Rob Ford's Toronto

[soimelk]

I am a private pilot, and have many friends in aviation related professions. I realize the massive economic benefit of having an airport downtown that can service aircraft with greater range. I am amazed that the Q400s we fly into the airport right now, people are OK with keeping, but you tell them "we're building an aircraft that will be as loud or quieter than the current ones, it just uses a different method of propulsion" and they freak the f*** out. People keep framing the argument as "no jets". What have jets ever done to you, man? They're more efficient than turboprops and can be quieter with the proper equipment. It's easy to measure noise. If Bombardier delivers on their promise of jets quieter than turboprops, what's your problem?

Then there's the issue of expansion. Well, the runway needs to be expanded anyway since Transport Canada put in new regulations for runoff areas. A bad landing could currently put a plane in the water, do we want that? We'll need to extend the runway anyway. Porter wants a little bit more so that they could fly larger aircraft in. It's not a big deal. It's only going to slightly extend the marine exclusion zone, it's not the doom and gloom everyone thinks it is. It is a large city, and large cities evolve. At least we are lucky we have a lake and the airport isn't in the middle of the city, other cities are not so lucky and have heavies flying right into the city centre.

Alright. So if you're with me that the noise isn't an issue, that the extension itself needs to be done anyway, what do we have left? The traffic situation at Bathurst St there. "Think about the children" and all that. I accept that that is a concern, but fellas, you're downtown. There's going to be traffic. That problem is a completely separate concern from "nojetsTO". Jets are not going to cause traffic problems, Rob Ford's policies cause traffic problems. If you assume, like I do, that the city will keep growing then the area is going to become higher trafficked as a matter of fact, regardless of whether you put bigger planes or more flight slots into Billy Bishop.

And this is just a personal opinion, but I prefer the whine of a jet engine to the hammering noise of a turboprop feathering its props. If we can confirm that the aircraft are no louder than the current Q400s in terms of air pressure (decibels), what's the harm?

One rule of politics I've adopted during the Ford era is whatever Ford is passionate for, generally it is the wrong response or idea. In this case, Porter and the Port Authority are asking Torontonians to approve an expansion of the airport, and for taxpayers to pay for at least 100 million in landisde infrastructure to make it easier for Porter to expand. Besides the many obvious negative consequences that a mid sized international airport on the waterfront would cause, the fact corporate welfare is being expected by the petitioning parties and Ford, I'd say the idea to expand doesn't make fiscal sense.

 

[PinkLucy]

What about the fact Ford's drug use put him and the city at risk of exploitation for criminal gain? How is that NOT an election issue? If Tory can't see that he's not fit for the office.

Not to mention partying in his office at City Hall. At the very least, that moves it out of the realm of personal. I never had much respect for Tory, but now I have none.

 

[GavinTheAlmighty]

What about the fact Ford's drug use put him and the city at risk of exploitation for criminal gain? How is that NOT an election issue? If Tory can't see that he's not fit for the office.

I'm guessing Tory sees it just fine, and he wants to try to pull some of Ford's support who would otherwise be put off by "bullying".

 

[Cooper]

Not to mention partying in his office at City Hall. At the very least, that moves it out of the realm of personal. I never had much respect for Tory, but now I have none.

And let's not forgot how his staff told TPS that Rob had a bad practice of showing up for work wasted. Rob's substance problems are not limited to what he does on weekends.

 

[TRA]

the challenges of creating a common economic vocabulary:
http://netgainpartners.com/blog/of-dollars-and-sense/

Government does nothing without money. Every decision has a financial consequence, an economic consequence, or both. Yet we can’t talk about the big economic picture in an intelligible way because public discourse has been hijacked by ignorant or oblivious candidates and their media enablers. We short-change ourselves, over and over again, by indulging in such small and lazy minded discourse. If we do nothing else, agreement on a distinction between “financial” and “economic,” would foster a more reasonable debate and lead to more rational decisions about how to make the people of Toronto more prosperous while balancing the City’s books. But judging from the language of the candidates and the timidity of the debates, it’s evident that no one’s ready to engage in substantive discussion about our economic future.

 

[euler]

One rule of politics I've adopted during the Ford era is whatever Ford is passionate for, generally it is the wrong response or idea.

Ah, you're expecting Ford to use actual facts and data. We are talking about aviation here, other than spaceflight the pinnacle of transportation. Facts and data are important. A broken clock is right twice a day, Ford's like a broken clock, although he has a worse track record.

 

[TRA]

I wonder if they'll want to partner with my site, http://robfordformermayor.com

Cute!

 

[John_Dee]

I'm guessing Tory sees it just fine, and he wants to try to pull some of Ford's support who would otherwise be put off by "bullying".

Pretty much. Tory, as usual, is being his typical gutless wonder self, hoping to peel off Ford voters without offending them by badmouthing poor, innocent, persecuted widdle Wob Fowd. Which is a fool's errand. Ford's remaining diehards don't want a "respectable" conservative ripping off Ford's bullshit positions, they want Ford.

 

[soimelk]

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/03/2...b-fords-personal-issues-in-campaign-for-mayor

TORONTO - Mayoral candidate John Tory says Mayor Rob Ford’s drug and alcohol use are “personal issues” and should be off limits while on the campaign trail.

The former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader, Rogers Cable executive, and former talk radio host told the Toronto Sun on Saturday that while he acknowledges he used a recent mayoral debate to criticize mayor Rob Ford about associating with “criminals” and “gang types,” he won’t be going after Ford when it comes to the latter’s admitted use of crack cocaine.

“I said repeatedly when I was on radio that I thought those were personal issues, and that they are serious personal issues that do impair the ability of anybody to do a job like mayor,” said Tory before speaking with potential voters at Toronto’s Festival of Beer at the Evergreen Brick Works on Bayview Ave. “But they are personal issues, whereas I think when you hang around with criminals ... these are issues that I think are fair game to be talked about in the context of his fitness to continue do the job.”

Looks like Tory's gameplan is to entice Ford supporters who might be mollified into remaining with Ford because of "personal attacks" from his challengers. I've always thought Tory always struck a very weak tone on this issue when he had his radio show because he coveted the Nation. It's a sad state of affairs when there is such a large chunk of the electorate who's standard for fitness for public office is so low.

 

[soimelk]

Ah, you're expecting Ford to use actual facts and data. We are talking about aviation here, other than spaceflight the pinnacle of transportation. Facts and data are important. A broken clock is right twice a day, Ford's like a broken clock, although he has a worse track record.

City staff said clearly last week that it would be foolhardy to approve the expansion now given a complete assessment of impacts and risks to the city and its waterfront communities has not been undertaken. It looks like everyone who is pushing for immediate expansion is operating on the Ford system, except in this case, it isn't even close to the right time.

 

[euler]

City staff said clearly last week that it would be foolhardy to approve the expansion now given a complete assessment of impacts and risks to the city and its waterfront communities has not been undertaken. It looks like everyone who is pushing for immediate expansion is operating on the Ford system, except in this case, it isn't even close to the right time.

I do think they need to assess all the factors, it's their job. There's no rush to expand, the planes aren't even ready.

 

[Grinder]

If Tory believes that there is a good chance that an arrest is coming, there is no reason to fight the personal issues battle at this point in the campaign.

That said, if someone is unreliable to be available for events because they are out of their head, then it is a personal issue that interferes with the job.

 

[OSS 117]

I'm guessing Tory sees it just fine, and he wants to try to pull some of Ford's support who would otherwise be put off by "bullying".

Yeah, Tory's going after Ford's base of crazies. Which is something that only makes sense if he thinks Ford isn't going to be around for them to vote for. Hmmmm...

 

[flonicky]

Yeah, Tory's going after Ford's base of crazies. Which is something that only makes sense if he thinks Ford isn't going to be around for them to vote for. Hmmmm...

And with Kouvalis as the strategy guy, it makes you wonder how calculated the risk is and what other scenarios they're weighing.

 

[requiem]

That said, if someone is unreliable to be available for events because they are out of their head, then it is a personal issue that interferes with the job.

Yup...there's the whole Garrison Ball issue and other incidents where our highest elected official gets wasted in public/thrown out/not invited back. And we saw from his calendar right after his night of videotaped crack smoking, he didn't show up to a single event to which he was invited.