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Rob Ford's Toronto

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CowboyLogic said:
Regardless of what you think of the man, Ford's campaign resonated and its largely because he eschewed wishy-washy PR-centric gimmicky politics.
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Right. "Stop the gravy train" isn't a PR-centric gimmick at all.

CowboyLogic said:
What the hell is "One Toronto"? What does that even mean? I don't think the average voter cares about "One Toronto" - they care about whether their taxes are going up.
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It's actually pretty simple - the idea is to do away with the decisive politics that create a "war on ______" or "us vs. them" climate. This City doesn't need a blowhard in charge who just wants to get his (uninformed) way - they need a leader who can bring together the disparate ends of the city, form an educated consensus on an issue-by-issue basis, and build the city with it.

CowboyLogic said:
I do not think that the next election is going to be won on a gimmicky, manufactured-for-social-media campaign.
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If you right, and if the "Summer of Ford" is any indication of the things to come from Ford's new staff... then your man is in big trouble. As long as he doesn't get Liona Boyd to write his campaign theme song he might survive...
 
So the debate about the continued existence of the video continues. What of the rumours regarding Ford and his staff facing obstruction of justice?
 
Well, he ran on the promise that the subways isn't going to cost taxpayers a cent - and look, now we have half of what he was promised and the entire thing was funded by taxpayers. White = black, fait accompli.

AoD
 
So, is that a lineup for food in behind? If so, wow, party-hardy at Fordfest..... Not.
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The level of a mind that thinks standing in that kind of line up for a free hot dog is a good idea is exactly the level of a mind that thinks voting for Rob Ford is a good idea.


That map is hilarious. I love how the red line begins between Main and Victoria Park stations. I had no idea that there was new construction needed between those two stations!
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That glaringly stupid error is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of how moronic and unresearched his transit plan was. I love how the geniuses actually put in the disclaimer "diagram is not to scale". ha ha as if the scale is the problem.

What "closed loop" are they referring to? How much is it going to cost to convert Downsview and/or St George/Spadina stations to accommodate this "closed loop"? How much is it going to cost to convert the current Sheppard Line stations to 6-car trains? How much is it going to cost to add the new trains required to run on this "closed loop"?

And just how is this "closed loop" going to "vastly increase the effectiveness of our subway network"? It will vastly increase not just the capital budget to fund such ideas, but more importantly it will vastly increase the operating budget to run this new subway line using current B/D/S headways. It will also vastly decease the cost effectiveness of the subway system, as the new line will not have the necessary ridership to justify the cost.

Then there is the absurd notion that all this is coming in at $4 billion and running by 2015.
 
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freshcutgrass said:
The level of a mind that thinks standing in that kind of line up for a free hot dog is a good idea is exactly the level of a mind that thinks voting for Rob Ford is a good idea.
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If someone's willing to wait two hours to shake hands with Ford, they are also likely to take five minutes out of their day to vote for him. The only opinions that count are the ones that make it into the ballot box, and every one of them is worth the same.
 
Peepers said:
Warren Kinsella is full of sh*t. He is telling us now that the video is "gone baby gone" but not long ago on his blog he wrote this:
http://warrenkinsella.com/2013/08/the-rob-ford-crack-video-the-truth/
So how does a video that is "in the hands of many people" just disappear?
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His use of words is a bit confusing. I don't think he means the actual video is gone but rather the controversy surrounding it. Enough time has passed that Ford seems to have survived. Until the next time, that is...
 
guitarchitect said:
Right. "Stop the gravy train" isn't a PR-centric gimmick at all.
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My thoughts exactly. How does distilling what is supposed to be an entire campaign platform into a single soundbyte equate to cutting through the bullshit? It is exactly what bullshit is made of, simplistic answers to very complicated questions. :mad:
 
CowboyLogic said:
Regardless of what you think of the man, Ford's campaign resonated and its largely because he eschewed wishy-washy PR-centric gimmicky politics. Everybody knew what Ford was running for and what he wanted to do in office.
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guitarchitect said:
Right. "Stop the gravy train" isn't a PR-centric gimmick at all.
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This, exactly this. Not surprising that those supporting Ford have a selective memory of what he's done.

Remember people, until Ford is out of power, these things will keep on happening. Be aware that things like streetcars and bike lanes are battles that are dormant, not dead.

Ford says Sheppard subway is next on plate
BY DON PEAT, CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
FIRST POSTED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013 10:50 PM EDT | UPDATED: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2013 07:35 AM EDT

TORONTO - Mayor Rob Ford’s next transit battle could be a rematch over the Sheppard subway.

With the news the federal government was willing to contribute $660 million towards extending the Bloor-Danforth line to Sheppard Ave., Ford and his allies signalled Monday they aren’t giving up on extending the Sheppard subway from Don Mills Station to meet up with the new Scarborough subway.

“This is just the beginning,” Ford told Newstalk 1010 host Jerry Agar following the federal announcement.

“They approved the LRT on Sheppard — people don’t want the LRT on Sheppard — so I guess that will be our next subway plan is to tackle the LRTs on Sheppard and put subways along there to connect the loop between Don Mills and McCowan. It only makes sense.”

Last year, council rejected Ford’s push to extend the Sheppard subway to the Scarborough Town Centre. Councillors instead voted to revive the Sheppard LRT line killed by Ford when he swept into office.

The Scarborough subway plan council has requested would link up with the Sheppard LRT at McCowan Station. If the subway and the LRT are built, a rider wanting to go to the Scarborough Town Centre, via the Sheppard subway, would have to take the subway to its eastern end, switch to the Sheppard LRT and then hop on to the Scarborough subway.

Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly argued Monday’s federal announcement opens up the discussion of extending the Sheppard subway.

Councillor Doug Ford stressed it doesn’t make sense for two subways to be connected by a few kilometres of LRT.

“You have to close the loop with a subway,” he said. “It just makes sense.”

TTC CEO Andy Byford admitted from a transit perspective he could “see the attraction” of joining up the subways.

“But one thing at a time,” Byford said. “At the moment, (the Scarborough subway) is the thing that we’re talking about and that’s the only thing that has funding, but we do have a fully-funded plan for the (Sheppard) LRT.”
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http://www.torontosun.com/2013/09/23/ford-says-axing-lrts-on-sheppard-is-next
 
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Ford has his eyes on the Sheppard LRT now? Great. I guess that means another round of misinformation and more people thinking that the LRT will be just like a streetcar. The circus never stops.
 
This is a really strange turn of events. Never would I have ever imagined that we'd end up with a conservative populist pushing so hard for subways. I think the provincial liberals would be well served to propose a Downtown Relief LRT plan and move as quickly as possible with funding, EAs and community consultations, so that Ford has time to scrap it and rally our beloved suburbs in supporting subways subways subways.
 
I don't understand people's obsession with subways. Yes, it's nice that it's away from traffic and it's fast (at times) but that's about it. I would rather be above ground where I can look out the window at things, have the sun coming in, have the ability to exit and flee the area if an emergency occurs instead of being underground in a shoe box with nothing to look at but the floor. Subways can be depressing.
 
dforthandbview said:
I don't understand people's obsession with subways. Yes, it's nice that it's away from traffic and it's fast (at times) but that's about it. I would rather be above ground where I can look out the window at things, have the sun coming in, have the ability to exit and flee the area if an emergency occurs instead of being underground in a shoe box with nothing to look at but the floor. Subways can be depressing.
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I agree -- I live on Danforth near Broadview (presumably where you do as well, based on your handle), and to get downtown I much prefer to take the streetcar than the subway, even though its a farther walk for me, and tends to be slower.
 
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