Rob Ford's Toronto

[Voltz]

Scarborough has Fords back. There is no way we will ever let Ainslie get re-elected after he sold out Scarborough with his LRT vote. Everyone here cant wait till the next election....

Hopefully I'm not the only Scarborough resident who is capable of rational thought.

 

[pattycakes]

Scarborough has Fords back. There is no way we will ever let Ainslie get re-elected after he sold out Scarborough with his LRT vote. Everyone here cant wait till the next election....

Well, I'm a resident of Scarborough and I can't wait to see the back of Ford. Stop speaking for all of Scarborough, most people I know can't believe the GONG SHOW that Ford has brought to Toronto.

Worst mayor ever!

LRT is the only LOGICAL solution to the density/cost issue in Scarborough - I want transit that serves the most people, and more importantly, the people that need it the most!

 

[pattycakes]

Hopefully I'm not the only Scarborough resident who is capable of rational thought.

No Voltz, you are not alone.

 

[typezed]

Until recently I lived in Scarborough. Stand on the overpass on Eglinton at Kennedy station. You can see downtown from there. From how many places downtown can you pick out the area around Kennedy station? See the difference why one area might need a higher order of transit infrastructure than the other? On the TTC all subway routes run to downtown. Building a three or five stop subway line that mostly replaces the SRT isn't making getting around Scarborough using transit any easier. It's simply an extension of the route to downtown. Contrary to what Fordites believe, this decision reinforces the dominance of downtown in transit. LRT that could cover much greater territory for the same cost offered a chance to construct something of a network that would allow someone to get from one area of Scarborough to another, or even to North York or northern Etobicoke, without the only efficient way being through Yonge & Bloor.

 

[GeekGirl]

Scarborough has Fords back. There is no way we will ever let Ainslie get re-elected after he sold out Scarborough with his LRT vote. Everyone here cant wait till the next election....

Sorry, but no. I live in Scarborough, I favour LRTs and Ford most definitely does not represent me.

 

[rm20010]

Hell I'm right at the terminus of the B-D subway extension - born and lived in Scarborough since birth - and I can't wait until this foolish fuck is out of office.

I'm tired of Ford using Scarborough as a convenient election tool. Scarborough doesn't mean shit to him. It's just a pool of votes for him as far as he concerned. Who else would visit Agincourt Mall or ride the SRT *just once* to campaign for votes?

 

[TheTigerMaster]

October 2014 can't come soon enough. I just can't wait to see his smug little face when he has been to give his concession "speech"

 

[kicked it in the sun]

John Tory is a 3 time perenial loser and probably doesn't want something that isn't a sure thing.

yeah, why would anyone think that john tory is the go-to guy for right-leaning voters or that he'd seriously consider jumping into this shit show? aside from sliding into ernie eves' seat once he was elected leader of the tories, he hasn't ever succeeded in being elected! lost against miller for the mayoralty; lost as leader of the opposition against then-education minister kathleen wynne, a loss compounded by the fact of his having single-handedly blown the provincial election for his party; lost a safe pc seat in a by-election to enter the legislature to take up his position as opposition leader. how is it that people think that he'd succeed against 1) a guy who has been elected mayor; 2) a woman who holds commanding leads in every poll released over the past 2 years, a woman who also happens to be a nationally-known figure with a track record of electoral success? i'd bring up the ignatieff parallel if this tory guy were much more accomplished and had lost fewer times. like facing a third place (or lower?) finish on this one, i don't see this guy taking the plunge.

 

[Electrify]

That's exactly what would happen. John Tory is a Tory in name only. He embraces mushy left-wing causes such as "equity and diversity". Tory is the co-chair of "DiverseCity" a bigoted left-wing organization that advocates raced-based hiring. He is the chair of "CivicAction" another left-wing organization. Tory supports raising taxes. Of course Tory was famously dumped as leader of the Provincial PC party over his plan to extend public funding to religious schools which would have resulted in - for example - taxpayer funded Madrasas in Ontario!

I don't think John Tory would appeal to many Ford voters. I can't stand the guy. I can imagine a lot of Olivia Chow's supporters would be comfortable with Tory and would strategically move to Tory if they thought that that was what was needed to defeat Ford.

While I appreciate your perspective and opinion, I have to ask, did you forget to take your meds or something?

 

[Electrify]

yeah, why would anyone think that john tory is the go-to guy for right-leaning voters or that he'd seriously consider jumping into this shit show? aside from sliding into ernie eves' seat once he was elected leader of the tories, he hasn't ever succeeded in being elected! lost against miller for the mayoralty; lost as leader of the opposition against then-education minister kathleen wynne, a loss compounded by the fact of his having single-handedly blown the provincial election for his party; lost a safe pc seat in a by-election to enter the legislature to take up his position as opposition leader. how is it that people think that he'd succeed against 1) a guy who has been elected mayor; 2) a woman who holds commanding leads in every poll released over the past 2 years, a woman who also happens to be a nationally-known figure with a track record of electoral success? i'd bring up the ignatieff parallel if this tory guy were much more accomplished and had lost fewer times. like facing a third place (or lower?) finish on this one, i don't see this guy taking the plunge.

I think it is because he is perceived as a moderate who can reach out to left leaning voters. He may have lost against McGuinty, but people were still pissed about Harris. If he were leader of the PCs now, they would land a majority hands down since so many are upset with the Liberals. Instead with Hudak at the helm, an NDP majority looks more likely than a Conservative minority in a year from now.

On the Scarborough issue, if I were a councilor I would have to vote in favour of a subway. First, the political momentum was behind an extension rather than a new line, for better or worse. Second, while there is plenty of opportunity to expand the SRT to better handle the passenger demand, the fact is that this is a well used medium capacity route which would benefit from an upgrade to a high capacity line rather than from another medium capacity substitute. Finally it would better connect the Scarborough growth centre to downtown, as all of the other growth centers in Toronto are connected by subway.

While the SRT replacement would have been more cost effective of the two, it was hardly perfect. More specifically, rather than tearing up the line for 3 years to put in something with a little more capacity at best, they could have simply bought new rolling stock* for the line and used the money saved to extend it right into Malvern and beyond.

*And while Bombardier's current ART models would not work on the line, the fact is that most all transit vehicles are modified to work within a current system. Bombardier could easily modify their current MARK trains or design their new models to work on the SRT.

 

[Tulse]

I think it is because he is perceived as a moderate who can reach out to left leaning voters.

Is he? I perceive him as a Conservative back room hack and empty suit whose major political move was to pander to social conservatives with religious school funding. He'd be a really hard sell as being ok for progressives. He has absolutely no legislative or executive record, nothing concrete that could be pointed to as representing how he would likely govern -- all people have to go on is his years as a Conservative party hack who couldn't actually win elections. He only seems reasonable and serious because Ford is so bat-guano insane.

 

[Silence&Motion]

Is he? I perceive him as a Conservative back room hack and empty suit whose major political move was to pander to social conservatives with religious school funding. He'd be a really hard sell as being ok for progressives. He has absolutely no legislative or executive record, nothing concrete that could be pointed to as representing how he would likely govern -- all people have to go on is his years as a Conservative party hack who couldn't actually win elections. He only seems reasonable and serious because Ford is so bat-guano insane.

Just thought this post was worth repeating. Can we stop treating John Tory as being anywhere remotely on the same planet as Olivia Chow either in terms of ideology or political savvy?

Also, both Ford and Chow have die-hard "true believer" supporters. That's a huge asset. Miller had them. So did Lastman. Barbara Hall didn't. George Smitherman didn't. And neither does Tory.

 

[blackballed]

Is he? I perceive him as a Conservative back room hack and empty suit whose major political move was to pander to social conservatives with religious school funding. He'd be a really hard sell as being ok for progressives. He has absolutely no legislative or executive record, nothing concrete that could be pointed to as representing how he would likely govern -- all people have to go on is his years as a Conservative party hack who couldn't actually win elections. He only seems reasonable and serious because Ford is so bat-guano insane.

Ding, Ding, Ding! We have a winner! Brilliant comment.

 

[blackballed]

Purely out of curiosity, does anyone know what Ford devotes such a disproportionate amount of time to the issue of graffiti? Is it really that big of a problem? Because he sure acts like it is? Is it a racial thing? He's like a religious zealot about it.

 

[MetroMan]

Purely out of curiosity, does anyone know what Ford devotes such a disproportionate amount of time to the issue of graffiti? Is it really that big of a problem? Because he sure acts like it is? Is it a racial thing? He's like a religious zealot about it.

Ford's entire Mayorship is based on things that personally piss him off. He hates above ground transit because it bothers him when he gets stuck behind a streetcar so he'll even override his anti debt anti tax stance and spend billions of dollars to ensure no more "streetcars" are built. He just happens to hate graffiti so he spends an unreasonable amount of time on this cause even though it's not really a big problem in Toronto.