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Mayor John Tory's Toronto

lead82 said:
Miller was the best mayor the mega city of Toronto had full stop. He invested in the city and brought a massive development boom. The waterfront, to transit, to arts and culture. Did he make mistakes? Of course but he tried to do well by the entire city. The problem was that the suburban areas need massive community investment like transit, services, jobs, etc. Those cost money that the wealthy home owners in the suburbs refuse to pay for as they won’t use those services so why should they have to pay?

What elected Ford was the garbage strike. That was the straw that broke the camels back and likely why Miller did not run. Miller did not play the garbage issue right at all. While he got some concessions from the union, the strike in the middle of a hot summer was a stinking mess. Union leaders failed to work with the most friendly union mayor in decades. They got messed up by Ford for their greed.

Similarly for transit. Transit City was a plan to bring better and rapid transit to suburbs. However, focusing on Sheppard was a massive mistake. Finch should have been first and investment in Scarborough with an LRT network to replace LRT using Eglinton and McCowan corridor. Replacing RT with LRT on same bad routing didn’t help the debate. Especially when it requires 4 years of busses during construction. He had a chance to push for a proper network of subways, LRT and BRT or express buses. He went all in on LRT and it backfired.
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I would place blame on the pitfalls of transit planning in Scarborough with the Ontario Liberals, not with Miller.

I think the problem ultimately is that we have a 'one-size-fits-all' policy framework for the entire city, when the needs of the suburbs and downtown areas are disparate. That is not something which is Miller's fault, and neither Ford or Tory have really been able to address that since. It is more of a flaw with the mega-city system.
 
WislaHD said:
I would place blame on the pitfalls of transit planning in Scarborough with the Ontario Liberals, not with Miller.

I think the problem ultimately is that we have a 'one-size-fits-all' policy framework for the entire city, when the needs of the suburbs and downtown areas are disparate. That is not something which is Miller's fault, and neither Ford or Tory have really been able to address that since. It is more of a flaw with the mega-city system.
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Does it matter? All three provincial parties have been utter shit for public transit, and past mayors have ranged from “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” to “watch the world burn”. The past is the past. We’re here now - I want to know who gets out of the mess, not who got us into it.
 
animatronic said:
Does it matter? All three provincial parties have been utter shit for public transit, and past mayors have ranged from “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” to “watch the world burn”. The past is the past. We’re here now - I want to know who gets out of the mess, not who got us into it.
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I'm not being partisan, I am fully cogniscant that the PC and ONDP would have been no better on the Scarborough transit issue. :p

Well, right now we need visionary leadership from the following: City Council, the Mayor, and the Premier, in order to get out of the mess. We lack in every department, and have no alternatives to all three.
 
Other cities have several sources of revenue other than property taxes. Income taxes and sales taxes, for example, Toronto is forbidden to have by the province. See this link for city sales taxes in the United States. See this link for city income taxes in the United States.

Instead, Toronto has to genuflect or knee before the provincial and federal governments.
 
WislaHD said:
I would place blame on the pitfalls of transit planning in Scarborough with the Ontario Liberals, not with Miller.

I think the problem ultimately is that we have a 'one-size-fits-all' policy framework for the entire city, when the needs of the suburbs and downtown areas are disparate. That is not something which is Miller's fault, and neither Ford or Tory have really been able to address that since. It is more of a flaw with the mega-city system.
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Planning Scarborough LRT from ~2007 to ~2012 and then switching to B-D subway extension only happened because of the Liberals.
If NDP or PCs had been in power the whole time, I don't think this flip flop would have happened. NDP likely would have gone with the LRT, and PC's likely would have gone with the subway extension much earlier.
 
BurlOak said:
If NDP or PCs had been in power the whole time, I don't think this flip flop would have happened. NDP likely would have gone with the LRT, and PC's likely would have gone with the subway extension much earlier.
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Considering their post-Harris track record, the PCs are more likely to cancel the projects entirely, and it sure is odd that those who are supposedly against flip-flops only doubled-down on flip-flopping. It's like gas plants all over again - they are so against it that they have promised to do the same themselves if elected.

AoD
 
salsa said:
And more importantly, I want to hear what specific policy failures of Miller was responsible for this.
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Yeah, that's sort of what I was hoping to have explained to me.

I never supported Miller but now that he's out of office I have his back as a fellow Reds supporter.
 
pman said:
You’re saying that like it’s a bad thing.
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It's certainly a terrible thing for his constituents; having little actual representation. He's a huckster and represents all that is lazy and irresponsible, and sits on whatever part of the political spectrum kisses most mayoral ass or benefits him personally. Originally, he only won his seat because no-one ran against him and barely coasts by on the incumbent bump. While there are people in Toronto politics whose policies I don't like, I still respect them.

I have zero respect for Mammoliti.
 
salsa said:
And more importantly, I want to hear what specific policy failures of Miller was responsible for this.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Toronto

Overall the total number of homicides fell during Miller's tenure, while the population grew.

In other words, the murder rate fell.

I also would take exception to the idea that Miller was bad for the suburbs. He was responsible for dramatically improving transit in the suburbs. And let's face it, for all the criticism Transit City gets, it was essentially a suburban transit plan that brought rapid transit to the highest priority suburban areas of the city.

Miller is easily the best post-amalgamation Mayor Toronto has had.
 
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Well...speaking of post-amalgamation mayors....

Lastman, Miller, Ford, Tory....I see a pattern.

I'm predicting it now: our next non-Tory mayor will be.....unfortunate.
 
syn said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Toronto

Overall the total number of homicides fell during Miller's tenure, while the population grew.

In other words, the murder rate fell.

I also would take exception to the idea that Miller was bad for the suburbs. He was responsible for dramatically improving transit in the suburbs. And let's face it, for all the criticism Transit City gets, it was essentially a suburban transit plan that brought rapid transit to the highest priority suburban areas of the city.

Miller is easily the best post-amalgamation Mayor Toronto has had.
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The polarization of the last decade is not because of the Fords and Tory it was Miller's legacy. In the aftermath of his tenire our inner suburban residents have rebeled in large numbers mainly because of the divided state Miller left the City in with his poor political decisions. Transfer City and the union garbage strike were both problematic and unforunately to this day the denial that major voter apathy exists and now has a voice remains. Attempts continue to talk over these residents from outside Politicians with their own agenda. Until a future Left leaning Mayoral candidates pays better slightly better attenton to our inner suburbs needs, inclusiveness and equity we'll continue to keep Fordian Politics very much relevant and very strong.

When the Citys Left leadership decides to bridge gaps and pay more attention to details in area of the entire City they will likely have ultimate power in the coming decades.
 
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OneCity said:
The polarization of the last decade is not because of the Fords and Tory it was Miller's legacy. In the aftermath of his tenire our inner suburban residents have rebeled in large numbers mainly because of the divided state Miller left the City in with his poor political decisions. Transfer City and the union garbage strike were both problematic and unforunately to this day the denial that major voter apathy exists and now has a voice remains. Attempts continue to talk over these residents from outside Politicians with their own agenda. Until a future Left leaning Mayoral candidates pays better slightly better attenton to our inner suburbs needs, inclusiveness and equity we'll continue to keep Fordian Politics very much relevant and very strong.

When the Citys Left leadership decides to bridge gaps and pay more attention to details in area of the entire City they will likely have ultimate power in the coming decades.
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voxpopulicosmicum said:
Miller bad. Me no like Miller. Moo. Woof. Quack.
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