[DSC]

McConnell will be reelected in October 2014, whereas Ford will be turfed by the voters. McConnell is a household name in my part of town.

Yes, she is a very engaged Councillor who is out at Ward events all the time and she has a great knowledge of her Ward and an ability to bring people together (not too like Frod) and she certainly deserves to be re-elected. She usually does a "Ward Tour" each June when she walks through an area (St Lawrence, Regent Park, Corktown etc) - they are a great way to learn about the history, the present and the future possibilities for neighbourhoods.

 

[ROFOMOFO]

For those who are attacking others for not knowing every member on council - I have to admit that the whole Rob Ford fiasco has taught me a heck of a lot about Toronto politics. I've always voted, but as for the day-to-day running of council? I've never really been interested. I now find myself watching sessions on my laptop and learning who runs which ward (other than my own). I read the paper every day, and have always known some councilors by name and reputation. But now, because of our buffoon of a mayor, and also with the collective knowledge of the good folks at UT, I've learned so much more. I mean really, when was the last time you were THIS excited about an upcoming mayoral debate?

Same for me, I live in Kitchener and pay pretty close attention to our local politics now ever since Blackberry started shedding jobs by the thousands. These decisions by our local council (Light Rail) could end up being a HUGE boondoggle.

Conversely I've always paid attention to Toronto politics because it's where I do most of my work and let's face it it's also the provinces largest economic engine, wither Toronto wither the province.

 

[themarc]

View attachment 24113

So he spends the time during deputations reading and intimidating other councillors, and now apparently he's going to fast track the process. Yup, he sure has respect for the taxpayer (by the by, Porter is asking for millions in subsidies, definitely more than they pay, so in this case I think it's safe to say that the "taxpayer" is not them). Not to mention once again demonstrating his lack of knowledge of what he can and can't do.

Great - so Ford is now becoming our own local version of the US Tea Party Republicans trying to repeal ObamaCare...

 

[PinkLucy]

Nothing... if not inconsistent.

ddale8 11:00pm via Web
Catching the end of Rob Ford on Warmington's 1010 show: "They're just screwing this poor guy around," he says (about Bob Deluce?).

goldsbie 11:01pm via Web
Ford then responds to a question about BMO Field, saying he doesn't "believe in subsidizing a billion-dollar corporation."

Because he functions on likely less than half a brain, Ford doesn't even recognize his own hypocrisy. Sadly, neither do a lot of voters.

 

[casita]

Conversely I've always paid attention to Toronto politics because it's where I do most of my work and let's face it it's also the provinces largest economic engine, wither Toronto wither the province.

aka "The Centre of the Universe"!

One-third of Canada s population is located within a 160 km radius of Toronto.

 

[sno man]

At this point, *if* Rob Ford is perp-walked or hits some moment of finality, I'm seriously wondering if there'd be some big, cathatric Perestroika-like mass reaction (celebratory, I mean)

We could all drunkenly crash the Garrison Ball. ;^)

 

[ROFOMOFO]

aka "The Centre of the Universe"!

"One-third of Canada s population is located within a 160 km radius of Toronto.
One-half of the population of the United States is within a 1 days drive of Toronto.
Toronto is Canada s #1 tourist destination with 21 million visitors in 1999.
48% of Toronto s population are immigrants.
Toronto is Canada s gateway to the international marketplace with accessibility via highways, air, rail and urban transit."

It's only left coasters that bear a grudge on Toronto's preeminence, the people down east are cool with it.

 

[sno man]

Because he functions on likely less than half a brain, Ford doesn't even recognize his own hypocrisy. Sadly, neither do a lot of voters.

I tried really hard to sort out any signs of logic in those two comments, the best I can figure is he thinks Porter (Deluce) is a small business worthy of support vs. MLSE (faceless corporate ownership) that is big enough to not need help, whereas most of us would put a company that employs over 1400 people into that second group.

 

[anne]

Well, that's the hallmark of people who suffer from Ford's issues....lack of self-awareness. He thinks losing a few pounds is the only self-ipmrovement necessary. Even with self awareness, Ford's problems can't be fixed. He's toxic and will remain so. Save your sympathy for those that have to deal with him on a personal level and hope they have the courage to do the only thing anyone can do in their situation...amputate the toxic people in your life.

Your long winded sympathy rants make you sound like a textbook co-dependent.

And your rudeness and lack of empathy make you look like a stone-cold jack-ass.
Next. Time. I'll. Write. In. Short. Sentences. Just. So. You. Can. Understand.

 

[sweetlou]

"The little council woman"??? Oh c'mon. Really? Do you not even live in TO or something? She's a downtown councillor and has been for 20 years.

Pam also came back into the council chamber after the bullying incident and also returned to the EC discussion portion from 7:30 p.m. onward as one of the 'visiting councillors', where she asked a lot of good questions. Better questions than most of those tired old men on EC asked. Good for her. She sat well away from Rob however.

Why did he bully her? Because he could. He does this quite often to fellow councillors. Remember him bellying up to Denzil not long ago and giving him that stare and mouthing off? Denzil called on him to apologize.

 

[SecretSquirrel]

trying to explain to him that he didn't save $1B would be like you trying to explain Marxist theory to a firefly

At least a firefly is capable of flashes of brilliance! Hey-O!

I'm here all week, folks. Please tip your homicide squad detectives.

 

[casita]

It's only left coasters that bear a grudge on Toronto's preeminence, the people down east are cool with it.

It's envy. For example, TPS, TFS and T-EMS attract applicants from all across Canada and the world. Many are already employed as cops, firemen and paramedics in their communities but, will openly admit that their dream has always been to

work in Toronto, "because that's where the action is". It's like moving up to the major leagues for them. That's a pretty arrogant statement, I admit, but I believe it to be true.

 

[anne]

You obviously don't following city politics very closely then do you?

A lot of people don't follow city politics very closely. Municipal elections traditionally have the lowest voter turn-out.
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-640-x/2009001/tab/tab3-1-eng.htm

 

[sweetlou]

For those who are attacking others for not knowing every member on council - I have to admit that the whole Rob Ford fiasco has taught me a heck of a lot about Toronto politics. I've always voted, but as for the day-to-day running of council? I've never really been interested. I now find myself watching sessions on my laptop and learning who runs which ward (other than my own). I read the paper every day, and have always known some councilors by name and reputation. But now, because of our buffoon of a mayor, and also with the collective knowledge of the good folks at UT, I've learned so much more. I mean really, when was the last time you were THIS excited about an upcoming mayoral debate?

x 1000

But I've always known Pam - she's my councillor. She asked better questions at yesterday's meeting as a visiting councillor (i.e., not a member of EC because no women and no downtown councillors are allowed on Robbie's sandbox) than most of the men EC members did. Most of them have an extreme case of Dazzled by Deluce.

 

[ROFOMOFO]

It's envy. For example, TPS, TFS and T-EMS attract applicants from all across Canada and the world. Many are already employed as cops, firemen and paramedics in their communities but, will openly admit that their dream has always been to

work in Toronto, "because that's where the action is". It's like moving up to the major leagues for them. That's a pretty arrogant statement, I admit, but I believe it to be true.

And THAT is exactly what pisses a lot of people off outside of Toronto because we get cops, firefighters etc asking for "retention bonuses". If I was a sitting politician in town I'd tell them to "pound sand" because cost of living here is considerably different than Toronto, unfortunately our politicians tend to cave. If a cop wants Toronto $$ from KW fine, go work in Toronto, have a merry time dealing with a much harsher work environment with a much higher cost of living.