[adma]

Rather than offering a candidate, I'll offer a fantasy mayoral race: Michael Thompson vs Kristyn Wong-Tam.

 

[guitarchitect]

^ i wouldn't waste a millisecond reading that guy. he is having a great deal of fun at the expense of anyone naive enough to fall for it.

the Star is on the verge of going out of business?

HE is in possession of the video?

please.

Yeah, I'm not sure how seriously to take his stuff, because he reports on everything as if it's part of some larger narrative when he hasn't yet ruled out that it's just "business as usual" stuff.

On Twitter: Doug Ford may have just left the country (well yeah... because the family business is now in Chicago and he's always there because he runs it)
On the Blog: The entire senior staff of The Star is having a meeting on Tuesday (well yeah... most large operations have weekly/monthly senior staff meetings in order to get a sense of what's happening and how to staff up for the week ahead)

He could very well have the video through other sources - like someone who got a copy that doesn't want to see the main video/drug dealers get $200K. I wouldn't bank on it, but I think it's possible. He has some nice nuggets of insight but I'm not sure he's being critical enough before he fits his info into the larger puzzle. So I think that's giving him a bad rap.

Can't wait to hear the Ford show today...

 

[OSS 117]

This is quite accurate. Ford's platform was merely an extension of his irrational persona.

People who voted for privately funded subways, buses that'd somehow cost less and carry more people than streetcars, and billions of dollars in savings from 'efficiencies' voted for Rob Ford and Rob Ford only. No one even moderately educated would have put forward such a platform: it was entirely Rob Ford's creation.

People who voted for Ford simply wanted an obstructionist in the Mayor's seat, and that's what they got. A seal trained to honk once for "no" on a horn would have done exactly the same job.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Mayor Rob Ford is a lone wolf. Mayor Rob Ford skips Big City Mayors’ Caucus, again. However, 11 councillors are on hand to represent Toronto at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities meeting.

From The Star, at this link:

It was a meeting of “big city mayors,†but the mayor of the biggest city in Canada was missing. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford skipped Thursday’s Big City Mayors’ Caucus meeting in Saskatoon, which kicked off the 75th Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference.

True to his past record of never attending an FCM meeting, even as a councillor, Mayor Rob Ford was represented by Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti at the mayors’ meeting that launches the June 1-4 conference and helps set the priorities of the 2,000-member federation.

Many of the mayors attending the conference said, in a conference call with media, that municipalities desperately need Ottawa to hand over more than the 8 cents for every tax dollar they currently receive.

Eleven Toronto councillors are attending the conference, which gives municipal politicians a chance to rub shoulders with federal government ministers such as Denis Lebel, minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, who will speak Friday. NDP leader Tom Mulcair, Liberal leader Bob Rae and Green Party leader Elizabeth May will also give addresses.

The municipal politicians, in turn, are expected to appeal for help with the staggering costs of infrastructure replacement and transportation initiatives.

FCM, which lobbies Ottawa on federal policies and programs affecting municipalities, just released a report criticizing senior governments for taking the lion’s share of taxes and leaving the cities crumbs. The report says Canadian cities have been in decline for 25 years and face a collective $123 billion municipal infrastructure deficit.

This is the first time the event has been held in Saskatoon.

Asked about the role of Toronto and Ford in the organization’s lobbying efforts, Mammoliti said that “Mayor Ford keeps constant communication with those of us who do come to FCM … He agrees wholeheartedly that we need more money from the federal government — 8 cents does not cut it ...’’

Ford recently told Toronto reporters: “I don’t go to FCM. Since when do I go to FCM?’’

Maybe they should have held it at Ford's cottage.

 

[Tulse]

People who voted for Ford simply wanted an obstructionist in the Mayor's seat, and that's what they got.

And I think that's why they won't be upset if the Ford circus prevents the city from getting anything done. As long as he isn't ousted, Ford being ineffectual is fine by them.

 

[OSS 117]

And I think that's why they won't be upset if the Ford circus prevents the city from getting anything done. As long as he isn't ousted, Ford being ineffectual is fine by them.

But if he's actually powerless to prevent council from rolling right over him, what good does he do them? He can say "no" all he wants now, but without his cadre of yes men around him, he's got no juice. Even people who approve of his ideas (probably not the right word) should be able to acknowledge that he can't implement them any more.

 

[OSS 117]

But if he's actually powerless to prevent council from rolling right over him, what good does he do them? He can say "no" all he wants now, but without his cadre of yes men around him, he's got no juice. Even people who approve of his ideas (probably not the right word) should be able to acknowledge that he can't implement them any more.

Oh, right, I get what you're saying now. Ford causing all this furor is actually working to their favor because it's preventing anything else from getting done. Gotcha.

 

[Tulse]

I get what you're saying now. Ford causing all this furor is actually working to their favor because it's preventing anything else from getting done.

Yep. I think Fordites are less interested in Ford accomplishing any particular agenda (like building subways) and more in preventing city government from doing anything. At their core, Ford supporters seem primarily anti-government, and the Ford circus certainly is keeping City Hall from working.

 

[Gavin]

Yep. I think Fordites are less interested in Ford accomplishing any particular agenda (like building subways) and more in preventing city government from doing anything. At their core, Ford supporters seem primarily anti-government, and the Ford circus certainly is keeping City Hall from working.

Agreed 100%. Like someone else said, they just want an obstructionist in the seat.

 

[arvelomcquaig]

Yep. I think Fordites are less interested in Ford accomplishing any particular agenda (like building subways) and more in preventing city government from doing anything. At their core, Ford supporters seem primarily anti-government, and the Ford circus certainly is keeping City Hall from working.

Exactly. With Transit City, for instance, Ford merely succeeded in delaying such desperately needed transit by blathering "subways" over and over again. Everyone who knows anything knows that suburban subways are impossible and idiotic, but I don't think Ford and his goons want subways; they just want to obstruct all public transit development by insisting on obviously-impossible proposals. It's an obstruction tactic.

 

[RC8]

Let's not over-intellectualise this phenomenon. All it really boils down to is a bunch of emotionally self-conscious and financially insecure poorly-educated individuals voting for someone who they perceive shares some of their own concerns and anxieties.

Serious planners and politicians universally agree we need to change the way we've been doing things thus far if we are to provide a higher quality of life to future generations. Ford's popularity is based on the wishful thinking of those who are afraid of upcoming changes - those who, craving a simple solution, blame the antidote for the disease.

Someone who blames cyclists and streetcars for gridlock exemplifies the whole thing perfectly. It's all just fear and self-consciousness.

 

[Adjei]

Exactly. With Transit City, for instance, Ford merely succeeded in delaying such desperately needed transit by blathering "subways" over and over again. Everyone who knows anything knows that suburban subways are impossible and idiotic, but I don't think Ford and his goons want subways; they just want to obstruct all public transit development by insisting on obviously-impossible proposals. It's an obstruction tactic.

Yup delay tactics to make sure nothing gets built by proposing useless things such as a Finch subway, who advocates for building a subway on Finch when there are other pressing transit needs???

 

[RC8]

Someone who wants votes along Finch?

I lived near South Common in Mississauga years ago, and everyone I knew would have voted for a politician who promised a subway along Dundas.

People who rely on overcrowded buses in gridlocked suburban arterials to move from point A to point B are very volatile voters. Understandably, too.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Yup delay tactics to make sure nothing gets built by proposing useless things such as a Finch subway, who advocates for building a subway on Finch when there are other pressing transit needs???

Someone who wants votes along Finch?

I lived near South Common in Mississauga years ago, and everyone I knew would have voted for a politician who promised a subway along Dundas.

People who rely on overcrowded buses in gridlocked suburban arterials to move from point A to point B are very volatile voters. Understandably, too.

It's funny that the same people who preach fiscal responsibility are the ones who are demanding subways on Finch.

What a bunch of idiots.

 

[jje1000]

It's funny that the same people who preach fiscal responsibility are the ones who are demanding subways on Finch.

What a bunch of idiots.

No, they're just not really conservative. They're populists. There's a clear distinction between the two. Anyone listening into the Ford talk show?

For those who aren't, here's Robyn Dolittle, who's following the talk show:
https://twitter.com/robyndoolittle