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Mayor Rob Ford says his administration has done a “fantastic job†in 2011.

From the Toronto Sun:

Mayor Rob Ford says his administration has done a “fantastic job†in 2011.

“Personally, I think I’ve done very, very well,†Ford told the Sun Thursday in a year-end interview. “I’ve campaigned on a lot of issues and I’ve done, I’d say, approximately 70% of what we campaigned on.â€

“I think we’ve done a fantastic job in the first year, when everyone said you aren’t going to win a vote, you aren’t going to get anything done, well I proved them wrong,†he added.

While Ford calls it a good year, he’s been under fire countless times in 2011 and is facing a looming showdown with labour in 2012.

The mayor’s rivals on council have decried his agenda as one that makes the city worse, dismantles services residents treasure and Councillor Adam Vaughan has even called Ford’s 2012 draft budget a “war on children.â€

Just a year into his administration, Ford has been the subject of countless protests and he’s already had to stomach pushback from some councillors on his executive committee.

Toronto residents saw Ford repeatedly step into controversy ranging from when he and his brother Councillor Doug Ford raised and then sank a controversial bid to strip the Port Lands from Waterfront Toronto’s control to his refusal to march in the Pride parade or take part in any event from the week-long festival.

Even while driving Ford courted controversy.

He was repeatedly caught using his cellphone while driving, including one incident where another driver claimed Ford gave her and her daughter the middle finger when she honked at him to stop dialing while driving.

After the cellphone incidents, Ford changed his personalized licence plates. His cancelled ROB FORD vanity licence plate now hangs outside his office door.

But sitting in his office this Thursday morning in December, Ford trumpets his accomplishments in year one.

He points to killing the $60 car tax, a 0% property tax increase in 2011, cutting councillors’ office budget expenses, contracting out more of Toronto’s trash collection and removing the board of directors of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation after a scathing report from the city’s auditor general.

“The car tax was huge, it effected a lot of people, the first council meeting (we) got rid of it,†Ford said.

During public consultation on Ford’s proposed 2012 budget, the two almost 24-hour long executive committee meetings debating cuts and at Wednesday’s TTC meeting, hundreds of people have lambasted Ford and the rest of council for cutting the car tax and eliminating a revenue source for the city. Several urged councillors to reinstate the tax they voted to scrap a year ago this week.

“Maybe you hear that, when I go out here, there and everywhere, I don’t hear that,†Ford said. “People come up to me and say, ‘Thank you very much and stay the course,’ and I hear it over and over and over.â€

“You’re always going to have your naysayers, the people that probably are saying that don’t own a car, never had to pay the tax in the first place,†he added.

As for the protesters - the hundreds that have come and the hundreds more likely to come in 2012 - Ford shrugs them off.

“It’s the same group of 400 or 500 … you’ve got these professional protesters, I call them, or paid protesters that come down here and try to stir it up,†he said.

“It’s the same group so I have 500 people against me in a cityof 2.5 million, I’m happy with those numbers. It’s a small minority making a lot of noise.â€
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The Emperor wears no clothes, sees what he wants to see.
 
He's his own worst PR machine, and truly delusional.
 
k10ery said:
^There's no doubt Toronto voters were angry about the strike, so they elected someone to slap the unions around. Makes perfect sense. Whether Ford can deliver lower labour costs or not, he is certainly going to slap the unions around..
Click to expand...

In spite of his size, Frod does not have the clout or capacity for tough negotiations with the unions.
 
Rob Ford is as delusional as the man who just recently passed away..

And in my lifetime it would by far go:

Best: Miller
Worst: Ford

Funny thing is I'm not even a "lefty", I'm just going by how much good and bad each did for the city.
 
Press Release from Toronto Paramedic Association:

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TORONTO, Dec. 18, 2011 /CNW/ - CUPE Local 416 has offered the City of Toronto an "essential service agreement" which will keep 100% of the city's Paramedics and their support staff at work.

The union's only provision is to allow the Paramedics the ability to go to a fair arbitration system - the same as Police, Fire and TTC.

The City of Toronto flatly turned us down and is now taking us to the OLRB, trying to strip us of our right to strike with no fair and reasonable exchange of arbitration.

The Paramedics are outraged that the city is taking this draconian approach to the collective bargaining process.

"Paramedics demand to know why the City of Toronto wants to treat them differently than Police, Fire and TTC, who are all essential services with arbitration" states Roberta Scott the former P.R. Director of the Toronto Paramedic Association and one of the Paramedics who has been pushing this issue for years, both with the City and the Province.

When she was the P.R. Director of the Toronto Paramedics Association Roberta asked candidate Rob Ford about essential service live on the CP 24 Mayoral debate in Oct 2010.

His answer:

"I believe they should be an essential service. And I want to assure them that when I'm Mayor, we will make it an essential service"

Mayor Ford went on to say:

"And if they're going to make a bit more money for doing it - I have never had a person come up and say, "Rob, I object to paying Paramedics, Firefighter, or Police more money" This is where the money should be spent, and I have no problem paying our Officers, or our Firefighters or our Paramedics good money to do a job."
"I don't want people like Roberta, feeling, you know, this uncertainty. And I want to assure her that when I'm Mayor. We will make it an essential service. And we will guarantee to have the best service possible"

Toronto Paramedics are asking the mayor to live up to his promise and for the City of Toronto to give us the same recognition and respect that the other emergency services have as an essential service, including arbitration.

Toronto Paramedics are among the most highly skilled and trained Paramedics in North America.
We work daily under conditions of extreme stress and often in situations of high risk to our own health and safety.
We take tremendous pride in our role as dedicated health care professionals who practice life saving skills everyday to treat patients experiencing a wide variety of medical emergencies and life threatening situations.

All we are asking the city for is fair and reasonable treatment in the ESA process:
To be given the recognition of a true essential service - like police, fire and TTC - with a fair arbitration system.

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The city's approach is truly a slap in the face to every one in the department. We already consistently get the short end of the stick. Without arbitration, the city can stall indefinetly, paramedics in BC are going on two years without a contract because they lack an arbitration process.
 
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