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link — Comments Off on Toronto Council makes grandstanding gesture, calls it sacrifice
10
Feb 11

Toronto Council makes grandstanding gesture, calls it sacrifice

Kelly Grant with the Globe & Mail:

Members voted 39 to 3 in favour Tuesday of rejecting the automatic 2011 increase to their $99,619 salaries.

“It’s [time to] stand up and be counted. That’s what it boils down to,” said budget chief Mike Del Grande. “We do have structural deficits here at the city and that is never going to be corrected until we make some hard decisions … and they have to start with us first.”

via Toronto city councillors vote to freeze their own wages – The Globe and Mail.

I kind of hoped I’d never have to write about this again. But I actually sent an email to the City Clerk regarding this motion, and then my name ended up in the minutes, so I feel a bit tied to it now.

For the record, here’s the email I sent:

Fiscal responsibility is important, especially in tough economic times. But just as important that government prioritize their time and resources, focusing on things that matter. Symbolic gestures are fine during campaigns, but they have no place in government. The proposed pay freeze does not save any significant amount of money and debating the issue will take time away from focusing on the issues that actually matter to Torontonians.

The current system, that provides small, cost-of-living increases to elected officials on an annual basis, is fair. I ask that council stick with what works, vote down this motion, and move on to the more important business of the day.

Another point, to councillors like Del Grande: It’s disingenuous to conflate a politician voluntarily foregoing a small salary increase with a union member losing their job completely.

link — Comments Off on Immigration Service Agency vote reveals ‘Team Ford’
10
Feb 11

Immigration Service Agency vote reveals ‘Team Ford’

Torontoist’s Hamutal Dotan:

In a passionate debate that saw many councillors reflect on their own personal and family histories, City Council today considered whether to condemn—via a letter that would be sent to Prime Minister Harper and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney—federal government cuts to immigration services agencies, some of which have been in operation for ten or twenty years.

via City Refuses—at Least for Now—to Condemn Cuts to Toronto Immigration Agencies – Torontoist.

This story was widely underreported coming out of this week’s council meeting, with most of the ink going to the pay freeze and the privatization stuff. But it did cause quite the dust-up on Twitter. (This, by Jonathan Goldsbie, is a hall-of-fame tweet.) The issue wasn’t so much whether the federal government cutting funding for immigration agencies is a good thing (it’s most definitely not) but whether council should risk pissing off the federal government.

The results of the vote that ultimately referred the motion to the Executive Committee (where it will likely die) are interesting because this was widely reported to be a “whipped vote” by the mayor’s office, meaning it works as an excellent snapshot of the divide on City Council. Here’s how the vote went down:

Luby and McConnell would have very likely cancelled each other out.

link — Comments Off on All the best policies are motivated by revenge
08
Feb 11

All the best policies are motivated by revenge

So: garbage. We’re going to contract out garbage collection. At least west of Yonge Street, anyway. There is nothing really to say about this topic because it’s mostly a benign move, following in the footsteps of a bunch of other cities in the GTA. It’s not particularly dangerous or daring or dastardly. We don’t need to sound the ideological alarm. This is okay.

The only thing that makes this move at all interesting to me is that it seems primarily motivated not by money or customer service, but by revenge.

Here’s how the mayor phrased it this morning, as reported by David Rider and Daniel Dale for the Toronto Star:

“We are doing this so we’re not going to go through another 40-day garbage strike like we did last year,” the mayor said. “We’re going to save millions of dollars, and we’re going to reduce the size of government. That’s what people elected us to do.”

via Ford moves to privatize garbage collection – thestar.com.

I’m not a politician or anything, but making major policy decisions because there was a strike that annoyed you a couple of years back seems short-sighted. It’s the same line of argument he used for declaring the TTC an essential service.

Also, has “reduce the size of government” taken the place as “stop the gravy train” as the mayor’s preferred slogan? It’s not as catchy.

link — Comments Off on Invisible mayor
06
Feb 11

Invisible mayor

Anna Mehler Paperny and Kelly Grant weren’t able to get an interview with Amir Remtulla, Ford’s new Chief of Staff, for their weekend article, so they sort of improvised with a long feature that ledes with an imagined stage play. It’s not bad at all, and includes some great quotes:

Even budget chief Mike Del Grande doesn’t “see much of Rob,” he says.

“I bump into him and he goes, ‘How’s it going, buddy?’ That’s about it. I tell him I haven’t removed the windows from my office and jumped out yet. The guy’s a busy guy. I don’t probably see as much of him as I did as a councillor.”

Councillor Doug Ford, the mayor’s jovial big brother, is perplexed when asked why the mayor has been somewhat cloistered – even though he is the Ford doing the interview for this story, not his brother.

via The enigma that is Rob Ford’s new chief of staff – The Globe and Mail.

I love the Doug Ford bit because it’s such great feigned ignorance.

link — Comments Off on Developers hopeful that new mayor will let them do whatever they want
06
Feb 11

Developers hopeful that new mayor will let them do whatever they want

Robyn Doolitte at the Toronto Star moved over to the Homes section this weekend, writing a report on the city’s development industry, and their hope that Rob Ford will just let them do whatever the hell they want:

Although he offered few specifics, Ford’s campaign rhetoric struck a sympathetic tone towards builders. Ford said Section 37 fees, which allows the city to be flexible with height and density requirements in exchange for community benefits, were tantamount to “extortion.”

He also vowed to abolish the land transfer tax and speed up the approvals process since, “time is money.”

via Developers are buzzing with optimism – Yourhome.ca.

Rob Ford is not really an ideological conservative. He just surrounds himself with ideological conservatives. And he happens to be very receptive to people and organizations who tell them they’re being screwed over by governments.

But, c’mon, acting like developers have been treated poorly over the past decade in this city is goddamned ridiculous. The dozens of cranes dotting the city skyline don’t speak to an industry that’s barely been scraping by under the weight of city bureaucracy, taxes and red tape.

How anyone can look at the numbers both before and after the implementation of the Municipal Land Transfer Tax and argue that it hurt real estate in this city is beyond me. Similarly, those who make the simplistic argument that development charges and fees will simply be passed on to consumers demonstrate a lack of understanding as to how the market works. (Here’s a hint: developers already charge as much as the market will bear for their condos and homes.)

Related to this is a John Lorinc story for the Globe, where he points out that it’s probably reasonable to expect more big box developments in the city over the next four years.

link — Comments Off on Province won’t ask for council vote on new transit plan?
06
Feb 11

Province won’t ask for council vote on new transit plan?

John Michael McGrath over at Toronto Life’s blog does some digging and gets some new information on the province’s attitude toward transit negotiations:

The alpha and omega for city planning is “what the province will let us do.” So LRT loyalists were happy when Queen’s Park, through Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne, said she wanted a full council vote on Ford’s proposal, contradicting the mayor. However, more recent conversations with Wynne’s office show a softening on what had been a hard line. Wynne’s press secretary Kelly Baker told The Informer that while the Province would still hope for a full council vote, “we will respect the local decision-making process” at the city.

via Rob Ford’s Transit City II: how will the mayor get it from campaign promise to reality? | In Transit | torontolife.com.

Councillors allied with Ford have already starting banging the “Council never voted on Transit City” drum (Here’s Peter Milczyn doing just that), something which is only true if you ignore all the times Council did vote on various aspects of it.

That the province is playing softball on this one is disappointing but understandable. They don’t have much to lose, and I’ve never got the impression that anyone in McGuinty’s cabinet has a particular passion for transit in Toronto. In an election year, staying at arm’s length and giving Toronto what they want seems like the right strategy.

Still, though, as much as I think McGrath does a great job with his article, tearing down the arguments Milczyn is making with gusto, I think (and hope) he might be oversimplifying the direction this new transit plan will take. It’s far from a done deal. The funding levels available just don’t lend themselves to an easy solution, unless you take Eglinton off the table completely. And that still feels suicidal to me.

link — Comments Off on Member of mayor’s football team finds support in city-funded shelters
06
Feb 11

Member of mayor’s football team finds support in city-funded shelters

InsideToronto published a story that only tangentially relates to the mayor and city politics this week, but I thought it worth highlighting. Written by Cynthia Reason, it’s the story of Etobicoke youth Kurstin Jones — not his real name — who was homeless until he found Youth Without Shelter:

After nearly a year living at Etobicoke’s only youth shelter – more than nine months of that time spent studying in YWS’s Stay in School program – Kurstin’s life is now back on track. He’s just one credit shy of his high school diploma, he’s got a $17/hour factory job lined up, he’s reconciled with his mother and now counts her as his best friend, and he’s got a serious girlfriend.

As Executive Director Wendy Horton put it: Kurstin is one of the ones who’s ready to take the leap towards independence.

via InsideToronto Article: AT ISSUE: Youth shelter gets kids back on their feet.

Jones is 19 now, and the article notes he played (but never saw much game time) for the Don Bosco Eagles. He even slept on the bench by the football field some nights when he had nowhere else to go. By my math, his coach during this time would have been then-councillor Rob Ford. He’s coached the Don Bosco Eagles since 2001.

Youth Without Shelter receives operating funding from the Government of Ontario and the City of Toronto.

This story could come in handy if (when) the mayor starts making moves towards cutting funding for community shelters.

link — Comments Off on TTC union’s no-strike vow recalls unfortunate history
06
Feb 11

TTC union’s no-strike vow recalls unfortunate history

TTC Union boss Bob Kinnear, who was awesome in As Good as it Gets, made a big show last week, making a public declaration that the TTC would not strike at any time during their upcoming contract negotiations. The current labour contract expires March 31.

Adrian Morrow:

In a bid to encourage the province to hold off on designating the TTC an essential service, the union representing transit workers vowed not to strike during upcoming contract negotiations.

At a news conference Thursday, Bob Kinnear, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, called for Queen’s Park to hold more extensive public consultations before making a decision.

via TTC union vows not to disrupt service during contract talks – The Globe and Mail.

The essential designation issue is a tough one for Kinnear to play. From a strictly ideological perspective — the rights of the workers –, it’s something that he has to oppose with every fibre of his being. But he knows also that it really wouldn’t necessarily be that bad for TTC workers. (Kinnear actually sent out a phone message to union members a week back trying to stir up more opposition to the move amongst his members.)

I respect the public promise he’s made here, as I do think it’s important the province gives this issue the due consideration it deserves. Absolutely the worst possible outcome – for riders, for the city, for anybody – is an ill-suited half-measure, that sees only rush hour service on main line routes declared ‘essential.’ And I fear this might be what we get from the province, driven by politicians whose main concern is that Queen’s Park station is open for business. This could allow a situation where future labour disputes lead to long-running disruptions of service on late-night and “low-ridership” bus routes, which is devastating for low-income people.

But Kinnear’s promise is tough to take, even for those more sympathetic to unions. After all, it was only a couple of years back that he made a similar promise. And look how that turned out.

The full text of Kinnear’s remarks is available via the Toronto Sun.

link — Comments Off on Last word on bus route cuts
03
Feb 11

Last word on bus route cuts

The Globe and Mail’s Kelly Grant:

Contentious reductions to late-night and weekend hours on 41 little-used TTC bus lines are going ahead, despite more than six hours of pleading from riders who wanted to salvage the routes entirely.

The Toronto Transit Commission voted in favour of curbing the service and shifting $4-million in savings to overcrowded routes this fall.

via TTC going ahead with bus-service cuts – The Globe and Mail.

I was at a conference all day today so I’m late on a lot of this news. I’ve already written at length about this season’s bus route cuts, and Steve Munro has summed things up far better than I ever could, but I’ll make this one last comment in light of the decision being made final last night.

The precedent this sets for transit in this city is alarming. While it may be fair to claim there’s been an overreaction to relatively minor changes in service, that overlooks the long-term impacts of this kind of decision. These cuts happened because ridership growth has created a need for greater service on busier routes. If ridership continues to go up, will this commission cannibalize more ‘under-performing’ routes? Where does it stop?

And to those who charge that opposition to these cuts was tied up in left-versus-right ideology, I’d argue that to an extent that’s true, but only because the right-wing municipal government the left feared was anti-transit immediately went about making cuts to transit.

link — Comments Off on Jan Wong, ace reporter, tries to track down the mayor’s wife
03
Feb 11

Jan Wong, ace reporter, tries to track down the mayor’s wife

After far too long a wait, Toronto Life has finally graced the internet with Jan Wong’s “profile” of Renata Ford (the mayor’s wife) from their most recent issue. Finally non-subscribers can enjoy the harrowing tale of a reporter chasing down a woman who clearly has no interest in being in the public eye. It takes a great turn on page three when Wong convinces the Fords’ 77-year-old neighbour to let her into his home. She then peers over his fence into the mayor’s backyard. Looking for, I guess, clues.

Best of all, though, is the narrative thread woven through the article that seems to suggest that maybe Renata Ford is some sort of elaborate hoax. The article ends — no lie — with a speeding car and Wong trying to scribble down a licence plate number, as if she’s about to uncover some sort of grand conspiracy:

Ten days later, I dropped by the house for the second and last time. Again, Renata’s mother answered the door, and again, she said her daughter wasn’t home. I got back into the taxi, which was waiting in the driveway. Suddenly, the garage door rumbled open and a blue SUV backed out quickly, forcing us out onto the street. We couldn’t see who was driving. But when the taxi driver realized I was taking down the licence plate, he said helpfully, “It’s a Ford Escape.” We were both too shaken to hear the pun.

via The woman behind the mayor: who is Renata Ford? | From the Print Edition | torontolife.com.

It’s the best kind of trash-hack journalism. Truly a delight.

It should be noted too that, even though Jan Wong takes an anti-Ford slant with this article, earlier this year she argued at length that weekend street festivals caused traffic chaos and were a bad thing.

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