Miller Derangement Syndrome

[realtycoon]

I think Mel's building of a subway to nowhere and all the money it wasted is a much more serious blunder. (Not to mention the disaster that downtown North York is and the theatre he built practically going belly up. I'll take Miller over Mel any day.

Typical arrogant downtown thinking, (there is a world north of Bloor)... Enough of the subway to nowhere BS.. Just look at all the growth along the Sheppard Corridor...

 

[TOinTO]

he complains the city is broke but spends money like a drunken sailor as long as there's some green flavour of the month cause, ie city employees driving premium cars like Priuses or Smart cars, installing green roofs, solar panels. all worthy causes of course, but not when you consistently claim poverty. meanwhile general upkeep and state of good repair of city infrastructure is priority #1000. i'm frankly embarassed at the general shabbiness of the city, i can't imagine what a tourist would think, particularly the sophisticated and discerning ones that Miller thinks want to come here to visit

The roads are certainly a mess.

Aside from that, infrastructure seems to be improving. The TTC is making steady improvements. There have been some really good investments in the libraries. The parks I see are looking better kept, have more trees, and there are more of them. Water and sewer infrastructure is undergoing a long term overhaul. These days, they have a truck take away the snow bank at the end of your drive. That never happened when I was a kid. Some new greenie fad, I guess.

Yes there is a shabbiness to the city. There has ALWAYS been a shabbiness to Toronto. Did you just move here? Look at some old pictures. Dirt roads, leaning hydro poles, poorly kept shop fronts and ramshackle houses. Did you expect Miller to turn this into Vienna?

Yes, the tourists are appalled. And the foreigners buying million dollar condos are appalled too.

This 'Toronto, city in decline' line is so tiresome.

 

[realtycoon]

Tamils??? I don't see how that falls on Miller ... it's a federal issue; and the feds are as usual, absent - and now have finally appeared, simply to try and make it clear that they aren't involved, and sure up the white-bigot vote.

How are the Tamils a Federal Issue??!?! Last I checked, Sri Lanka is not a part of Canada..(plus since when does the left want us to go overseas and fight wars, isn't that a neo-con idea???)

Miller really dropped the ball by setting a dangerous precedent by allowing these protesters to block roads, block the Gardiner, the 4 day shut down of University Avenue etc.. Protesting is fine, but really, where is the leadership of our city???? A strong majority of people of all races are P-d off about these protests, and out mayor is letting it happen!

 

[nfitz]

Toronto still has a transit system that Western European visitors get a laugh at.

Good grief - the biggest spending increase in the last few years, has been for transit; with what's expected to arrive in the next 5 to 20 years, we'll be getting somewhere. But that takes tax increases.

So you must be in favour of tax increases. Or are you yet another one of these "we have to decrease spending" without providing any details how it would be done.

 

[nfitz]

How are the Tamils a Federal Issue??!?! Last I checked, Sri Lanka is not a part of Canada..(plus since when does the left want us to go overseas and fight wars, isn't that a neo-con idea???)

Because international and Commonwealth affairs is federal jurisdiction. Ignatieff seems to have ended the whole thing in a few minutes; as could have Harper if he actually did his job.

Miller really dropped the ball by setting a dangerous precedent by allowing these protesters to block roads, block the Gardiner, the 4 day shut down of University Avenue etc.. Protesting is fine, but really, where is the leadership of our city???? A strong majority of people of all races are P-d off about these protests, and out mayor is letting it happen

Personally, I think anyone whining about the Gardiner being closed for a few hours, is a hypocrit, who is more interested in their own convenience, than the massacre of thousands of people that appears to be still going on. Shame on you! And I really have to question where were the massive objections when the Gardiner got closed for the previous two Sundays!

What on earth is Miller supposed to do? He doesn't control the police; he doesn't control the army. Perhaps he should pass a by-law??

 

[Felino]

Good grief - the biggest spending increase in the last few years, has been for transit; with what's expected to arrive in the next 5 to 20 years, we'll be getting somewhere. But that takes tax increases.

So you must be in favour of tax increases. Or are you yet another one of these "we have to decrease spending" without providing any details how it would be done.

In some ways I do support the HST, I just disagree on the housing part of it. The province should be encouraging developers to build condominiums, it's an efficient way to live and has less of a strain on the environment. The problem is, builders are already charging a ridiculous amount of money for the few family sized condos units that they do have in each building, the HST will just make this hope disappear altogether.

As for transit, I'm in favour of privatization of transit, or getting rid of the TTC union.

Toronto needs more subway routes, and I'm not talking about to a Vaughan line or that silly route that Lastman built in North York. I'm talking about Queen, King or Dundas Sts.

 

[GraphicMatt]

I'm in favour of privatization of transit, or getting rid of the TTC union.

Toronto needs more subway routes, and I'm not talking about to Vaughan or that silly route that Lastman built in North York. I'm talking about Queen, King or Dundas Sts.

Privatization? Why would a private company want to operate a money-loser like public transit? It's unprofitable by its very definition.

I'm not diametrically opposed to phasing out the union, though I will point out that the TTC continues to have trouble finding and retaining qualified drivers and operators. Labour costs are going to be high no matter what you do.

 

[Eug]

Privatization? Why would a private company want to operate a money-loser like public transit? It's unprofitable by its very definition.

I'm not diametrically opposed to phasing out the union, though I will point out that the TTC continues to have trouble finding and retaining qualified drivers and operators. Labour costs are going to be high no matter what you do.

The drivers probably should retain their pay scale. I don't understand why a ticket taker needs to be given $60000 for base pay though, plus benefits. That's ludicrous. Furthermore, with overtime, some of these ticket takers make over $100000. Yet somehow the apologists claim there is no fat to be trimmed with these unions.

 

[GraphicMatt]

The drivers probably should retain their pay scale. I don't understand why a ticket taker needs to be given $60000 for base pay though, plus benefits. That's ludicrous. Furthermore, with overtime, some of these ticket takers make over $100000. Yet somehow the apologists claim there is no fat to be trimmed with these unions.

I agree with you on this issue - I don't think we need ticket takers at all. Machines can do the job. Have some friendly customer service people available at busy stations to give directions and help people use the machines.

 

[nfitz]

The drivers probably should retain their pay scale. I don't understand why a ticket taker needs to be given $60000 for base pay though, plus benefits. That's ludicrous. Furthermore, with overtime, some of these ticket takers make over $100000. Yet somehow the apologists claim there is no fat to be trimmed with these unions.

As far as I understand it, a lot of the ticket takers are former drivers, who really aren't up for driving anymore. Surely it's cheaper to have them collecting tickets, than it is have them sitting at home on disability. I don't disagree about the overtime though ... though only a small fraction are getting that much. And I'd think you do that, by willing to take any available shift that no one else will take.

 

[allabootmatt]

From one of the Globe bloggers:

'David Miller's war on children' http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090511.WBSteele20090511174454/WBStory/WBSteele

 

[realtycoon]

Because international and Commonwealth affairs is federal jurisdiction. Ignatieff seems to have ended the whole thing in a few minutes; as could have Harper if he actually did his job.

Personally, I think anyone whining about the Gardiner being closed for a few hours, is a hypocrit, who is more interested in their own convenience, than the massacre of thousands of people that appears to be still going on. Shame on you! And I really have to question where were the massive objections when the Gardiner got closed for the previous two Sundays!

What on earth is Miller supposed to do? He doesn't control the police; he doesn't control the army. Perhaps he should pass a by-law??

What about all of the other massacres, ethnic clensing and wars in the world. Palestenians, Macedonians in Greece, Darfur, Iraq, Afganistan, Pakistan.. The list goes on..

Miller, as the Mayor and leader, is suppossed to take a leadership role as oppossed to standing back and letting these terrorists take the streets..

Plus, what massacre in Sri Lanka, have you actually done some research or are you just listening to the protesters.. Many of these wars have many sides to the story..

 

[Eug]

willing to take any available shift that no one else will take.

What? A LOT of people would jump at the chance of taking that kind of job. That works out to what, ~$30 an hour, and $45 an hour for overtime? Even if I'm overestimating the number by $3 an hour, it's still very good pay.

I betcha if you dropped the pay by a third, non-union types would still want that job.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

realtycoon:

Blocking the Gardiner is wrong, but labelling them as terrorists for doing so? Give me a break. Have you actually done research on what terrorism as a term refers to, and how the current situation constitute terrorism? If this sort of BS is the best the right as to offer (as evidenced by those on city council and their behaviour), is it any surprised people actually vote for Miller?

AoD

 

[Therion]

With regards to unions: a case study.

A. A guy sits in the TTC booth, gives people tokens and change, and collects money. Can easily make $100,000 a year with a bit of overtime. Educational requirement: grade 9 math and about 15 minutes watching someone else do it.

B. Guy goes to university, gets a masters and ph.d. A total of about 10- years invested in education. Goes on to teache at U. of T. Average salary at U of T: $142,000. BTW, guy B is also unionized.

So with 10 years of post-secondary education, guy B makes less than $50k more than guy A. Does that seem fair to you?

With regards to the land transfer tax: my issue with this is primarily the same as the issue I have with most taxes. What business does the government have taxing my transaction with another private individual? This is mostly a philosophical debate. On the practical side, if the land transfer tax costs a person $5000, that's $5k they can't put into the down-payment, which means it goes into the mortgage. If the interest on the mortgage is 5%, you are paying another $5k in interest on your land transfer tax on a 20-year mortgage, and more if your amortization is longer. The same goes for the HST increase.

The problem with taxing housing is that the amounts are so large that they will impact downpayments, meaning you will pay for them twice over in interest.