2023 Toronto Mayoral by-election

[adma]

And Olivia was literally criticized in the press for her accent during her last run for mayor.

"Olivia and English. Anyone who’s spoken personally with Chow, which huge numbers of Torontonians have, has never wondered about her facility in English. Yet in the campaign she’s often sounded uneasy with it. It may look to some voters, many of whom struggle with English, as if she doesn’t care enough about communicating with them to get her nouns and verbs to agree. I’m not saying that’s so, I know it’s not. But we’re talking about impressions. She has numerous advisers; could none of them have dealt with this?"

Rick Salutin: Olivia and Andrea, Talk show Tory, DoFo and R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Impressions from the municipal election.

www.thestar.com

Actually, the likely *real* reason for Olivia's apparent unease/tentativeness in communication in '14 was due to the fact that she was still recovering from being stricken with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which had led to temporary partial facial paralysis. And coupled w/her accented English, it made her seem more "inarticulate" than she actually was...

 

[adma]

Apparently he may have previously involved in a pyramid scheme.

Some on reddit were hypothesizing that this election campaign is a money laundering exercise but that's speculation without proof.

https://www.capitalmarketstribunal....reasons-decisions-matter-xiao-hua-edward-gong

Mayoral candidate criticized for littering Toronto with way too many election signs

With Toronto's mayoral by-election less than three weeks away, it's safe to say we've officially entered that phase of the electoral cycle when ele...

www.blogto.com

To use Cory Doctorow's coinage ,I'd practically look upon this as the "enshittification" of electioneering.

The ‘Enshittification’ of TikTok

Or how, exactly, platforms die.

www.wired.com

 

[vic]

Maybe Gong is just a real-life 2023 Brewster's Millions situation.

Brewster's Millions (1985 film) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Rufus8]

"Clearly she's a puppet"?

I think you're seeing things.



Good for you. Plenty of native-born Canadians I know have been told to "go back to your own country" for speaking anything but English in a public area, let alone those with actual accents.

And Olivia was literally criticized in the press for her accent during her last run for mayor.

"Olivia and English. Anyone who’s spoken personally with Chow, which huge numbers of Torontonians have, has never wondered about her facility in English. Yet in the campaign she’s often sounded uneasy with it. It may look to some voters, many of whom struggle with English, as if she doesn’t care enough about communicating with them to get her nouns and verbs to agree. I’m not saying that’s so, I know it’s not. But we’re talking about impressions. She has numerous advisers; could none of them have dealt with this?"

Rick Salutin: Olivia and Andrea, Talk show Tory, DoFo and R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Impressions from the municipal election.

www.thestar.com

I'm not sure anyone has said "build substandard housing for the poor".

The problem is the lack of money for TCHC.

A lot of TCHC plans these days are mixed-income which help make them a little more self-sustaining, but the city needs to spend more money on maintening TCHC properties. Some, like Swansea Mews are nearly at—or at—the point of no return. Swansea Mews was built what? 50+ years ago? Any decently built construction without the funding to maintain it will start to crumble in a half-century.

Puppet Chow - She clearly has done elocution lessons, radio spot says "it shouldn't be so hard" her voice crackling with sympathy. So Torontonians can't cope with a hard time? They want the easy life always? Sounds boring to me. She is out of city council since it's restructuring, so her experience with a smaller constituency is very different. I don't know who told her she could offer anything to toronto other than "brand recognition". So who is pulling the strings? *cough*
TCHC - historically the bidding goes to the lowest/best connected, they set up a company for the construction period then wind it up after completion. Any deficencies are supposed to be dealt with in the first 6 months, otherwise it's a court case for a non-existent company. PCL is known as people come last for their cunning in public funded projects. Even their appliances are now such poor quality that they don't last 2 years and have to be replaced.
Life span of buildings - 50 years is an absurdly short period of time, 650 Parliament et al have shown that even in the market rent sector 50 years is nothing. The problem is poor quality (non-profit) construction at the get-go. Many of the older (market) rental buildings are not only thriving but very desirable. Don Mount Court and Swansea have nothing to do with wear and tear they were defective from the ground up.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Vote for #44 is certainly a unique way to market yourself.

Not the luckiest number for a Chinese candidate. I suppose two 4s make lucky 8.

 

[smably]

So who is pulling the strings? *cough*

Can you please stop beating around the bush and say whatever it is you're trying to say? I'm sure it's not some weird racist conspiracy theory.

 

[vic]

 

[Admiral Beez]

You live near me (referring to Allan Gardens). I’m not ok with “boots” but I struggle with how else to clear the mess. I won’t go near the place. I resent the loss.

I resent the loss too. Every Tuesday evening I visit the Farmer's Market in Riverdale Park West (by the farm) and see the families sitting on the grass, sane/sober folks enjoying a chat with their friends on a park bench, listen to the string quartet playing while little kids play and their parents walk the stalls of produce and treats and I think to myself, this, this is what Allan Gardens deserves. And there's one reason, just one that Allan Gardens cannot have the idyllic, community-wide park experience that Riverdale, High Park, Queen's Park, Craigleigh or most of the parks in the 416 have - and that reason is services (food/shelter/etc) that serve as the foundations of park takeovers. Around Allan Gardens has been established an entire homeless industrial complex of religious, charity and governmental supports providing the food and shelter needed to sustain park occupations - careers in this industry are built upon the sustaining of the situation.

What our new mayor needs to do is break up the homeless industrial complex surrounding Allan Gardens and instead distribute the sources of food, shelter and services to the homeless demographic to across the city. Give downtown east back their once beautiful park space and make the entire city share the burden of our housing, addiction and mental health crisis. Perhaps when there is a church-fed encampment in Craigleigh Gardens, High Park or Viewmount Park the city's elite will take notice and work to address these issues rather than sweep them away to downtown east and our once lovely Allan Gardens.

This.... https://www.friendsofallangardens.ca/visitor-info

Open Greenspace​

A true oasis in the downtown core, Allan Gardens is home to a beautiful park with ample grass and shade. Whether
you’re looking for a beautiful spot to read a book, have a picnic or simply relax under green cover, you are welcome.

Not this...

In the immediate term, our new mayor just needs to enforce the by-laws.

Sign the Petition

Demand Toronto City Council To Act Now To Restore Allan Gardens For Everyone

www.change.org

 

[zang]

Puppet Chow - She clearly has done elocution lessons, radio spot says "it shouldn't be so hard" her voice crackling with sympathy. So Torontonians can't cope with a hard time? They want the easy life always? Sounds boring to me.

You think living in Toronto right now is in any way sustainable? People who live in Toronto shouldn't have to suffer in order to have a life here.

I'm glad however, your care for the plight of others seems based on how stimulating it is to you.

She is out of city council since it's restructuring…so her experience with a smaller constituency is very different

The restructuring happened 5 years ago; so if you want to argue that's some kind of a long time, it's laughable. For that matter, Giorgio Mammoliti also hasn't been in council since its restructuring.

…so her experience with a smaller constituency is very different

You are aware that she was in city council for twenty-two years; including during amalgamation and all the disruption that caused? And you are also aware she was the federal MP for Trinity-Spadina for almost a decade, right? Guess how big federal constituencies are.

I'm asking rhetorically of course. Unless you've been living under a rock and haven't bothered learning a lick about the person you seem so intent on slagging, you do already know this and wilfully ignore it.

I don't know who told her she could offer anything to toronto other than "brand recognition". So who is pulling the strings? *cough*

Gee, someone who's spent more than half of their life in public service, has chosen to get back into it. IT MUST BE A CONSPIRACY.

Not to mention, you're completely choosing to ignore *her* agency in all this, implying she's only where she is because of name recognition and not her vast political experience, intelligence or ability to connect with people.

So, who's paying *you* to come here and slag her with ignorance and dogwhistles? Who put you up to it, huh? Who's pulling your strings?

 

[christiesplits]

careers in this industry are built upon the sustaining of the situation.

As someone who has worked in the social services setting, I can assure you that no one goes into the industry for the money.

There are shelter staff making barely much more than than fast food employees.

 

[Admiral Beez]

As someone who has worked in the social services setting, I can assure you that no one goes into the industry for the money.

There are shelter staff making barely much more than than fast food employees.

You're the foot soldiers, often underpaid and underappreciated. But the higher ups do just fine off the backs of the homeless. For example, let's look at the Fred Victor Centre, where at least ten managers are pulling in $110k plus. The Sally Ann runs the Maxwell Meighen Centre, the very definition of scourge of Sherbourne street, while their Rosedale-residing upper management pulls in $300k plus. And this is essential work, if we're not going to provide permanent housing and addiction/mental health services then this issue of homelessness is not going away. But I want Allan Gardens back, and the best way if we're not going to solve homelessness is to spread it out.

 

[zang]

You're the foot soldiers, often underpaid and underappreciated. But the higher ups do just find off the backs of the homeless. For example, let's look at the Fred Victor Centre, where at least ten managers are pulling in $110k plus.

That sunshine list threshold of $100k is out of date. $110k is not a whole lot of money these days. And not much past the city-wide average of $97k. Not to mention the recent National Bank announcement that it’d require $286k/year salary to afford the mortgage payments on a house in the median price range in Toronto.

[edited to add]: I’ll note that I know of concrete truck drivers who take home more than that a year.

The Sally Ann runs the Maxwell Meighen Centre, the very definition of scourge of Sherbourne street, while their Rosedale-residing upper management pulls in $300k plus.

The Salvation Army is a church that does (some) charity work. It’s not governmental, and not accountable to taxpayers.

 

[John_Dee]

This election reminds me of nothing so much as the 2005 Simpsons episode "See Homer Run," in which a byelection is called in Springfield, and over 200 kooks, cranks and assorted zanies (including Homer Simpson himself) run for the position of Mayor. Of course, with no other credible candidates, the vote is sufficiently split that the ultra-corrupt Mayor Quimby easily slithers back into office. The Simpsons has often been accused of predicting the future - most notoriously with Trump being elected President - and if John Tory was actually running again just now, I cant help wondering if the same thing might not have happened here. D'oh!

 

[Fresco]

He's been arrested (but probably out on bail already)

LOL.......what did I tell you

https://twitter.com/x/status/1666494425290137614

 

[Fresco]

Oh, and he has sexual assault charges against him too