So who really runs the city of Toronto?

So who really runs the city of Toronto?

It’s interesting times in the city of Toronto. Mayor Mel Lastman had his issues, however we did not seem to have this endless deadlock. The former flamboyant Mayor definitely had his detractors, but we still got things done. Unfortunately Mayor Ford tried to do whatever he wanted and it has not worked out as planned. He had to work with council and it was not good enough to say that he has the support of Toronto citizens. It was all about the approach, in my opinion and unfortunately he has spent a large portion of his his political capital.  Rob Ford is a great person and has done a lot for the city. There is another side to Rob Ford, which is often not talked about. He has done a lot for the community, and continues to do so even as the Mayor. Mayor Ford has helped to control city spending; helping to promote the fact that council must respect the dollar. He has also been a great defender or the suburban areas of Scarborough and Etobicoke. So where does he go from here? I hope he continues to stay in politics, as it’s always good to have a good balance on council. It’s always good to hear opinions on both sides of the spectrum.

Related articles

• Toronto homeowner files to remove mayor from office (ctv.ca)
• Toronto Coun. Doug Ford calls apology a ‘bunch of horse s – ‘ (theprovince.com)
• Mayor Rob Ford hints he’ll oppose conservative who defied him on subways – Toronto Star (thestar.com)
• Mayor Rob Ford rebuked by province over Toronto’s ‘failure’ on transit expansion (thestar.com)

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Conservatives and Toronto’s Rob Ford Nation – Subways please…

Interestingly enough this election may be a boon for the G.T.A. Not that Toronto can expect the Conservatives to only pander to their needs. As the Prime Minister said last night “we will govern for all Canadians“. Despite that the Liberals took for granted the support of Torontonians and the G.T.A. For years, we voted for the Liberals without our needs being heard. Now the Conservatives will have to listen. However, my take is the Conservatives will take a page out of Rob Ford‘s book. Rob said “we will get subways”. Will the Conservatives deliver? I imagine that they will have to. Why? Rob Ford nation is a powerful force. Although he is now mayor and tends to be on the right-wing of the political spectrum, Rob is not afraid to push his agenda and fight for what he believes. The Conservatives would be wise to not upset Toronto’s exalted leader. He wants subways and an end to waste. The Conservatives will have to deliver. He wants Toronto’s common-sense issues listened to. The Conservatives will have to deliver. The Conservatives can no longer ignore Toronto. The Prime Minister had a strategy to target the G.T.A and it worked. Albeit, a lot of vote splitting happened. It does not matter. They solidified their base, in the G.T.A and gained additional votes. You cannot take that away from the Conservatives. However, much care is needed. Ontarians are also sometimes not as forgiving. The Conservatives would be wise to not follow their Liberal predecessors. Do not take that vote for granted!

By Mannee Jay

Everything is proceeding as the Liberals has foreseen

 

“Everything is proceeding as Dalton McGuinty had foreseen”. John Tory was supposed to lead Ontario‘s Progressive Conservatives to certain victory over the “supposed” dark side; however he led them instead to a resounding defeat. Emperor Dalton McGuinty became the province’s first Liberal leader in 70 years to claim a second straight majority government. Albeit, one has to wonder; did John Tory simply not stand a chance against the political dark elements of deception, manipulation and down right Liberal political experience and know how? The Liberal engine is experienced; they knew what the electorate was prepared to talk about and what they did not want to hear. Elections are not for issues because in reality we only like comfort and ease. We like to know that everything is alright and under control. Only an all encompassing “Provincial Empire” can achieve this stability in Ontario and we gladly allowed it. Progressive Conservatives, and others, in Ontario thought that John Tory would have brought ‘A New Hope’ to the “integral deficit” that now exists among politicians; however the imperial forces of the Liberals got their way.

As such, the seasoned Liberals (lets give our due to the Liberals – they know how to run a campaign, like it or not) knew what to do and perhaps, over-confident conservatives thought that they had the upper hand. But with a strong economy and positive outlook, I assure you, the Liberals were quite safe. It did not take much to “scare” Ontarians into voting for the status quo. Now, on radio and media outlets, they are talking about the “real” issues, that were never brought up during the election. Unfortunately, John Tory and the PC party left Ontarians defenseless to it and our journey to the “Liberal Side” was completed! “The Progressive Conservatives and their feeble skills was just no match for the power of the Liberal side of the force! Ontarians allowed our Emperor Dalton to use their own aggressive and hostile feelings to focus on the faith-based school issue; essentially allowing fear and trepidation flow freely. Dalton and the Liberals felt that fear and knew how to use it. You would think that Ontarians would have not allowed one issue to dominate the election, but it did. Our radio and media outlets participated in the mix that focused us all on that one issue. Now that fear, along with hate, has made ‘Emperor McGuinty’ more powerful then we could ever imagine; fulfilling the destiny of a second term.

So now, Ontarians, we selected another path. One that we think is certain, stable and safer, but is it? Dalton led a smart and clean campaign; showing himself on television, always telling Ontarians what he would do. He always said “we can do better” and “there is more work to be done”. Your compassion for him led you to vote overwhelmingly for the Liberals. And those of you who hated the faith-based school funding issue, allowed yourselves to be used by simply not showing up to vote. This will be our undoing and in the end we will pay the price (that’s called taxes, if you haven’t gotten it already…) for our lack of vision!

By: Andy MJ
a.k.a “The G.T.A Patriot
Toronto, Ontario

NEWS FLASH: The Imperial House of Commons will no longer be of any concern to Ontarians. We have just received word that the Emperor has dissolved elections permanently. No point anyway since only half of Ontarians bother to get out of there house and vote anyway. The last remnants of the “OldRepublic” of Ontario have been swept away. The regional Mayors, (David Miller and others) now have direct control over their territories, using the template of the “City of Toronto Act”. Fear will keep the locals in line. Hasn’t it always?

P.S. OKAY! I’m having little political fun with my love for Star Wars!

What does this election mean for Toronto and David Miller and taxes?

I am sure that David Miller, and all of the city councilors, were watching the election closely. Essentially, Torontonians have decided to put Dalton McGuinty back in power, but voting overwhelmly for Liberals in various ridings. An interesting note is that NDP voters seemed to be concentrated in the downtown areas, where David Miller’s support is strong. A pattern is forming that may need NDP support spread to other ridings. On the other hand in some areas, that might not be possible, with vote splitting between the NDP and Green Party. Now what does this mean for Toronto? Well, it means that David Miller and city council will probably have no choice but to increase taxes and implement new user fees on Toronto tax payers. He took the “City of Toronto Act” bait and now, with such a majority, Dalton McGuinty has no obligation to do anything about downloading. But, the oddity is that Torontonians do not want higher taxes or fees, but they want more service? So, what does this mean? If Torontonians wanted to send a message to Dalton, supporting the bad financial situation for Toronto, then it would have been heard. However, the message sent was that they like the Liberals and the status quo. This means Toronto is in the middle of a rock and a hard place! If Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals re-nag on provincial downloading, I am sure there will be a swelling of ground support for David Miller. If David Miller is smart, he should use his NDP support for a new campaign for 2011. Now the question remains, will David Miller consider a run for the leadership of the NDP?

By: Andy MJ
a.k.a. “The G.T.A Patriot”
Toronto, Ontario

David Miller and Toronto City Council stuck between a rock and a hard place

Miller experienced a major blow to his leadership when city council voted to put off making a resolution about the land transfer tax and the completion of a vehicle registration levy. In an ironic twist I predict that city council will have no choice but to support David Miller. Wait a minute, wasn’t that obvious? Although I am neither for nor against the tax increases, Toronto at this point simply has no choice or alternative. After years of raiding city coffers and reserve funds, Toronto is simply almost bankrupt. What is unfortunate for the councilors who voted against the tax increases are that the fact that they were essentially hoping for a change of government, on the provincial side. Blame for the entire sad state of affairs in Toronto can be equally levied on various levels of government; however I feel that David Miller unfortunately took the Dalton McGuinty bait. The ‘City of Toronto Act’ really allows the provincial governments to have David Miller do their dirty work. Added to the fact that Toronto’s finances have been badly managed over the last 4-5 years, city council will have no choice but to approve the unpopular land transfer tax. A question has to be asked of those councilors who voted against the plan as to their absence on pressing the Liberals, NDP and PC party for support of their cause. Although there has been some movement on uploading, there have been no specifics. Promises will not pay the bills in Toronto! And since these promises are coming from provincial politicians the question remains, can you trust them? Torontonians clearly don’t want massive service cuts or tax increases, but the question has to be asked and put to the people. Where will the money come from? How much more will we cut? Are there anymore areas for Toronto to make money? Have they tried everything?

The dangerous part to this whole equation that has not been looked at is the ‘City of Toronto Act’ itself and its implications for the future. What will happen when they run out of money again? Will they go begging to the province? I do feel that there has been waste. The purchase of TTC subways, without a tender and the cost overruns on city contracts. The various buildings the city still owns and renovations at city hall. There are others, but they are debatable. What David Miller and council maybe failing to see is that, albeit these are small items, in the eyes of Torontonians, every dollar saved counts. Once people see and feel that they have done their part, then we can move on to others. In some regards David Miller will need to stick firm to his agenda and move forward on the tax increases, however I hope he has heard Torontonians and not only those in the posh areas of Toronto. I do not want to remember the Mayors that had great plans, but did not finish them, like the Queen Subway and other ideas. His plans for the City of Toronto and the Transit City plan are admirable. If he is able to pull it off and actually change the city into something different, history may end up being kind to him. What will that legacy be? David Miller, at this moment, echoes what we should all feel. Do not depend on the Provincial or Federal governments. They are politicians and liars. So in that regard he has decided that Toronto must learn to stop crying over spilt milk and just take care of itself. Maybe in the end we should just be another province or territory in Canada, to fix our problems. However, I will leave that debate for another day.

By Andy MJ
a.k.a. “The G.T.A Patriot”
Toronto, Ontario