Rob Ford's Toronto

[JasonParis]

All the streetcars will be gone. This is very sad, we will become another Phoenix, Atlanta and Dallas.

Who are all currently building tram lines. OK, not Atlanta, but the other two.

 

[Gavin]

Arts and culture? well... I don't think I should be funding someone elses 'hobby'. If the're really passionate and talented, they'll be fine selling their material to willing enthusiasts. The pretend artists can go ahead and get a real job.

Mayor Ford's Toronto, everybody...

 

[Asterix]

maybe the police will be contracted out.

Rob Ford has said he stands 100% behind the police. When has he ever suggested he would contract them out?

Would that even be legal in Canada?

 

[Dilla]

Rob Ford has said he stands 100% behind the police. When has he ever suggested he would contract them out?

Would that even be legal in Canada?

I believe he said he'd be hiring 50 more police. Way to stick it to the unions, Rob.

 

[js97]

Mayor Ford's Toronto, everybody...

Will you fund my Mixed Martial Arts school, or maybe my ambition to semi-pro sports?


Even though I'm not good enough to make it to the majors, I will be good enough to receive grants?

How does 25 dollars a year from every tax payer to fund my 'passion'?

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Streetcars aren't going anywhere. It's just rhetoric to gather support from anti-transit Torontonians. Once faced with the reality of adding more buses and bus drivers (which means more salary expense) it will clash with his penny pinching mandate.

Who are all currently building tram lines. OK, not Atlanta, but the other two.

And that's the worst part, we will move back while those places move forward.

I am looking forward to lower taxes, though

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Maybe he will support the NFL to Toronto.

 

[GraphicMatt]

Will you fund my Mixed Martial Arts school, or maybe my ambition to semi-pro sports?


Even though I'm not good enough to make it to the majors, I will be good enough to receive grants?

How does 25 dollars a year from every tax payer to fund my 'passion'?

I'd support various tax breaks and incentives for people who are establishing teams, leagues, facilities, etc. in the city. It's smart policy.

 

[Gavin]

Will you fund my Mixed Martial Arts school, or maybe my ambition to semi-pro sports?


Even though I'm not good enough to make it to the majors, I will be good enough to receive grants?

How does 25 dollars a year from every tax payer to fund my 'passion'?

Demonstrate the broader economic impact of your MMA school, the indirect jobs it creates, and the increse in tax revenue that it brings and we'll talk.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

I have yet to see what Mr. Ford plans to cut (except for 'waste'). My guess is that the garbage contracts will be tendered, as he's seen that process happen on the west side (although I'm not certain what the implication of busting that contract so early on will be for the city.)

Not replacing retirees and maybe trying to buy out some employees with an early retirement package?

Will Ford be the mayor for the Pan Ams in his first term? That would go a long way towards telling me the fate of Waterfront Toronto funding.

The Queen's Quay re-do is pooched. Porter gets its bridge. The extra cash thrown at beautification is slashed.

 

[Gavin]

I'd support various tax breaks and incentives for people who are establishing teams, leagues, facilities, etc. in the city. It's smart policy.

Also, this.

 

[Frankie1984]

The Y-U-S line if Ford gets his hands on the TTC budget.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

So will all the suburban whiners and losers move back to Toronto if Ford wins? They have to put their money where their mouth is.

 

[W. K. Lis]

We are going to get new highways and artery roads. We will see lower taxes and worse service as a result.

From thetimes-tribune.com:

Road builders and pavers are breathing a sigh of relief as asphalt prices backed off a two-year high, but they still confront challenges as work generated by federal stimulus money dries up and private jobs are at a standstill.

...

Early this year, asphalt prices soared, from $427 a ton to $508 in the first few months of 2010 - a time when price usually dips from inactivity. Some feared a summer like 2008, when prices jumped to more than $800 per ton.

"At that price, everyone just pulled the plug on projects," Mr. Hoffman said.

In recent weeks, however, the price in eastern Pennsylvania retreated a bit to $493.

Better hope that the price of oil stays down. If, sorry when, the oil prices go up, road building and repair will become expensive again. Wonder what magic Ford will have to keep the price of asphalt down so he wouldn't have to increase taxes to pay for the increases outside his fiefdom.

 

[allabootmatt]

I'd like to go on record as opposing the premise of this thread, since I think we are a very, very long way from a situation where we need to be battening down the hatches for a Ford mayoralty. As I have noted in other threads, if you compare apples to apples across polls his support has been identical since mid-August. Much of the sticker shock at the 46 percent figure comes because its universe is decided voters, as opposed to the likely voters used by most Toronto polls.

That said, I can't help but contemplate what a Ford mayoralty might look like. The issue I keep coming back to is streetcars, the loss of which I would find heartbreaking--to say nothing of financially ruinous and a calamity for transit. Here's hoping that's just a silly bit of electioneering as suggested above. Does anyone know for sure what procedural steps would be required to actually move toward removal, eg how much could be done at ExComm/TTC board level, rather than through Council?

However, I had another thought. Let's say Ford wins, and does so with reasonable support in the core. Is that better for the core, since he won't see it as hostile territory to smash and grab, or worse, since he will feel he has a mandate in imposing his harebrained policies (eg, streetcar removal) there?