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link — Comments Off on One of Canada’s Top Employers: putting the TCHC scandal in context
06
Mar 11

One of Canada’s Top Employers: putting the TCHC scandal in context

On Thursday, I noticed on Twitter that Toronto Community Housing was one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers, declared as such by Mediacorp Canada. At Torontoist, Steve Kupferman dug into the story:

This year, TCHC nabbed a spot on a list of Canada’s top one hundred employers, put together annually by Mediacorp Canada Inc., a company that publishes employment guides, and runs a job-search website. TCHC was also on the list in 2009 and 2010.

Did you know that TCHC’s work atmosphere “is rated as above-average,” and that employees enjoy casual dress, and can listen to music while they work?

via TCHC Named One of Canada’s Top 100 Employers in 2011 – Torontoist.

What really strikes me is how this shifts the whole character of the story. The general spin is that TCHC employees were cackling while getting manicures, eating expensive chocolates and attending awesome Christmas parties, all paid for with tax dollars. (Though, on another note, OpenFile tells us that the Christmas Parties? Probably weren’t that awesome.)

I suppose that’s true in a sense — minus, probably, the cackling –, but the “Top 100 Employers” thing gives me pause. TCHC management obviously valued their “Top 100 Employers” ranking. The logo is still displayed prominently in the banner on their website. They got that ranking for providing strong benefits for employees, and that extends to ‘cultural benefits’ — things like social events, Christmas parties, non-monetary incentive programs, etc.

If you follow the Human Resources profession at all, you’d know that issues like employee recruitment, retention and incentive programs are big deals. There are whole companies dedicated to providing non-monetary ‘rewards’ to employees who do a good job. It’s a trend.

I’m speculating, but it seems possible that TCHC management bought into this kind of HR strategy without considering the implications and optics of doing so. It’s a question of a corporate strategy that emphasized HR policy apparently at the expense of customer service.

As far as the expenses side of this story goes, I’ve yet to hear of anything that goes beyond what you might see in private sector companies that have adopted more progressive HR strategies. The part of the auditor general’s report relating to procurement is another, more troubling and expensive, matter.

I know that kind of de-sexys the story a bit, but I believe that to find the kind of positive change necessary we need people who can look at this from an angle beyond “MY TAX DOLLARS!!!!”

link — Comments Off on Stalled Transit plan has 160 city workers in limbo
03
Mar 11

Stalled Transit plan has 160 city workers in limbo

Peter Kuitenbrouwer with the National Post touches on a question I’ve been wondering about:

And we still have those 160-odd employees at the TTC, working on the Project-Formerly-Known-As-Transit-City, with neither the TTC, the mayor’s office nor Metrolinx able to explain what, precisely, these 160 people are doing right now to earn their daily bread.

via Peter Kuitenbrouwer: Earth to Rob Ford | Posted Toronto | National Post.

Despite all the talk of the privately funded Sheppard subway, the mayor’s full “Transportation City” plan has not been unveiled and no one is entirely clear what exactly is going forward. These workers could, I guess, be working on drafting plans for a fully underground Eglinton LRT but why keep that secret? What is the hold up?

The revised transit plan was originally scheduled to be revealed in late January.

link — Comments Off on Doug Holyday & Bill Blair suggest police are the answer to homelessness
03
Mar 11

Doug Holyday & Bill Blair suggest police are the answer to homelessness

Joe Warmington in today’s edition of Pizzaville Presents The Toronto Sun:

“It is true we have spent all of these resources and the homeless are still there,” Holyday said. “I met with Police Chief Bill Blair last week and asked him what could we do and he said we need tougher laws to deal with them.”

But [Toronto Shelter, Support & Housing spokesperson Patricia] Anderson, who says there are incalculable savings in emergency room costs and the like, said Streets to Homes has helped 3,000 people to move from outside into homes and that there has been a “51% reduction in outdoor homelessness since 2006.”

Are we sure?

via Streets to Homes program needs citys scrutiny | Joe Warmington | Columnists | News | Toronto Sun.

First of all: crappy article. The subtle narrative throughout seems to be that, despite some initial issues, the city’s Streets to Homes program has improved a lot and been successful in helping members of the city’s homeless population find permanent housing. Statistics back this up, and aren’t rendered irrelevant because the writer asks “Are we sure?”

Are there inefficiencies and improvements that could be made? Almost definitely. But instead we get stuff like this:

In fact, while it may have found a way to bring some people in from the street, it appears to anybody living downtown that every street corner is still filled with just as many vagrants as ever.

“They will tell you it’s creating improvement but I see just as many homeless as I did 10 years ago when I got into politics,” said Mayor Rob Ford.

Screw statistics. We have a gut feeling that the homeless problem is as bad as ever!

Also: apparently five years is more than enough time to completely eliminate homelessness and the fact that this program hasn’t means it’s a total failure.

Back to Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday’s statement: could we see this administration move to remove funding for support organizations like Street to Homes and instead give the police more funds and powers to ‘deal’ with the homeless population?

link — Comments Off on Ford vows to campaign against McGuinty if City isn’t given money it apparently doesn’t need
02
Mar 11

Ford vows to campaign against McGuinty if City isn’t given money it apparently doesn’t need

Twisted and twisted. More fall-out from Ford’s letter to the province asking for money.

Anna Mehler Paperny:

While Mr. Ford insisted he doesn’t want to blame other levels of government for the city’s financial woes – something he accused his predecessor David Miller of doing too often – he said that if the province isn’t forthcoming with cash, he’d have “no other choice.”

“If I need help from the province then I’ll ask for their help. And if they choose not to help us, then I have no other choice but to get out, as I call it, ‘Ford nation’ and make sure they’re not re-elected in the next election.”

via Toronto mayor vows to campaign against Liberals if province won’t boost funds – The Globe and Mail.

What a scumbag move. He still won’t admit that the city needs provincial money but, also, he’ll campaign against McGuinty if he doesn’t get it. Meanwhile Tim Hudak has made no indication that his government would provide funding for Toronto.

link — Comments Off on Giambrone: the forever disappointment
02
Mar 11

Giambrone: the forever disappointment

Kelly Grant with the Globe & Mail:

Former TTC chair Adam Giambrone will be getting a bill in the mail asking that he pay back the more than $3,300 by which he overspent his $125,000 budget last year.

The Toronto Transit Commission voted Tuesday to send Mr. Giambrone the tab.

via TTC votes to send Giambrone the bill for blown budget – The Globe and Mail.

If you’re a right-wing type of person and you end up in an argument with a Toronto left-wing type, feel free to throw Adam Giambrone at us as an example of a progressive politician that fits a bunch of negative stereotypes.

This is a lame move on the TTC’s end, as it just feels petty and he’s never going to pay the thing anyway. (What are they going to do — sue him?)

Still, though, I suppose it’s worth noting just so we can pause and reflect on how Adam Giambrone, despite a ton of potential, really didn’t live up to much.

Grant doesn’t mince words in this section either:

Mr. Giambrone didn’t answer a question about whether he intends to reimburse the transit agency in his message, which came from his old City of Toronto e-mail account. His signature still says he is chair of the TTC and councillor for Ward 18, despite his not standing for re-election last fall after lying about an affair.

Man, who knew you got to keep your toronto.ca email address even after you’re out of office? Sweet deal.

link — Comments Off on Miller’s surplus is the gift that keeps on giving
02
Mar 11

Miller’s surplus is the gift that keeps on giving

Oh, yeah. You know that thing where it was revealed that the mayor secretly asked Dalton McGuinty for hundreds of millions of dollars? Despite the fact that he was once adamant that the city didn’t need provincial funding? The premier said no.

On another note: Sometimes I wonder if maybe Miller shouldn’t have just spent the 2010 surplus money on a city-owned hovercraft and spared us all the smoke and mirrors of the 2011 budget.

Kelly Grant and Karen Howlett with the Globe & Mail:

The mayor’s press secretary said that Toronto routinely asks for more money in its pre-budget submission to the province and this year is no different.

However, Adrienne Batra stressed that Mr. Ford didn’t need provincial aid to balance the city’s 2011 budget without a property-tax increase.

“There’s one fundamental difference,” Ms. Batra said. “The funding here was not needed to balance the (2011) budget.”

via McGuinty shoots down Ford’s request for more than $350-million – The Globe and Mail.

The obvious response to Ms. Batra is, of course, “Would you have been able to balance the 2011 budget without a property tax increase without prior year surpluses and reserves?”

Related to this is a “Talking Points Memo” memo circulated to  22 “friendly councillors” of the mayor’s office last week. Uncovered and posted by OpenFile Toronto’s Jonathan Goldsbie, it is all sorts of ridiculous at various points, but the capper is the last page, which gives justification for spending all surplus and reserve funds to balance the 2011 budget with no thought to 2012:

By applying all accumulated surpluses to the 2011 budget, we unmasked the true financial condition for all to see. The 2012 budget forecast reflects the true gap between the city’s revenues and spending habits.

Gee, thanks. It’s a bit like emptying out someone’s savings account just to make it really obvious how little money they make.

P.S. The 22 councillors who received the talking point memo? The results from the vote on the Tenant Defence Fund from last week probably serve as a good indication.

The “No” votes are Team Ford. I’m thinking Jaye Robinson would be considered a friendly too. Perhaps Doug Ford isn’t included in the list of 22 councillors since he works out of the mayor’s office.

link — Comments Off on Speaking instead of the mayor, not for the mayor
02
Mar 11

Speaking instead of the mayor, not for the mayor

Meanwhile, the Globe & Mail’s Anna Mehler Paperny has a cute quote from Doug Ford in her article about the TCHC spending brouhaha:

Meanwhile, both Mr. Ford and his councillor brother Doug Ford were circumspect about what they’d like to do with the housing corporation, which they said earlier this week deserves a complete overhaul.

That could mean a tighter municipal leash for the TCHC and other arms-length agencies, boards and commissions.

“Personally, I would [like to see direct oversight],” Doug Ford said. “I’m not speaking for the mayor, but Doug Ford would like to have more control over these ABCs.”

via Firm behind controversial housing contract defends its work – The Globe and Mail.

I like that, reading between the lines, you can see the moment where he realized that he was speaking for the mayor and then decided to make it really really clear that he wasn’t.

It will also be interesting to see Toronto politicians simultaneously argue for more oversight and control while pushing for privatization of city programs. That’s a hell of a magic trick.

link — Comments Off on Ford sought $150 million from province to fix city with “spending problem, not revenue problem”
28
Feb 11

Ford sought $150 million from province to fix city with “spending problem, not revenue problem”

David Rider with the Toronto Star:

Mayor Rob Ford, who campaigned on the city having a spending — not a revenue — problem, is asking the Ontario government for an injection of more than $150 million in the provincial budget expected in late March, the Star has learned.

In a four-page letter dated Jan. 25 sent by Ford to Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, and obtained by the Star, the mayor asks for money for road construction and repair, public transit projects, a Fort York visitor centre and the renewal of programs to fund subsidized child care, housing and services for immigrants.

via Ford asks province for more than $150M – thestar.com.

That the letter was dated January 25th indicates that Team Ford realized early on the depth of the city’s revenue problems. Funny that they haven’t really acknowledged these problems at all throughout the budget debate.

It’s hard to see this as anything other than an admission that Ford was entirely wrong about the fiscal state of the city during his campaign.

link — Comments Off on Toronto’s mayor votes against funding for STI screening
27
Feb 11

Toronto’s mayor votes against funding for STI screening

And, of course, the other story from last week. The Mayor was once again on the losing end of a 44-1 vote:

Mr. Ford’s was the only dissenting vote against a motion reinstating $100,000 in provincial funds for syphilis and HIV screening – a budgetary addition that won’t cost the city anything.

“Everyone says it’s provincial money,” Mr. Ford said when asked why he voted against the funds. “No. It’s taxpayers’ money. So, you know what? In the big picture, they say it doesn’t cost the city a dime. Well, it costs people money. … There’s many reasons why.”

via Ford says budget has kept his promises – The Globe and Mail.

Ford was the only member of council to take the libertarianish ideology to this level, but there were echoes of this kind of attitude in several other votes this past week. The city’s rebate for low-flow toilets, for example, seemed to have been a smart investment for the city. It returned far more in savings than it cost. So why cut it? Because “government investment” is now a dirty word.

link — Comments Off on When the oversight office isn’t ideological enough
27
Feb 11

When the oversight office isn’t ideological enough

Two quick stories that feel very much related.

First, Daniel Dale and Paul Moloney at The Star tell us about the three million dollars the city will spend this year hiring consultants to, presumably, save the city half a billion dollars:

Facing a $774 million budget shortfall for next year, Toronto will spend up to $3 million this year to pay consulting companies to scrutinize the city’s operations in search of savings.

While the city regularly employs consultants for specific projects, the $3 million will be devoted to what for Toronto is an unprecedented, wide-ranging corporate review of government departments and programs.

via City to spend $3M on consultants – thestar.com.

Then there’s this from Chris Selley, which contains some clarifications from City Obudsman Fiona Crean after her office was attacked by Councillor Doug Ford at this week’s council meeting:

During the debate, councillor Doug Ford levelled a variety of allegations at Ms. Crean: that she has been “lobbying” every councillor for more money; that her office only fielded 1,500 telephone calls last year, or roughly six a day; that unlike all the other accountability officers, she has a director of communications; and that because she hasn’t posted her expenses online, we don’t know how much this communications director might make — he guessed $100,000 — or how much her recent “36-page, … four-colour, self-promoting brochure” cost to produce.

All of that is either wrong, misleading or forcefully disputed by Ms. Crean.

Crean, you may recall, had her budget cut, despite Ford changing the city’s boilerplate to now read “Toronto’s government is dedicated to … creating a transparent and accountable government.” That dedication doesn’t extend, I guess, to properly funding an office dedicated to transparency and accountability.

So the city is now in the weird position of funding two things – an independent ombudsman and a group of consultants. They’re both dedicated to increasing accountability and efficiency, though the latter, presumably, will be far more concerned with the city’s bottom line. More importantly, though, the consultants will likely work for the mayor’s office — conforming to their ideology and following their direction.

It’s starting to look like Team Ford may want to replace the city’s independent ombudsman with one who works for them.

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