this is the ultimate goal?

You are correct that property taxes are regressive, but let us know what Rossi's solution is. Will he support municipal sales or income taxes? Or is he proposing massive cuts to city services? The best solution is, of course, for the city to get more money from the province and feds. That is not a strategy that can be depended upon, and Rossi is far from the most likely candidate to get such a deal. Rossi even seems to be going in the complete opposite direction as he is calling to cancel transit plans that are fully funded by the province.

 

[SimonP]

What will end up is with only the affluent affording homes in the city... with a few token 'affordable housing' complexes scattered across the city. I.E. Manhattan? perhaps this is the ultimate goal?

Also, that is ridiculous hyperbole when the taxes a Toronto homeowner pays are still by far the lowest in the GTA.