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link — Comments Off on Holyday on Panhandling: How do you solve social issues without social programs?
08
Jun 11

Holyday on Panhandling: How do you solve social issues without social programs?

For some reason, Councillor Doug Holyday did a mini press-tour last week to hype up the idea of new bylaws against panhandling. Panhandling — especially the aggressive variety — is definitely a problem worth addressing, but what’s interesting about Holyday’s approach is that he seems bound and determined to solve the issue without resorting to investment in social programs. Even if those social programs are effective.

The National Post’s Natalie Alcoba scored a brief Q&A with the deputy mayor:

Q: So are you talking about a bylaw that bans panhandling?
A: I don’t know if it bans it, but it controls how it happens and it certainly makes it illegal for people to be in your face and for people to block the sidewalk and use public property as their own.  [The police] say to control the matter, we have to have better laws. It’s about having a bylaw with teeth. What happens now is that they do get a ticket or a citation, but there’s nothing they can do with it. If they had a drivers license that we could attach the ticket to…

…

Q: Would the city invest more money in shelters, what would happen to the people who are on the street?
A: I suggest for one thing if we had better control over the matter they wouldn’t come here in the first place. Because we’re so lenient with our controls, that’s like inviting them. They come to the city of Toronto because they can get away with doing things they can’t do in their own homes. I think we’d probably have to invest less, because there would be fewer people coming here requiring our help.

via Q&A: Doug Holyday on the city’s panhandlers | Posted Toronto | National Post.

He seems to indicate that the police should do more than issue a ticket or citation to panhandlers. I would assume that means throwing them in jail. It’s either that or he wants to turn them all into motorists so we can revoke their driver’s license when they’re caught panhandling.

Some conservatives seem blind to the fact that, for all intents and purposes, jails and prisons are social programs. Worse, they tend to be incredibly expensive and not very effective ones.

True to his political stripe, Holyday is dismissive on the idea of investment in social services. Meanwhile, a 2010 report indicates that the City of Toronto’s Streets to Homes program helped the outdoor homeless population by 51% between 2006 and 2009.

There’s also this, from the same report:

The costs of providing affordable housing are less on average ($31 per day) than the use of emergency shelters ($69), jails ($142) and hospitals ($665) when people are homeless.

Huh. Still, though, if only these people had driver’s licenses.

link — Comments Off on Presto Chango: TTC looks to adopt new fare card
08
Jun 11

Presto Chango: TTC looks to adopt new fare card

The TTC will consider a report this week wherein staff recommend adopting the Metrolinx Presto Card program. This program, now in its fourth year of a slow roll-out, aims to give every transit user a pre-loaded card that they can use to pay their fares on local and regional transit vehicles across Ontario.

It’s a good idea, but implementation has been stalled for years in Toronto because the province has only promised to provide partial funding. Given that the TTC faces a huge (and growing) backlog of necessary capital projects, asking local taxpayers to pick up about half the cost of implementing a system that will primarily benefit commuters coming from outside the 416 seems a little crazy.

In his well-worth-listening-to exit interview with Spacing Radio, former mayor David Miller spoke of a very early briefing note he was given regarding Presto. He paraphrases: “Warning! Warning! Presto will bankrupt the TTC! Don’t ever allow the cost of Presto to be put on the TTC.”

So what happened? Wasn’t it only a few weeks back that TTC Chair Karen Stintz was dismissing Presto as too expensive? Essentially, because the province holds all the cards when it comes to infrastructure funding, the TTC got squeezed enough that they’ve given in.

The Globe & Mail’s Patrick White:

The TTC’s refusal to adopt Presto had become increasingly untenable. Provincial funding for the Eglington cross-town subway contained a condition that Presto would be available on that line. In addition, all new streetcar orders have required Presto-compatible units and much of the TTC’s gas-tax revenue is contingent upon Presto adoption, according to Ms. Stintz.

“The commission has a decision to make: we could continue with open payment and put a number of funding agreements with the province at risk, or we could move with Presto,” she said.

via TTC report backs province’s electronic fare-collection system – The Globe and Mail.

The full TTC report is available. All in all, it’s a rather unenthusiastic endorsement for Presto, and the question of the remaining funding gap is left open.

The weird thing is that both the TTC and the minds behind Presto acknowledge that an open payment system (using a debit card, credit card or cell phone to pay your fare) is the logical end-point. The adoption of the current Presto card, then, is merely a stop-gap measure leading to the more open “Presto Next Generation” project, set for 2014ish. (But, then again, with a provincial election looming, who knows?)

The report also indicates that the TTC had a successful bidder from the private sector, willing to implement an open payment system in return for a percentage of fare revenue. That this option is being set aside in favour of the larger program peddled by the provincial government is kind of funny, given city hall’s preference for all things privatized and low-cost.

link — Comments Off on Ford’s approval rating down, weak support for Sheppard subway
03
Jun 11

Ford’s approval rating down, weak support for Sheppard subway

The Toronto Star’s David Rider has details on a Forum Research poll regarding municipal issues:

Asked if Ford is doing a good job as mayor, six months after his upset victory, 57 per cent agreed, down from 60 per cent in a late-February Forum Research poll. An early-May Toronto Real Estate Board survey pegged Ford’s support at 70 per cent.

As a whole, the new results aren’t great news for Ford, said Bozinoff, who said he did the poll independently to gauge opinions on civic issues.

“Ford’s support appears to have plateaued and these trial balloons being floated on how to solve financial problems, like road tolls and cutting the number of police, have no real support,” he said.

via Road tolls to pay for Sheppard subway a non-starter, poll finds – thestar.com.

A 57% approval rating is actually remarkably low for a sitting mayor less than a year into his first term, especially because Ford hasn’t had to make any unpopular decisions.

The big news springs from the two questions asked about road tolls. When asked if they would support road tolls to reduce traffic congestion, 43% of people approved. (With a strong majority of 58% in Toronto & East York.) On the other hand, when asked specifically about road tolls to pay for the Sheppard Subway, support drops to 35%. A loser of an idea anywhere in the city, apparently, as the mention of the subway doesn’t even draw increased support for road tolls in Scarborough, where the new subway line would go.

The full report detailing poll results is available as a PDF. Other findings:

  • Privatizing garbage collection is still popular with residents, with 52% approval. This is down 2% from Forum Research’s last poll, in February. I’m still surprised that this doesn’t poll higher. Interestingly, a majority opposes privatization of garbage in Scarborough.
  • The five cent plastic bag fee enjoys a majority of support with 52% in favour. Not sure how this squares with the populist mayor continuing to push the idea that people hate paying a nickel for a bag.
  • A strong majority — 57% — oppose “reducing the police force to help freeze property taxes.” We are unlikely to see either a property tax freeze or a reduction in the number of police officers this year.
  • A whopping 72% of people support “physically separating bike lanes from car lanes.” I wonder if this question is too vague, however. Phrased as “adding a new, fully separated bike lane on Richmond Street”, would the results differ? Either way, this is an encouraging result.
  • In the most ridiculous question in the poll, 65% express support for “having public festivals, marathons, marches and walkathons in city parks, rather than closing city streets and expressways.” This would appear to suggest that moving, say, the Toronto Marathon to High Park is feasible when, of course, it isn’t. These events don’t happen on the street just for the hell of it, but rather because they require the space.

 

link — Comments Off on Credit to Thompson for considering police layoffs
01
Jun 11

Credit to Thompson for considering police layoffs

The Globe & Mail’s Patrick White:

In a move that introduces the unprecedented spectre of police layoffs in Toronto, the city has asked Chief Bill Blair to explore reducing the number of officers under his command by 10 per cent – down to levels not seen since Mel Lastman was in office.

At a Toronto Police Services Board on Monday, Councillor Michael Thompson asked the chief to look at how much money the city could save by dropping 500 uniformed officers and 300 civilian members of the Toronto Police Services, the country’s largest municipal force.

via Layoffs possible as city asks Blair to reduce police staff by 10 per cent – The Globe and Mail.

I have to give credit to Councillor Michael Thompson for at least floating the idea of downsizing the Toronto police force, even if it is both a) impossible; and b) politically unpopular. The reality is that if these guys at City Hall really want to get serious about reducing the size and cost of the city’s government, they can’t ignore their single largest budget line.

This won’t happen, of course. If for no other reason than because one of Rob Ford’s campaign promises was to do the opposite of this: to increase the number of officers on the streets. Ford’s platform called for a 0.1 per cent decrease in non-policing city spending to fund “100 additional frontline police officers.”

link — Comments Off on Ford appeals campaign audit request, despite having nothing to hide
01
Jun 11

Ford appeals campaign audit request, despite having nothing to hide

Torontoist’s Hamutal Dotan:

Rob Ford has just filed an appeal with the Ontario Court of Justice, asking that “the decision of the Compliance Audit Committee granting an application for a compliance audit of the 2010 election campaign finances of Rob Ford be set aside” and, further, that “an Order be made rejecting the application for a compliance audit of the 2010 election campaign finances of Rob Ford.”

…

A couple of weeks ago, when asked if he planned to appeal any of the audit requests, Ford told the Sun: “I don’t think so… There is nothing to hide so let them audit all they want.”

via Rob Ford Appeals Audit Request, Asks for Stay of Audit Committee Decision – Torontoist.

This is in response to the several audit requests filed earlier this month. I’ve written in past posts that I don’t believe these audit requests will amount to much, even if Ford is found to have breached election law. I stand by that view — belief that Ford is being unfairly persecuted by a left-wing ‘other’ is kind of integral to his political success — but, still, this is a surprising development. There’s no way to spin this that doesn’t make Ford look like a giant hypocrite.

In an article by John Lorinc in the Globe, “veteran compliance auditor” Bernard Nayman speculates that this is the first strike in what will likely be a long war of attrition. Essentially, Ford’s lawyers can delay this thing for years.

Also worth reading: Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler, who of the individuals who formally requested the audit, wrote a piece titled “Why I Sought an Audit of Rob Ford” for Spacing. Chaleff-Freudenthaler also deserves a ton of credit for getting quoted as saying “Rob Ford’s day of reckoning will come” in a national newspaper. That’s the kind of thing you tell your grandchildren about.

link — Comments Off on For Ford, credit when credit is due
30
May 11

For Ford, credit when credit is due

The Toronto Sun’s Don Peat scored an actual, honest-to-goodness interview with Rob Ford. It’s rather light on detail and hard-hitting questions, but it’s worth reading anyway.

I liked this part:

Ford laughs when he’s reminded that retiring councillor Kyle Rae predicted, if elected, Ford would be mayor in name only. Retiring councillor Howard Moscoe said Ford wouldn’t be able to pass gas without council’s permission.

“Well, I’ve done a lot,” he says, shaking his head and smiling. “I’ve done everything we’ve said we were going to do.”

via Six months in: Ford is large and in charge | Home | Toronto Sun.

I already said this last week, but I find it incredibly disconcerting that Ford believes he’s nearing the end of his political agenda. Not only because the agenda is so light on ambitious — though it is: rescind a tax or two, eliminate potential for annoying strikes, kill some council perks, and he’s done? — but because it’s not even accurate.

The Sun also has a list of Ford’s supposed accomplishments. But here are some things Ford hasn’t actually done, despite claims to the contrary:

  • reduced the city’s overall operating budget, or “reined in spending.”
  • secured funding — much less broken ground — on any new subway project
  • privatized garbage collection, or done anything that has ‘reined in’ public sector unions or reduced labour costs

His actual accomplishments so far are actually relatively meagre, typified more by the city’s new lack of ambition, and a handful of spite-based initiatives, instead of some kind of Brave New World of fiscal conservatism.

If Ford can succeed in delivering on his promises for a reduced operating budget, high-quality/low-cost privately-delivered services and a funded subway extension (The Eglinton LRT is a David Miller legacy, and does not count), then he can realistically crow about his accomplishments. But that hasn’t happened yet.

Also from Peat’s article is a bit from Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday:

Asked why the Ford administration has targeted so many of Miller’s legacy projects, Holyday says it’s due to necessity.

“So many things we couldn’t afford to do in the way he planned to do them,” Holyday says.

He pointed to the $24-million Fort York pedestrian bridge blown up by the public works committee.

“We would have had to borrow every cent to build it,” Holyday says.

I’m very confused by fiscal conservatives who savage the idea of debt, as if it’s some terrible way to finance capital projects. How are they suggesting the city invest in infrastructure, if not through financing? Is the province supposed to fund everything for us? Or is this just another private-sector magic beans thing?

link — Comments Off on Jim Flaherty praises “boondoggle” waterfront development
27
May 11

Jim Flaherty praises “boondoggle” waterfront development

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was put in a bit of an akwkward position yesterday, as he attended the official groundbreaking for Waterfront Toronto’s anticipated Underpass Park. Flaherty, a long-time family friend of the Fords, expressed his support for the project, which is part of a larger plan by Waterfront Toronto that the Fords and their council allies have been highly critical of in recent times.

The Toronto Star’s Christopher Hume:

“This is transformative,” declared federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. “It’s important not just for Toronto, but for Canada.”

On hand for the ceremonial shovelling of the earth Thursday, Flaherty joined a gaggle of dignitaries that included provincial Minister of Research and Innovation, Glen Murray, and local municipal councillor Pam McConnell.

Conspicuous in his absence was Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, whose doppelganger, Doug Ford, has been happy to share his thoughts about the waterfront, as half-baked as they may be.

via Hume: Underpass Park will change the city forever – thestar.com.

If even someone like Jim Flaherty can understand the importance of public investment along the waterfront, why can’t Rob and Doug Ford?

link — Comments Off on The mayor laughed heartily
27
May 11

The mayor laughed heartily

The Toronto Star’s Daniel Dale attended a fundraiser for the man who would be Councillor Maria Augimeri’s challenger on Wednesday night. Also in attendance was Mayor Rob Ford, whose star power burned bright enough to draw some 50 attendees to the $300-a-head event.

Dale got a great quote from Ford in a brief interview:

In a brief but unmistakably campaign-style speech, Ford called the appeal “just a temporary setback” and [Gus] Cusimano “the next councillor in Ward 9.”

Asked later whether the speech was appropriate given that a new election has not been called, Ford paused, then said, “I can pretty much say what I want, right?” He then laughed heartily.

via No Ward 9 byelection? Doesn’t matter to Mayor Ford – thestar.com. (Emphasis added.)

I really do wish he talked to the media more often. It’d be fun.

link — Comments Off on Mammoliti pretends city can withhold Pride funding if QuAIA participates
27
May 11

Mammoliti pretends city can withhold Pride funding if QuAIA participates

On Tuesday, the city’s Executive Committee — after a really awkward and largely unnecessary meeting — decided to accept the City Manager’s report that the phrase “Queers Against Israeli Apartheid” does not violate the city’s anti-discrimination policy. Despite rumours and threats, Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti did not move some kind of ridiculous and hard-to-enforce motion that would require Pride Toronto to write a letter promising that QuAIA would not take part in the parade.

Afterwards, Mammoliti played tough with his warnings, as reported by the Toronto Sun’s Don Peat:

“If QuAIA surfaces and does their thing and if Pride doesn’t attempt to squash them, then I will be moving forward, as some others, to hold the funding,” Mammoliti said.

The decision means the status quo stays in place but allows councillors the option of going after funding if the group takes place, Mammoliti said.

Council agreed last yeart to withhold Pride funding until after the parade in case QuAIA participated.

via Pride Toronto clears city hurdle | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun.

Except that isn’t true. The motion councillors agreed to last year said this:

City Council direct that funding for Pride Toronto be paid after the parade and be conditional upon Pride Toronto requiring all registered participants to comply with the City of Toronto’s Anti-Discrimination Policy.

Notice that the motion says nothing specific about QuAIA whose message, it’s been ruled, does not violate the city’s anti-discrimination policy.

Without an additional motion or a change to the city’s anti-discrimination policy, my read on this is that the city has no recourse to deny Pride Toronto its funding this year, even if QuAIA participates.

link — Comments Off on Setting policy by imagined consensus
27
May 11

Setting policy by imagined consensus

Speaking of Doug Ford, I thought his contribution to an article regarding the Jarvis Street bike lanes by Marcia Chen and Ashleigh Smollet of CityNews.ca was kind of interesting:

Not even a year after they were installed, the fate of the contentious Jarvis Street bike lanes is in question.

“We would like to eliminate them,” said councillor Doug Ford. “We have had more complaints about the bike lanes on Jarvis than any other road in Toronto. Hundreds and hundreds of people.”

But ward councillor Karyn Wong-Tam disagreed, noting the revitalization of the downtown’s east side depends on the lanes and other projects on Jarvis.

“Hundreds? No, definitely we haven’t received hundreds,” Wong-Tam said. “I don’t think we’ve had even one hundred.”

via Rob Ford may consider removing Jarvis bike lanes – CityNews.

It’s a neat encapsulation of Ford-brand politics. Both Doug and Rob consistently back up their pet issues with claims that they’ve received hundreds — sometimes thousands — of phone calls supporting them. It’s a tired, easily-mockable refrain. There’s no way to confirm the reality of their claims, nor is there a way to quantify, track and analyze this data. In real terms, their claims are worse than useless.

Even if Doug Ford were accurate, and they — leaving aside for now the issue of who they is, because people really shouldn’t be complaining to the councillor in Ward 2 about an issue with infrastructure in Ward 27 — had received hundreds of calls, is that enough reason to eliminate lanes that are, by the city’s own estimates, used by hundreds of cyclists every day?

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