Rob Ford's Toronto

[adma]

Appearances can be deceiving. Given everything we know about the details of growing up in that home, I think it's fair to say the Fords were never normal in any sense of the word. In another, better time, they might not have felt sufficiently emboldened to let their freak flag fly in quite so public a manner...but then, a hidden freakshow is still a freakshow.

Well, I did say "looked", as opposed to "were". (In related news, RIP Florence Henderson.)

 

[Videodrome]

Ford Nation's unwavering support is around 20-25%. Likely there will be enough people turned off by tolls to narrow the gap and make it a close race. Add a big name lefty into the group and you've got the potential for that buffoon to be mayor!

I wouldn't be bothered if Tory had competition, just not Doug Ford...

More on this:

Steve Paikin ‏@spaikin 2h2 hours ago
Just intvd Doug Ford. Says he was 95% sure he'd run in next Ont. Election. Until tolls anncmnt. Now strongly leaning to running for mayor.

 

[EagleEye]

Doug is going to be carrying on about running for mayor/premier/prime minister till the day he dies. I'm not going to worry about it at this point.

Tory, however, has been a massive disappointment.

 

[Thinker]

Doug is going to be carrying on about running for mayor/premier/prime minister till the day he dies. I'm not going to worry about it at this point.

Tory, however, has been a massive disappointment.

Not disappointed... Behaving as expected he would - Remember the phrase: Tory=Rob Ford part deux, better dressed and sober? Actually Tory will push through more of his assinine ideas because his butt monkeys haven't clued in yet. The reason transit is so bad is because they are grossly underfunded, we don't need a hybrid configuration of the Gardiner, do what staff suggested and tear it down. As for smart track and the 1 stop subway? Two years into this crap and nothing has been done.... No we are not taxing the home owners, but they's willing to nickle and dime us to death with tolls and other revenue tools.

 

[Jimmi T]

Pretty ballsy move by Tory. He could've easily won reelection by just coasting and kicking the ball down the field. Now he's opened a door knowing that it plays right into Dougie's hands. I don't mind paying tolls if they go to building the relief line or waterfront LRT but not f'n SmartTrack!

 

[sixrings]

Pretty ballsy move by Tory. He could've easily won reelection by just coasting and kicking the ball down the field. Now he's opened a door knowing that it plays right into Dougie's hands. I don't mind paying tolls if they go to building the relief line or waterfront LRT but not f'n SmartTrack!

I actually dont know if that is true. I think there are many who were in the "anybody but ford camp" to reevaluate their position after he decided to make a hybrid gardner, no actual movement on smarttrack other than toronto paying more money into it, the almost sale of toronto hydro, the danforth expansion, the questions about whats really going on with the unilever site. Ask me a week ago and I would say there is no way in hell I was voting for Tory again, however the tolls change my mind significantly because once they are up they may very well be there forever and eventually some of that money should flow into transit.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Except that 70% of people in the Toronto (not the 905) support tolls. See link.

A strong majority of Torontonians say they approve of implementing tolls on the DVP and the Gardiner Expressway to pay for transit and infrastructure, according to a new poll released Monday.

The Mainstreet Research poll, which was conducted on behalf of the Transit Alliance, surveyed 2,280 Toronto voters and asked respondents about three possible revenue streams to help pay for transit and infrastructure projects, including road tolls, a property tax hike and a Toronto sales tax.

When inquiring about tolls, the pollster wrote, “Proponents of road tolls for the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway say road tolls would force non-City of Toronto resident to pay their fair share, critics say road tolls are a unnecessary tax hike. Do you approve or disapprove of introducing tolls on the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway to pay for transit & infrastructure?”

In response to the question, 70 per cent of Toronto voters said they support road tolls while just 25 per cent said they disapprove of the idea.

Support for tolls was strongest downtown, with 77 per cent support. In Etobicoke, 61 per cent said they would support road tolls to fund infrastructure and transit and in Scarborough, 68 per cent supported the idea.

The other two possible revenue tools presented to respondents were not as popular.

When approaching the topic of a Toronto sales tax, the pollster told respondents that proponents of the tax believe it would be a “sustainable progressive tax that would affect residents based on how much they spend.”

The respondents were also told that critics of the tax argue it would “move sales outside the city and that the city of Toronto doesn’t have the authority to introduce a sales tax.”

When asked about their support for such a tax, only 21 per cent of those surveyed said they would be in favour of it.

Addressing the possibility of a property tax increase, Mainstreet told respondents that those in favour of a hike say Toronto’s property taxes are “low compared to the rest of the GTA.” Critics, according to the pollster, say increasing property taxes would “price residents out of the city.”

When questioned about their support for a property tax hike, 32 per cent of respondents said they would support it to pay for transit and infrastructure.

Asked to choose their preferred option between the three revenue streams, 65 per cent said they preferred tolls while only 13 per cent preferred a property tax hike and just six per cent said they would choose a Toronto sales tax.

The poll, which was conducted on Nov. 25, is considered accurate plus or minus 2.05 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

The survey comes less than a week after Mayor John Tory announced his support for tolling the two major Toronto roadways.

Another poll conducted by Forum Research on Nov. 24 found that Torontonians are more divided about the idea of tolling the Gardiner and DVP.

That poll found that of 730 respondents, 46 per cent approved implementing tolls on the busy highways to fund infrastructure while 45 per cent disapproved and nine per cent didn’t have an opinion.

 

[Thinker]

Tolls will probably only cause more congestion on roads like Don Mills road, Leslie Street, Lake Shore, Victoria Park etc. It will probably also increase the cost of shipping. So no one has actually answered the questions like: how much will it cost to implement these tolls. i.e. equipment, admins fees, and how many years will it take to actually collect enough $ to start using it towards transit. It might take 5 to 10 years to see actual result or profits. Tory has a vivid imagination, some crazy ideas that one can run a corporation without implementing a sound fiscal plan. Cutting budgets have proved disastreous during the Ford years. Roads are mess, infrastructure is crumbling. But god forbid if we need to raise the taxes by 100 dollars!

 

[animatronic]

Tolls will probably only cause more congestion on roads like Don Mills road, Leslie Street, Lake Shore, Victoria Park etc. It will probably also increase the cost of shipping. So no one has actually answered the questions like: how much will it cost to implement these tolls. i.e. equipment, admins fees, and how many years will it take to actually collect enough $ to start using it towards transit. It might take 5 to 10 years to see actual result or profits. Tory has a vivid imagination, some crazy ideas that one can run a corporation without implementing a sound fiscal plan. Cutting budgets have proved disastreous during the Ford years. Roads are mess, infrastructure is crumbling. But god forbid if we need to raise the taxes by 100 dollars!

What this does is give him an out to raise taxes - if the tolls fail he can say he tried but didn't have a choice.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Tolls will probably only cause more congestion on roads like Don Mills road, Leslie Street, Lake Shore, Victoria Park etc. It will probably also increase the cost of shipping. So no one has actually answered the questions like: how much will it cost to implement these tolls. i.e. equipment, admins fees, and how many years will it take to actually collect enough $ to start using it towards transit. It might take 5 to 10 years to see actual result or profits. Tory has a vivid imagination, some crazy ideas that one can run a corporation without implementing a sound fiscal plan. Cutting budgets have proved disastreous during the Ford years. Roads are mess, infrastructure is crumbling. But god forbid if we need to raise the taxes by 100 dollars!

Believe it or not, tolls don't actually cause more congestion on side streets that don't go where traffic needs to go.

The 407 has ably proven toll roads in the GTA are profitable.

Tory has anything but a vivid imagination.

Next?

 

[Fromafar]

Off topic a bit but I notice the Ford boys book is rapidly decreasing in price on amazon.ca. It was originally $32, then went down to $29, and now I see it is $21........interesting, guess it is not a top seller so no fat coffers for the clan!

Also as I follow Trump it is like a Ford rerun magnified....... are there any intelligent forums similar to this one as I would love to read more opinions etc. from knowledgeable people. I wonder if the media may be getting controlled now and fearful after his threats to them during the invite to his palace a few days ago. Pretty scary stuff and he isn't even in power yet. He seems to thrive on attention good or bad just like someone else we know/ knew and he seems to have the same ardent followers!

Money buys everything I guess. It will be interesting to see the results of his presidency with the crew and family he is accumulating in office to enable him to control everything while he is slumming it in the Whitehouse.

I expect there will be much, well hidden, conflict of interest with all his personal businesses while he reigns and no one will dare hold his feet to the fire, ever, over anything !

It may take decades for the Americans to get any pride or dignity back after this election.

We too may suffer some stress and indignity if we do too much boot lickin'.

 

[EagleEye]

I wouldn't read much into the book being cheaper. I was shopping this weekend and there were a lot of new releases marked down. Having said that, in his case how many people would actually want to read it? It went from the biggest, most important political book ever where ever media member was called out to...none of that.

 

[Roy's Square]

Off topic a bit but I notice the Ford boys book is rapidly decreasing in price on amazon.ca. It was originally $32, then went down to $29, and now I see it is $21........interesting, guess it is not a top seller so no fat coffers for the clan!

I've been watching it, too.

Once it gets cheaper than firewood, I'll be buying myself a gross or two to get me through the winter.

 

[W. K. Lis]

I've been watching it, too.

Once it gets cheaper than firewood, I'll be buying myself a gross or two to get me through the winter.

Except for the first edition, genuine, authentic, personally signed by the author himself Rob Ford, book, of course.

 

[tiffer24]

A last minute switcheroo, perhaps?

Jonathan Goldsbie@goldsbie
2 mins ago
A very 12:43 am kind of press release: