adma
Superstar
Or if he *did* have the votes, it'd be more on "generic right-of-centre mayor" grounds--which, come to think of it, is how a lot of his earlier "council victories" came about...
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Rob Ford's Toronto
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Or if he *did* have the votes, it'd be more on "generic right-of-centre mayor" grounds--which, come to think of it, is how a lot of his earlier "council victories" came about...
MetroMan
Senior Member
In the scrum after the vote, one reporter popped the cherry on Stintz' "Mayoral ambitions". It could be that she becomes the leader of a Mayorless City Council. Somebody is going to have to drive policy and it seems that there is nothing Ford can do to set policy himself -- specially after he's called council irrelevant. The media seem to like Stintz and she's gained the respect of most of council ranging the entire political spectrum.
A second after Ford was elected, I lost hope for Toronto and worried about a lost 4 years. Today, I'm excited about the prospects for this city over the next couple of years.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Well, considering the political risk she took, I think she earned that one.
AoD
AoD
Johnny Au
Senior Member
Karen Stintz has the guts to take down her former ally, the bully mayor, and she succeeded.
Tulse
Senior Member
If Council were Parliament, his government would have fallen. As it is, we're stuck with a now-embittered blowhard, unless he resigns. I think the city's best hope is for the cooler heads on council to create an informal "government of civic unity", and as much as possible run the city ignoring Ford.
Admiral Beez
Superstar
I think sometimes women are underestimated in politics. My friends in Gemany love how Engela Merkel sits quietly as the male polticos around her blow steam, and then does what she wants.
Stintz has done well to seek compromise and consensus from across the political spectrum at city hall. That's a good skill to have, and women seem to do it better. Not once has Stintz referred to anything as her plan, or her initiative or taken credit for anything.
Johnny Au
Senior Member
Newsflash: Rob Ford thinks he is the Indisputable Emperor of the Centre of the Universe! Not only that, he believes that both the geocentrists and the heliocentrists are wrong: the entire universe revolves around him. Unfortunately, he is just a bully in a mayor's position.
ShonTron
Moderator
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I deleted my post after realizing it was already mentioned and linked, but yeah, it's a great video. Love how the handler comes out right after the "irrelevant" remark.
BurlOak
Senior Member
Who did she compromise with? She took Transit City exactly with not one change. If she was going to leave TC alone and not make one modification, she could have saved a year and done it last April.
She did find consensus by agreeing to a few studies that will not amount to much (i.e. in a months time, Sheppard will be switched to LRT), just to secure a few extra votes.
neubilder
Banned
She gave Ford the opportunity to save face by putting forward a compromise between 'transit city' and Ford's 'subway or the highway'. Ford chose highway and council saved transit city, by a different name. This again, a tactful means of beating but not appearing to completely demean her opponent. Which on a subtle level makes Ford look even more pathetic. haha. just great.
toraerach
Active Member
Exactly. She tried to compromise with the at-grade Eglinton LRT + Sheppard extension to Victoria Park, a proposal which was DOA. When Ford dismissed the idea, she her only choice was to either toe the Ford Nation line (which would threaten her chances at re-election in her own ward) or hop into the Transit City bed with the Millerites who'd been supporting it all along (dragging along some of the on-the-fence centrists with her).
If there are any victors tonight, it's not Stintz - it's the people who were out there canvassing for Transit City during the early days of the Ford administration when the outlook was bleak. In some strange almost hilarious sort of way, it's precisely because Ford won that Transit City is back in vogue. Remember, had Smitherman won we'd be knee-deep in some other transit scheme.
Palma
Senior Member
Last April the councilors would not have gone against Ford.
gristle
Senior Member
Funny, but the Premier was just fine funding the original above-ground LRT's. Also, the Premier may not be too pumped about going against council when it has been found that the mayor's "cancellation" of the original plan was quite likely not within his right to do so.
The mayor doesn't like council. My guess is that they confuse him. I'm sure he's used to having his way at home, but democracy is a little different than that. Besides, they've left him loads of room to keep pursuing his fave Sheppard subway extension.
Finally, the Ontario Transportation Minister, Bob Chiarelli, was the out-going mayor of Ottawa when the light rail plan for that city was killed by the incoming village idiot mayor, Larry O'Brien. I'm sure he sees just a little of Larry (no pun intended) in mayor Bob'o, our village idiot mayor.
The mayor doesn't like council. My guess is that they confuse him. I'm sure he's used to having his way at home, but democracy is a little different than that. Besides, they've left him loads of room to keep pursuing his fave Sheppard subway extension.
Finally, the Ontario Transportation Minister, Bob Chiarelli, was the out-going mayor of Ottawa when the light rail plan for that city was killed by the incoming village idiot mayor, Larry O'Brien. I'm sure he sees just a little of Larry (no pun intended) in mayor Bob'o, our village idiot mayor.
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adma
Superstar
Seems to be a bit of a Ford-handler pattern: covering up media gaffes in a way that only serves to highlight and compound them...
Tewder
Senior Member
You could almost pity the mayor's ineptitude, if it weren't so dangerous.
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