All Entries Tagged With: "platform"
Globe Ed: Rob Ford’s Election Is A Mandate For Change
The Globe and Mail editorial board offers that the larger challenge for mayor-elect Rob Ford is to successfully bring change to Toronto: “Mr. Ford ran a blunt campaign that fed an appetite for change. He responded to, as he put it in his victory speech last night, a popular sense that “enough is enough”. But [...]
Gee: Ford Raged Against The Machine, And Now Runs It
Marcus Gee of the Globe suggests that Rob Ford’s next challenge will be to run a government as successful as his campaign: “Whether Mr. Ford can deliver that in the city of Toronto is, to say the least, an open question. In a system where there are no political parties and the mayor’s is only [...]
Star Editorial: Ford Needs To Reach Out
The Toronto Star Editorial Board thinks that mayor-elect Rob Ford’s first order of business is to start building bridges with Council and other stakeholders: “He needs to extend a hand beyond the right-wing councillors who backed his campaign to the more progressive ones who opposed him. It would make sense for Ford to put at [...]
James: What Happens Now? Four Turbulent Years
Royson James predicts that the next four years will be marked by political battles as Mayor Ford works to push his agenda through council: “Issues like contracting out garbage services and ending sole-source contracting and the sale of city assets promise titanic struggles among the left-leaning councillors. And any mayor who attempts to cut front-line [...]
Rob Ford’s Toronto: Fewer Wildcat Strikes, More Subways
The Toronto Star outlines what voters can expect from the next four years under a Rob Ford administration, based on his campaign platform: Work for a union? If you are a garbage collector with the city, your job is about to be outsourced to a private company. If you happen to work for the TTC, [...]
Levy: Furious George Can’t Change His Spots
Sue-Ann Levy believes that George Smitherman has not changed his ways, despite his pledges of fiscal conservatism: “[H]ow is the Smitherman engaged in pre-election pandering any different from the Smitherman, who during his watch as health minister from 2003-2008 allowed millions of dollars of cushy contracts to go to Liberal-friendly consultants and companies allegedly working [...]
Nickle: A Strategic Endorsement For Anybody-But-Ford For Mayor
Toronto Community News columnist David Nickle makes the case for George Smitherman – if only because he is not Rob Ford: “At its most benign, Ford’s vision is both destructive and unrealistic. Smitherman’s is flawed too, and ifhe were to fully implement the plan as presented, it too could be destructive to Toronto’s future. But [...]
Ford Backs Off Land Transfer Tax Repeal Promise
In a speech to local realtors, mayoral candidate Rob Ford says he will make ever effort to repeal the Land Transfer Tax in his first year of office, but cannot guarantee it will be done: “I just don’t want to say it’s going to get done, the problem being there’s a provincial election on Oct. [...]
Smitherman Vows To Establish Green Tech District
Mayoral candidate George Smitherman announced his plans to create incentives for green businesses in Toronto, in addition to offering more support to local outfits: “Using measures such as tax increment financing, Mr. Smitherman pledged to establish a green business district in an as yet unspecified area of the city where there’s an abundance of fallow [...]
Pantalone Hopes To Create ‘Road Peace’ With New Bike Plan
Mayoral candidate Joe Pantalone used the remaining days of the campaign to unveil his “complete” transit plan, which includes 1,000 km of new bike lanes: “Transit City, the light rail network championed by Mayor David Miller, is the backbone of the deputy mayor’s “complete” transportation plan. “My plan provides more options to get Torontonians going [...]
Torontoist: Parsing The Mayoral Platforms: Finance And Budget
Online magazine Torontoist offers an in-depth examination of the financial platforms for each of the three leading mayoral candidates: Joe Pantalone The Small Wonder is walking a fine line when it comes to finance, because with other candidates fanning the flames of voter waste rage, he needs to at least pay lip service to the [...]
Ford Transit Plan Could Cost The City $100-Million
The National Post speaks with parties involved in the Bombardier streetcar contract with the City and what may happen if Rob Ford is elected and opts to back out of the deal: “Each contract is really unique, and it depends on a wide range of legal conditions,” said Marc-Andre Lefebvre. “Certain transit authorities will put [...]
Nickle: New Council And Mayor As Shackled As The Last
Pundit David Nickle figures that no matter who wins in just over a week, change will not be easy to come by: “The reality is that any mayor and council who comes into the job is going to be facing the same constrained set of options as shackled the last. The city’s books never balance [...]
Pantalone Reveals Budget Plan
Mayoral candidate Joe Pantalone revealed his fiscal platform, which includes a pledge to balance the 2011 city budget: “The deputy mayor said the modest tax increase – coupled with a projected $180-million surplus for 2010, land sales and efficiencies – would make it possible for him to balance the books in 2011 without asking the [...]
Cullen: Mayoral Candidates Speak Out On Green Issues
Well known garden expert Mark Cullen reports on the environmental platforms of the leading mayoral candidates: I solicited the top four candidates for mayor and received three responses. Rob Ford did not reply. Here is a summary of the results: On Tree Planting: George Smitherman: “I will continue the recent efforts to restore and expand [...]
‘Neat Freak’ Rob Ford Vows To Clean Up City
In a speech to the Toronto Board of Trade, mayoral candidate Rob Ford told business leaders that cleanliness will be a priority for him as mayor: “I want people to come to the city and say wow this is spotless, and it’s safe,” he told a group of business leaders at a luncheon hosted by [...]
Ford, Rossi Receive Failing Grades On Environmental Group’s Report Card
The Toronto Environmental Alliance has issued a report card based on a survey distributed to all mayoral candidates. Two leading candidates, Rocco Rossi and Rob Ford, did not complete the survey: “Given that the most recent polls have shown Mr. Ford as the potential front-runner, we find this exceptionally bizarre that he chose not to [...]
