We have that too. Ontario is about $40B behind on infrastructure spending.
I agree that it is unfair to suggest that everyone in the suburbs is stupid, but this particular brand of idiocy does seem to be very focused there.
Birds of a feather flock together.
I live in the suburbs, I used to live downtown (Trinity Bellwoods for 5 years). Recently had a baby and our apartment was a 1 bedroom so we had to find something larger with the baby coming. Because Toronto real estate is ridiculous, all we could afford was up in North York. I voted for Rob Ford for so many reasons, none of which had anything to do with lowering taxes. I voted for him because I was sick of not being able to find a good place to live even with our double income which I thought was a large income, and while we couldnât afford this, councillors were wasting all the money they possibly could. Sure those free zoo passes for all councillors werenât a huge budget item, but the principle of it is ridiculous. thatâs obviously a tiny issue he brought up, but I mean⌠he was the FIRST politician Iâve ever heard from who understand all the bullshit going on at CIty Hall. David Millerâs war on the car was fucking ridiculous, people have to drive sometimes. My parents are elderly and disabled, wheel trans is a joke, and most places arenât even wheelchair accesible. They need to drive, they have no choice. Ok, I canât even list every single reason on here, itâs impossible. But Iâm just saying, itâs not just taxes⌠he actually had some really good policy ideas, and he honestly understood the ridiculous spending at city hall needed to stop, all the while Adam Giambrone was spending money taking French Lessons and making YouTube videos that costed 100k+ using our money. People in Toronto need to realize that unfortunately we were amalgamated against our will, and now weâre this massive city that will not ever agree on the same things, and for good reason! We all have different priorities! My priorities when i lived in Bellwoods were EXTREMELY different than they are now. So, as soon as the people of south of Bloor realize that Toronto is a large large city with so many different people needing different things, and that Rob Ford is trying to help the suburbs that need help also, I think they would have seen it differently. But then again, I understand you want whatâs best for you, and not whatâs best for everyone, especially us in the suburbs.
In a way those are all fine reasons to vote for someone. The question isnât why people voted for him in the first place, it is why do people still support him now. Do you feel he delivered on those things you wanted, and if so, what makes you feel that way? What has actually changed for you?
What was the war on the car? What were the policies in place that you wanted changed? What has changed about those policies since Rob Ford took office?
The problem is that Rob Ford is a egomanic and a liar and he does little to nothing. He spent his political capital in the first year delaying some transit expansion and since then all heâs done is distract. He has engaged in extremely petty corruption from hiring a staff member to help him coach his football team to redirecting road work to the roads around his own business. It adds up to a lot more than zoo passes (which likely actually cost around $0 since the city funds the zoo anyway and most councillors probably donât go).
If you just want to vote for someone who talks big then that is your choice in a democracy. But that is all Ford is, someone who talks big talk. The mayor gets one vote on council and without allies he can do nothing. Ford has burned all his allies with childish and erratic behaviour and canât really accomplish anything now. Even if you like the direction the city went in since he was elected, it likely has little to do with Ford himself. You should be thanking the rest of council for getting things done despite him.
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The problem is, the city never wanted to annex the suburbs⌠that was purely a suburban political move to get the city under the conservative banner. You can even see that in Ford and Harperâs statements. So yes, you ARE two different areas made into one, but that was by the conservative group seeing the money and going for it.
Besides, now, the city will be obligated to pay for Rob Ford to fight his criminal and civil cases, so I donât know how much money you save here.
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Itâs surprising to me that someone with a young child and elderly, medically-challenged parents would think lowering taxes would be helpful to their situation.
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Ford got in because he eliminated the car registration fee. $60.
Thatâs what a vote costs in Toronto. $60.
So say all the taxi drivers I know (and I know a lot of them, I am lazy and I donât drive).
O_o Yikes.
It baffles me that anyone can swallow the idea that by improving transit (especially Wheelchair Transit) and introducing bike lanes a war on cars is declared. Sure people need to drive sometiimes, do they need to drive all the time? Howâs that work out for people that canât drive?
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And, of course, more people on the street car means more space on the road for drivers, not less. Of course that is lost on âwar on the carâ people because they figure that if there were no streetcars then those people would just go away.
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I dunno, feels like weâre well into the twilightâŚ
Iâve kind of noticed this is a page from the playbook of the conservatives. If people on the left want to add bike lanes or add things to the city square nativity scene or say âHappy Holidaysâ, the answer is to make it seem like the liberals are trying to take away some key part of the human experience.
Even though thatâs NOT whatâs going on, ever.
War on christmas⌠war on cars⌠war on criticism⌠war on businessâŚ
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Obviously. If you are not a vocal, avowed member of my tribe, then you must be from another tribe, and we must be at war.
Iâm pretty sure they advocate policies for that, as well.
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Of course the government should be paying for my familyâs needs. They just shouldnât be wasting money on blaâŚblah people who get steaks and cadillacs even though they refuse to work.
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Iâm not sure itâs so simple. This is a slightly different example, but I watched that Cory Booker documentary last night, Street Fight, which addresses a bit the whole voting for a guy over and again, who is not necessarily good and honest. One of the people interviewed brought up Marion Barry, and posited that the reason he got re-elected after his arrest was because his arrest was viewed as an attack on the community, not just taking a criminal out of office. These are some tricky questions that just donât come down to political questions, I think:
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