Rob Ford's Toronto

[ChesterCopperpot]

Sarah Thomson wants us to dig the DRL

https://www.facebook.com/mysarahthomson/posts/10151829053429673#!/events/304083779734520/

 

[guitarchitect]

Sarah Thomson wants us to dig the DRL

https://www.facebook.com/mysarahthomson/posts/10151829053429673#!/events/304083779734520/

Considering it has to be built before the Scarborough line, digging is probably a good idea.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

So is this guy getting reelected?

 

[CowboyLogic]

Thomson ran on subways funded by transit taxes, Rossi ran on a giant tunneled highway into downtown, and Smitherman ran on thinking he was going to win pretty handily.

Rossi's giant tunnel only came into play later on in the campaign though, when he was trailing badly in the polls. I actually supported him in the infancy of that mayoral campaign (to my credit, he was the only semi-right-wing candidate and by the end of the campaign, I would have voted for Smitherman, Pantalone or Thomson over him) and his initial campaign was centered around being anti-cycling. He gave several speeches about that at the time. Once Ford came into the equation, he switched to a more centrist position. It was only a few months before the election date, after Kinsella joined his team, that he floated the whole "tunnel through downtown Toronto" idea.

Right. "Stop the gravy train" isn't a PR-centric gimmick at all.

No, it actually isn't.

Having a slogan isn't a "gimmick", especially when its one that directly relates to the policies and core issues of the candidate. A gimmick is campaigning on some vague feel-good buzzword which has no meaning or relation to anything.

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.

That's not going to do. People want to know where their politicians stand on issues. That was one of Ford's strengths: everyone knew where he stood on any issue. Chow's a nice lady and that might be enough to give her a lead in the polls at this point, but the average voter is not going to vote based on how nice she is.

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...

I don't know if Ford will win again, but I do know that "One City" will only increase his chances. Mark my words. I'm going to bet Chow drops this halfway into the campaign and starts attack ads.

 

[PinkLucy]

A gimmick is campaigning on some vague feel-good buzzword which has no meaning or relation to anything.

You mean like the gravy train that was shown to not exist?

 

[Johnny Au]

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.

There is also easy cell phone reception in the above-ground sections of the subway.

 

[tariqata]

John Lorinc's piece on how Ford's "subways" discourse has damaged effective transportation planning in the city for a long-time to come seems depressingly accurate to me.

For the foreseeable future, major transit investment moves in Toronto will be entirely determined by council and its electoral politics, and by the narrative that Ford has provided, which is that we should settle for nothing less than subways — cost, efficacy, and planning considerations be damned. ...

Indeed, because we no longer care, at any level of government, about subjecting our transit investment choices to a rational policy framework, the most crucial project in the GTA will always lose out in the funding lottery because it has the most diffuse constituency and the most conceptually complicated purpose.

I suspect this will hold true even if Ford loses in 2014, and that may be the single most damaging thing he's done to the city.

 

[dforthandbview]

People want to know where their politicians stand on issues. That was one of Ford's strengths: everyone knew where he stood on any issue. Chow's a nice lady and that might be enough to give her a lead in the polls at this point, but the average voter is not going to vote based on how nice she is.

I thought average people voted for Ford because he came across as a nice, regular guy. But people won't vote for Chow because she's nice?

 

[CowboyLogic]

You mean like the gravy train that was shown to not exist?

Whether it exists or not is one thing, but it at least refers to a specific issue ("wasteful spending and efficiencies"). "One Toronto" doesn't refer to anything. Can you glean any sort-of policy, political position or focus on an issue from the slogan "One Toronto"? She's taking a cue from Trudeau's playbook, but Chow is no Trudeau.

I'm going to get raked over the coals for going against this on here, but just wait until next year. Whether or not Chow wins, it won't be with this campaign.

 

[jje1000]

You mean like the gravy train that was shown to not exist?

Spot on again. CowboyLogic, do you remember that KPMB review of city finances that showed that there wasn't all that much money to save?

"One city" attempts to bring the city together and bridge partisan divides that have been particularly pronounced since Ford came into power- it's not just a meaningless term.

In the end, "Stop the gravy train" is as much a slogan as "One city together." You can do all the mental gymnastics you want, but fact is fact.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Whether it exists or not is one thing, but it at least refers to a specific issue ("wasteful spending and efficiencies"). "One Toronto" doesn't refer to anything. Can you glean any sort-of policy, political position or focus on an issue from the slogan "One Toronto"? She's taking a cue from Trudeau's playbook, but Chow is no Trudeau.

I'm going to get raked over the coals for going against this on here, but just wait until next year. Whether or not Chow wins, it won't be with this campaign.

What your saying is that Toronto want straight forward talk.


I agree. People want someone they can have a beer with. Chow and Miller were not that.

 

[freshcutgrass]

"One Toronto" doesn't refer to anything. Can you glean any sort-of policy, political position or focus on an issue from the slogan "One Toronto"?

What in the world leads you to think Chow won't have specific campaign policies/political positions or issues?

 

[ttk77]

Whether it exists or not is one thing, but it at least refers to a specific issue ("wasteful spending and efficiencies"). "One Toronto" doesn't refer to anything. Can you glean any sort-of policy, political position or focus on an issue from the slogan "One Toronto"? She's taking a cue from Trudeau's playbook, but Chow is no Trudeau.

I'm going to get raked over the coals for going against this on here, but just wait until next year. Whether or not Chow wins, it won't be with this campaign.

So you don't think the division and animosity between different parts of the city is a real definable issue worthy of policy? I take it you're of a mind with Rob Ford in that you don't care about anyone else's desires for the city so long as you're getting what you want?

 

[guitarchitect]

Having a slogan isn't a "gimmick", especially when its one that directly relates to the policies and core issues of the candidate. A gimmick is campaigning on some vague feel-good buzzword which has no meaning or relation to anything.

Given that you're using this sentence to prop up "Stop the Gravy Train" and cut down "One Toronto", I'm pretty sure that there's no point in talking to you because it makes zero sense.

Otherwise - the campaign hasn't even started, and we don't even know who the candidates are. You can't critique a not-yet-candidate who doesn't have a platform (....because she isn't a candidate) just because the incumbent has a set of values you're already familiar with. Get real.

 

[tariqata]

Whether it exists or not is one thing, but it at least refers to a specific issue ("wasteful spending and efficiencies"). "One Toronto" doesn't refer to anything. Can you glean any sort-of policy, political position or focus on an issue from the slogan "One Toronto"? She's taking a cue from Trudeau's playbook, but Chow is no Trudeau.

I'm going to get raked over the coals for going against this on here, but just wait until next year. Whether or not Chow wins, it won't be with this campaign.

I think you might be partially wrong, though I'd agree that "One Toronto" probably won't be enough to win the election for Chow by itself. I do believe that a successful campaign against Ford needs to emphasize that a key part of Chow's mission and vision for Toronto is to connect all the diverse and far-flung corners of the city, through hard infrastructures like public transportation (that is properly planned, I pray) but also through more nebulous processes like collectively defining a direction for the city.

Ford doesn't appear to have a vision for Toronto as a whole beyond 'low taxes'. His opponent will need to have that kind of vision, but in my opinion, to win a sufficient swath of the suburbs, Chow will also have to find ways to convince residents of Scarborough and Etobicoke that they will have as much of a voice in defining that vision as the downtowners.