2014 Municipal Election: Toronto Mayoral Race

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Ranting about how people aren't up to the right standards is like going on about kids today. It's meaningless, it's holding reality up against some rosy fantasy. People who support Rob Ford don't think of him as just good enough or as meeting what they think of as some mediocre standard. Just the opposite. He's the taxfighter, the one politician who is different, the one who is working for them instead of taking from them. To them Rob Ford has authenticy. And to some degree he does. At least he can work up some outrage about actions he thinks wrongheaded, unlike his political competitors in this election, who can't muster a sweat of offence when facing off against a criminal mayor who shames the office. Think that is all bullshit or not, Rob Ford stands apart. In a strained adma metaphor, Rob Ford is a McMansion on a quiet street of unremarkable bungalows. Now John Tory, he could be the textbook definition of "just good enough". There I might agree. After four years of the shock of Rob Ford, a place like Toronto should have been able to produce stronger, more dynamic candidates than John Tory. Or Olivia Chow. It's disappointing.

I can partially agree with this. It's not really in Tory's nature to be a fighter, but you are right that he has not hit hard enough. My question is would we even be having this conversation if Olivia Chow actually had put an effort into this race? She was supposed to be all the things you describe.

 

[SJD_Toronto]

I really can't bring myself to vote Tory, though I agree it would be better to have him elected than Ford. Tory has a horrible transit plan. He's hostile to cyclists. He won't even commit to supporting Open Streets. He's out of touch in the way Mitt Romney is out of touch. He has Kouvalis working for him. He is going to be able to push a right-wing agenda through council far more effectively than Ford could because he isn't an embarrasment.

I voted Smitherman in 2010 (holding my nose very tightly) but I just can't do it for Tory.

So you would rather have Ford re-elected? Another 4 more years of the clown known as Rob Ford? Plus, you'll have Doug Ford and possibly Michael Ford. That 3 Fords running Toronto city hall. Yeah, thanks but no thanks. You may hate the idea of Mayor John Tory but at this point he is the best person to beat Ford and he would make a much, much, much better mayor. Olivia Chow is showing she really never wanted to be mayor (I said this many months ago) with her lousy campaign and David Soknacki is completely dead in the water so people have to realize he will not be elected mayor. This is John Tory vs Rob Ford. Plug your nose and vote Tory if you want a Ford free Toronto. Tory for the win.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

I really can't bring myself to vote Tory, though I agree it would be better to have him elected than Ford. Tory has a horrible transit plan. He's hostile to cyclists. He won't even commit to supporting Open Streets. He's out of touch in the way Mitt Romney is out of touch. He has Kouvalis working for him. He is going to be able to push a right-wing agenda through council far more effectively than Ford could because he isn't an embarrasment.

I voted Smitherman in 2010 (holding my nose very tightly) but I just can't do it for Tory.

you need to find a way to do so, because if is Tory or Ford, vote Tory

 

[nfitz]

I voted Smitherman in 2010 (holding my nose very tightly) but I just can't do it for Tory.

Fair enough, but it's not like you wouldn't have had to hold your nose to vote for Pantalone ... though perhaps not quite as hard.

So what does that leave? Chow? Her transit plan is almost as poor. She thinks she can fix TTC for only $20 million? That alone suggests she doesn't have a clue. In the meantime she's downplaying the DRL, and hasn't even spoken about critical projects, such as the East Bayfront LRT. It was her husband after all who played such a large role in getting the DRL cancelled in the 1980s.

Solnacki? maybe.

Hopefully a more viable centrist candidate appears.

 

[JasonParis]

As for comments here on a possible Tory-led city being uninspiring, I think it comes down to the team. One thing Tory can do is bring in input from all sides. My hope is that on day one he declares a city wide day of celebration or perhaps reconciliation.

If Tory wins, it will likely be due to a large amount of Chow support schlepping his way to stop Ford. He's probably smart enough to realize that as Mayor and govern with at least some token thank yous for their vote (i.e., maybe reversing his stance on Eglinton Connects).

I have viewed the 2010 Ford "victory" as an indication of the real divide that exists in amalgamated Toronto, and from my perspective a second victory by Ford (this time as a loner; no Droug Ford in tow) would ignite the real thing, a class war, a giant screaming match that would last for years.

People just don't seem to get all that angry in this city though. I'm still miffed that at the height of Ford's behaviour only a few thousand could bother to show-up at Nathan Phillips Square. But yes, I think people will generally be more angry (in the old city) and more calls for de-amalgamation will be heard if Ford was to win again. But at the end of the day, nothing will really change politically.

 

[PinkLucy]

This isn't overly dramatic? What part of the city is a barren wasteland due to the last 4 years? At worst, Ford as Mayor has produced a pause. Claims the city is in a mud slide to destruction ignores the fact that the mayor has done, and can do, very little.

It's not about the city being a barren wasteland.

It's about leadership, or the lack thereof. Any city, organization, company, whatever, needs leadership or it flounders. It's about the fact that with millions of people, we can't seem to find one inspiring leader?

It's about attitude and vision. It's about whining but never taking any positive steps to bring about change. It's about, as said above, the fact that people don't get angry and just go along -- too many of them can't even be bothered to vote.

It's about people who would vote in, for the second time, with much more knowledge than they had four years ago, a racist, misogynistic, homophobic, lying boor who can't be bothered to show up for work. It's an embarrassment that the fourth largest city in North America has that person as their mayor.

It's about the amount of time wasted by both staff and politicians who could have been getting things done when instead Council is often sidelined by the antics of said boor.

It's about travelling in different parts of the world where people laugh at the city you love because it elected this idiot.

 

[jozl]

John Tory is the only candidate Toronto has that can begin the healing process. Ford and Chow are both nutty politicos. Tory is the only one of the three that can get consensus on big ticket items like transit, housing, and city building. His ideas are not all airtight but I believe he is willing to listen to other suggestions with an open mind, which is what Toronto needs right now. Some pragmatic solutions to the most pressing problems. Tory is not the corporate mouthpiece that some people fear he is. I really believe he wants to see Toronto succeed more than he wants to promote a political agenda, which is more than I can say about Ford or Chow.

 

[ShonTron]

So you would rather have Ford re-elected? Another 4 more years of the clown known as Rob Ford? Plus, you'll have Doug Ford and possibly Michael Ford. That 3 Fords running Toronto city hall. Yeah, thanks but no thanks. You may hate the idea of Mayor John Tory but at this point he is the best person to beat Ford and he would make a much, much, much better mayor. Olivia Chow is showing she really never wanted to be mayor (I said this many months ago) with her lousy campaign and David Soknacki is completely dead in the water so people have to realize he will not be elected mayor. This is John Tory vs Rob Ford. Plug your nose and vote Tory if you want a Ford free Toronto. Tory for the win.

Nope. Won't do it. Tory is bad news. Of course I wouldn't want Ford re-elected, but I hate the narrative that I'm hearing now that you have to vote Tory to stop Ford. I wouldn't be surprised if Tory/Kouvalis are engineering this.

Pantalone had a lot of baggage. He was weak and bad on a few issues. He was simply the NDP candidate without any good "reason why" that he deserved your vote.

 

[WislaHD]

Pantalone had a lot of baggage. He was weak and bad on a few issues. He was simply the NDP candidate without any good "reason why" that he deserved your vote.

So... Chow is Pantalone v2?

 

[ShonTron]

Chow's problem is running a lousy campaign. Her policies are generally quite good. She isn't Pantalone V2 (Pantalone, a local councillor who I didn't care for, ran after Giambrone went down in flames).

 

[jml]

Hopefully a more viable centrist candidate appears.

Two weeks before the deadline for signing up?! The absolute best candidate would do nothing but suck votes off Chow & Tory and lead to a Ford victory. All the options are already on the table.

 

[Silence&Motion]

John Tory is the only candidate Toronto has that can begin the healing process. Ford and Chow are both nutty politicos. Tory is the only one of the three that can get consensus on big ticket items like transit, housing, and city building. His ideas are not all airtight but I believe he is willing to listen to other suggestions with an open mind, which is what Toronto needs right now. Some pragmatic solutions to the most pressing problems. Tory is not the corporate mouthpiece that some people fear he is. I really believe he wants to see Toronto succeed more than he wants to promote a political agenda, which is more than I can say about Ford or Chow.

How is Chow a "nutty politico"? She's the only one with realistic policies (aside from Soknacki). Tory is the one promising two heavy-rail transit lines running through Scarborough only 2km apart with no realistic plan to pay for either of them.

People keep giving Tory the benefit of the doubt because he's an upper class white guy wearing a suit. We have ZERO evidence that he's actually a good leader, and a lot of evidence to the contrary. If he wins, I predict he will be just as erratic a mayor as he is a candidate.

 

[ChesterCopperpot]

So this whole Kouvalis vs Kinsella lawsuit thing that's just dropping

http://twileshare.com/user/ShillersLLP

 

[TOareaFan]

So, Warren Kinsella seems set on sabotaging Ms Chow's campaign.

He gets that "Seggregationist" line out about Tory......then denies he works for Chow "just a volunteer" even though his company is being paid by the campaign....she repeats the line....then a week goes by and an announcement is made that he is leaving the "day to day" operations of the campaign and she says it was a mutual decision...he states firmly that it was his decision and only his decision.....and today sues Kouvalis for suggesting he was dumped.

So now she looks like she is not only unable to deal with this issue (ie. he was free to stay in the campaign until he and he alone decided to step back) but also that she has twice, within a week, lied publicly about his involvement.

 

[christiesplits]

Let's stop giving Kinsella so much credit. Chow is struggling because she has an unfocused campaign with a weak platform. Outside of political circles and #topoli, most people have no idea who Kinsella is.