Rob Ford's Toronto

[js97]

js97:

If you haven't been paying notice, most newspapers have declining readership, period. And besides, look at NP - has it ever even generated a profit? The strange thing though is that you don't see its columnist asking for market forces to be the guilding light (unlike everything else), for obvious reasons - they'd be out of a job.

AoD

Even more proof that poor reporting and heavy political leanings reduce readership

I rarely read the Post and don't know the last time I've come across the Sun, if ever. Just because I think the Star has become a leftist rag, it doesnt' mean I cling onto my bible and read the post or Sun.

 

[nfitz]

And yes, the Star has really sunk to a new low.. talk about a partisan rag! And they wonder why readership has been in the decline..

Partisan? Most Torontonians don't support Ford. The Star doesn't support Ford.

Declining readership? It has the biggest circulation of any newspaper in Canada. Even more than the national papers. Readership of all newspapers has certainly fallen over the years, though the most recent report I saw showed the Star readership had gone up.

The Star's biggest competition within the City of Toronto is Metro - also published by the Toronto Star. I dare say that combining the two, that that Torstar's resdership within Toronto is higher than ever.

I'm not sure how one can call The Star a leftist rag. They were attacking Miller and Pantalone heavily.

 

[MetroMan]

Ford emerged from McGuinty’s office about 25 minutes into what was supposed to be an hour-long meeting.

It doesn't look like these two are going to be able to work well together. It sounds to me like Ford went in unwilling to compromise and McGuinty gave him straight answers like "binding contracts" / "money already spent" / "impossible to build subways in 4 years" ... and Ford went out the door with steam coming out of his ears.

 

[BobBob]

Maybe he just needed a snack.

 

[Jonny5]

If McGuinty offered to have the meeting at the Mandarin things might have turned out better.

 

[PinkLucy]

Kathleen Wynne was very clear last week that changes to transit planning would need to be discussed in council and that the mayor could not make decisions about it unilaterally. Rob has to learn that he's just the mayor, not king.

 

[nfitz]

If he does realise that, there's going to be a hissy fit like we've never seen before. Hopefully someone get's it to YouTube quickly!

 

[PinkLucy]

I'm sure it's going to happen, and I do so hope it gets captured on video. It will be epic.

 

[MetroMan]

Yeah. Kouvolis kept him remarkably in check for most of the campaign but people expect more in depth answers from the Mayor than "we're going to end the gravy train" and "respect for the tax payers". He's going to loose his cool at some point and as far as I know, all open council sessions are taped and accessible to the public. It's a matter of time before he blows up.

 

[Herman_muntz]

Transit city will be axed first, expect waterfront toronto to get axed next http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/12/07/16455666.html

 

[GraphicMatt]

Jesus, can't he go after things that don't have a ton of provincial and federal money behind them? This is literally in pissing-away-money territory.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Perhaps he should drag his fat a*s (excuse me) onto the waterfront, WDL and EBF and take a look at the work that's being done - and done properly with an attention to detail that HE should seek to emulate elsewhere in the city, I might add.

AoD

 

[Redroom Studios]

I've been envisioning things devolving into violent protest as was mentioned on previous pages here. My sense is that the only group with strong enough vested interests and some recent experiences would be the unionized city workers. Ford has made clear that he intends to do away with these unionized employees, while increasing the size of the police force. We saw some anger boiling over during the garbage strike 2 summers ago and in that situation both sides were nominally looking for an agreeable solution. When confronted outright and threatened with termination of their jobs, the violence could easily get out of hand. But not to worry right? There'll be more police by then to contain the protests. And the powerful will yet again have their way as the lesser humans battle it out amongst each other...

 

[GraphicMatt]

Don Cherry just kicked off Ford's tenure by wearing a pink blazer and saying to council chamber that "I'm wearing pink today for all the pinkos out there riding bicycles" and closing with "put that in your pipes you left wing kooks."

Classy.

 

[Automation Gallery]

Don Cherry just kicked off Ford's tenure by wearing a pink blazer and saying to council chamber that "I'm wearing pink today for all the pinkos out there riding bicycles" and closing with "put that in your pipes you left wing kooks."
Classy.

Hahaha.. good one