Of these two, who do you think made a more lasting impact on Toronto as mayor?

[wild goose chase]

These are two mayors who I'd say gave Toronto quite some character, however you want to look at it.

In hindsight, who do you think has left their mark more on this city?

 

[rbt]

I went with Mel Lastman. For better or worse, he did actually get a few things done (subway, North York, few parks/rec areas, etc.).

Ford was just a really long filibuster causing current severe growing pains such as a severe lack of buses; but we'll work through those and in 10 years nobody will even notice he was mayor.

It's possible a different mayor (Miller?) supporting the provinces plan to tax for transit may have enabled that to be implemented, but I suspect that got killed mostly due to pressures from outside the GTA once it became clear that the province couldn't add a regional sales tax without Harpers support (yay HST).

I also suspect the sales tax will come back for RER Phase II (5 to 10 minute frequencies) which will likely require just as large of an investment (inflation adjusted) as this round of transit investments.

 

[pman]

Ford's record is still in recent memory. Lest we forget what a disaster Lastman was for the entire city, I give you:
The MFP leasing scandal
His instrumental role as NY mayor in getting the useless Sheppard subway built while killing a subway line along Eglinton
His clueless abdication of leadership during the SARS epidemic
The damage he did to Toronto's reputation with stupidity like his comment about Africans during our Olympic bid

Bottom line: vote for a mayor from the suburbs and don't be surprised when you end up with a clown.

 

[animatronic]

Bottom line: vote for a mayor from the suburbs and don't be surprised when you end up with a clown.

This isn't part of the imaginary war on downtown. Vote for a clown and you get a clown.

 

[Johnny Au]

Ford's record is still in recent memory. Lest we forget what a disaster Lastman was for the entire city, I give you:
The MFP leasing scandal
His instrumental role as NY mayor in getting the useless Sheppard subway built while killing a subway line along Eglinton
His clueless abdication of leadership during the SARS epidemic
The damage he did to Toronto's reputation with stupidity like his comment about Africans during our Olympic bid

Bottom line: vote for a mayor from the suburbs and don't be surprised when you end up with a clown.

Don't forget about how Lastman called in the army during a major snowstorm (yet Montreal received the same snowstorm and not had the army clear up the snow, despite snow being heavier in Montreal).

 

[GenerationW]

His instrumental role as NY mayor in getting the useless Sheppard subway built while killing a subway line along Eglinton

Actually (old) Toronto's rejection of the DRL was far more instrumental in Sheppard being built.

Harris killed Eglinton, not Mel.

 

[rbt]

Don't forget about how Lastman called in the army during a major snowstorm (yet Montreal received the same snowstorm and not had the army clear up the snow, despite snow being heavier in Montreal).

Despite the teasing this is the smartest thing Lastman did. Job #1 for the army was to ensure emergency staff could move around the city unimpeeded. More than once this involved moving medical crews in military equipment down unplowed side streets, and it frequently involved plowing a path ambulances and police to reach 911 callers.

Yeah, there were lots of pictures of cadets shovelling out fire hydrants and bus stops, but reality of it is that call almost certainly saved lives.

Rather than Lastman, you should blame the people who sold off half of Toronto's snow clearing equipment in the 5 years leading up to the storm because `Toronto doesn't get snow like that anymore`.

 

[AlbertHWagstaff]

Rather than Lastman, you should blame the people who sold off half of Toronto's snow clearing equipment in the 5 years leading up to the storm because `Toronto doesn't get snow like that anymore`.

Yes, they had to remember how to start the big snow-melter machines, since they hadn't been used in several years. We had gone through a few winters with very little snow. Despite all the joking, it was a smart move. Most side streets in the old city were no more than two tire tracks in the snow and cars had to back up to intersections to let cars going in the other direction pass. I lived on a short dead-end side street and when they started the clean-up, they removed 14 dump trucks full of snow from our street, and that was just one little street out of the whole city. The volume of snow that had accumulated was incredible and the lack of plowing after the first couple of snowstorms did the city in.

Another one of Mel's legacies was the moose all around the city in 2000, and the day of Moose Racing down Bay St. At least people had some fun with that.

 

[Johnny Au]

The Bad Boy got the idea of fibreglass moose from Chicago the year before, when it had fibreglass cows.