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Rob Ford's Toronto

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evvabeing said:
blair is using past tense... this is what we have done... conducted investigations and placed it before the courts... the process that's going on right now is having the courts decide what can be made public. so, if they were going to arrest ford, they already would have, no?

i kinda hear him saying is he's trying to have us think rob didn't get any special treatment. that they approached this investigation without fear and without favour, so we should trust that rob is not involved.
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That's sort of what I'm getting, too. That when or If Rob doesn't get arrested, Blair doesn't want people thinking the cops are corrupt, or were coerced. Which they obviously are, if nothing comes of this.
 
I think Blair is hinting that Rob is involved, but the fact he hasn't been arrested means that they don't have anything of substance for charges to be laid. He's letting the court decide whether or not Rob's name will show up in warrants.
 
jaycola said:
I am very skeptical about the average cost per unit here. The 1 bedrooms might average $300K but not when the 2's and 3's are included.

What can they do to ensure these individuals don't stay in these units the rest of their lives? If I was given a new 2 bedroom unit on the lake for under $1200 per month, I think I'd do my best to stay there forever. Why would I ever work to get out of that situation if I could never have a hope to have such ideal accommodations?

I really would lie to live in Yorkville too...Maybe I can do summers at the lake and winters at Yorkville?
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What sort of sick society have we become?!

We should ban them from having beds. Then they'll work extra hard to buy their own home like proper people.
 
jaycola said:
I am very skeptical about the average cost per unit here. The 1 bedrooms might average $300K but not when the 2's and 3's are included.

What can they do to ensure these individuals don't stay in these units the rest of their lives? If I was given a new 2 bedroom unit on the lake for under $1200 per month, I think I'd do my best to stay there forever. Why would I ever work to get out of that situation if I could never have a hope to have such ideal accommodations?

I really would lie to live in Yorkville too...Maybe I can do summers at the lake and winters at Yorkville?
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They were just interviewing Councillor Balao (spelling?) on CBC. The City is not paying market value for the units. They will pay the cost of construction. The units will be managed by a nonprofit housing corporation separate from the condo corp
 
mjl08 said:
No way Ford would jump on that. He champions himself a defender of social housing. Going after those units would be a slap in the face of all those TCHC tenants he does DIY and grocery shopping for.
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As long as its not near Rob's home.

[video=youtube_share;8YZQ4oQjxgc]http://youtu.be/8YZQ4oQjxgc[/video]
 
evvabeing said:
blair is using past tense... this is what we have done... conducted investigations and placed it before the courts... the process that's going on right now is having the courts decide what can be made public. so, if they were going to arrest ford, they already would have, no?

i kinda hear him saying is he's trying to have us think rob didn't get any special treatment. that they approached this investigation without fear and without favour, so we should trust that rob is not involved.
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Except for the existence of Brazen II and a 480 page warrant for Lisi's pot arrest, I would be on board with this assessment.
 
jaycola said:
What can they do to ensure these individuals don't stay in these units the rest of their lives? If I was given a new 2 bedroom unit on the lake for under $1200 per month, I think I'd do my best to stay there forever. Why would I ever work to get out of that situation if I could never have a hope to have such ideal accommodations?

I really would lie to live in Yorkville too...Maybe I can do summers at the lake and winters at Yorkville?
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A friend of mine just got her parents (both in their mid-80's) into a market rental unit in the new Railway apartments on Dan Leckie Way. I guess they should be out hustling for jobs as day traders or something so that they can buy a house just because they've outlived their pension investments? And toss the building's disabled and mentally ill folks out into Canoe Landing park?
 
Just read on Don Peat's twitter that Isaac Ransom (formerly worked in Ford's office until Crack Scandal) is now new Councillor Leon's assistant. Hmmmmm......
 
Mayor Rob Ford queries affordable Toronto waterfront homes


From The Star, at this link:

Ford says he opposes building affordable units in the area, despite a city bylaw mandating that 20 per cent of the new neighbourhood must be open to lower-income residents.


Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says a city proposal to build between 70 and 75 affordable rental units in a waterfront condominium building is a waste of valuable real estate.

“You don’t use your waterfront for affordable housing, that’s the first thing,” Ford told reporters Tuesday.

“But then again, you get the province and the feds to give us money for affordable housing, which we need, and put it somewhere else,” he said.

“Where that other location will be, we’re not quite sure. But it shouldn’t be on the waterfront. That’s my position on it now, so I’m sort of torn on this one,” he added.

As the Star reported yesterday, city staff are proposing an innovative pilot project to incorporate affordable rental housing within a condominium building in the recently announced $1.1 billion Bayside neighbourhood development, east of Sherbourne Common and George Brown College.


The proposal is in keeping with the city’s Central Waterfront Secondary Plan, which stipulates that 20 per cent of all new housing in the East Bayfront area must be affordable.

“We have to start seeing condominiums as the neighbourhood itself,” said Councillor Ana Bailao, chair of the city’s affordable housing committee, which unanimously approved the proposal Tuesday. “They are vertical neighbourhoods, and that is how we have to start planning.”

Area Councillor Pam McConnell says Ford and some councillors have misunderstood the proposal. “This is all over talk radio, and even some councillors have come to me today saying they can’t support buying waterfront condos for the poor,” she said. “But they’ve got it all wrong.”

McConnell, who has been involved in negotiations with developers Hines and Tridel, said the city is simply moving about 75 units of its already approved affordable housing from a site on the east side of the Bayside neighbourhood and integrating them into a west-side site. The block of affordable units will operate as a permanent, independent non-profit company inside a building that will also house condominium units, she explained.

Not only does it mean the desperately needed units will be more integrated into the neighbourhood, they’ll be built about 10 years sooner than originally planned, she added.

Under the proposal, about $15 million of the $22.5 million cost of building the rental units would come from last spring’s federal-provincial affordable housing program.

A prospective non-profit or co-op housing company, which would own and operate the units, would kick in $500,000 and take out a $7 million mortgage, which it would cover through rents.
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What about the condos they are building near Rob's home, at Scarlett & Eglinton, as an alternative location then? See link.

Probably not.
 
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Rahb Ferd said:
“You don’t use your waterfront for affordable housing, that’s the first thing,†Ford told reporters Tuesday.
“But then again, you get the province and the feds to give us money for affordable housing, which we need, and put it somewhere else,†he said..
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Yes, absolutely, get them off the waterfront Rob!

Even better, why don't we put all of the affordable housing... together?? That way they can all relate to each other! I mean, we could build entire buildings of just affordable housing. It's kind of crazy that the poor people live like, right next to the rich people - how can we get them the services they need if they're all around the city, all spread out?

But that might be too oppressive, all those buildings together - so we should make sure they have a lot of green space and areas to walk. In fact, if we create cul-de-sacs instead of through-streets between the buildings, people will be able to walk freely around with minimal traffic. A pedestrian's paradise!

Anyone know any urban planners?! Let's get this idea off the ground!
 
I know so many people that preach the importance of mixed communities and affordable housing right up until it's time to send their kids to school in these mixed income schools. Then they are out of there so fast it ain't funny. Put your kids where your mouth is. Send your middle class kids to a school in that's a mix of poor and well off then we'll talk. Or buy a condo in one of these buildings and watch it not appreciate as your friend's downtown condo. Then we'll talk.

A lot of people that are all for mixed income communities don't practice what they preach. They aren't willing to bet their own investment in a home or their kids in the experiment.
 
RC8 said:
What sort of sick society have we become?!

We should ban them from having beds. Then they'll work extra hard to buy their own home like proper people.
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I am happy to hear that they are getting them at cost but $22.5 million to help 75 households is steep. The average value of a rental apartment is around $120,000. The affordable rent amount at $1149 makes sense for a rental unit with that evaluation. A $312,000 condo will cost more like $2000 to carry. That is a very large subsidy. The money would be better spent by spreading it over a larger number of people in more modest accommodations. I am fully supportive of subsidizing housing for the poor but I know that many take advantage of the generosity of our society. The situation is community housing is among the worst offenders. Generations of families live in such housing and it is not an amoral goal to get these people to make their own way.

I do not expect seniors to go out and find work but I do expect able bodied people to work, to support themselves and to make a positive contribution to society.
Without a doubt, some less deserving people will be granted this lottery win of subsidized housing and wll do everything they can to maintain their cherished place to to the loss of the more deserving.
 
jaycola said:
I am fully supportive of subsidizing housing for the poor but I know that many take advantage of the generosity of our society.
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I always see claims that there is a vast swath of people appearently gaming social services, but never any solid, credible numbers to support the assertion. It seems to me that the people who most take advantage of the "generosity of our society" are well off suit-wearing Serious People like our wonderful mayor and PM.

Maybe people should focus less on who they think deserves what, and more on providing the basics (food, shelter, healthcare and education) for everyone.
 
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