All Entries Tagged With: "taxes"
Levy: City Hall’s Broken, Voters Want It Fixed
The Sun’s Sue Ann Levy offers her thoughts on last night’s election results – voters are fed up: “By giving Ford the nod, Toronto citizens have said enough to wasteful spending on pet projects while basic needs like road repairs, parks maintenance and our dirty streets are consistently neglected. They’ve said enough to self-serving politicians [...]
Toronto Voters Grapple With Competing Anxieties
The Globe and Mail speaks to a number of Toronto voters and find that they are going to the polls with significant concerns about their future in the city – regardless of who wins: “The way a cascading series of public-opinion polls have set up this election, Monday’s results come down to competing anxieties. Whichever [...]
Eye Weekly Interviews Mel Lastman
Eye Weekly sits down with former mayor Mel Lastman to get his thoughts on the last seven years and to get his advice for the next mayor of Toronto: You said that council was less self-serving when you were there — what is the next mayor going to have to do to restore the situation? [...]
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 [...]
Levy: Fear Mongering About Ford
The Sun’s Sue-Ann Levy asks who voters should really fear: “A councillor who practiced what he preached for 10 years — not partaking of any perks of the job — and who consistently exposed the wasteful spending of his socialist colleagues on council? Or a former health minister who had to have his direct responsibility [...]
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 [...]
Ford Releases Complete Financial Plan
Mayoral candidate Rob Ford gave additional details on his plans to tame the city budget, while promising to eventually post a substantial surplus: “In a statement, Mr. Ford said he would use one quarter of the surplus for “priority service improvements,” such as childcare services, services for seniors, making Toronto accessible and investing in an [...]
Selley: Rossi A Stronger Candidate Than Polls Indicate
The Post’s Chris Selley likes mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi’s fiscal plan, but isn’t sure that it’s going to make a difference: “Maybe Mr. Rossi is just flat-out wrong in saying the people want a political outsider in the mayor’s office. Maybe it’s the fact that Mr. Smitherman noticeably loosened up once it became clear he [...]
Gee: Rocco Rossi’s Last-Ditch Ploy: Common Sense
The Globe’s Marcus Gee notes that the fiscal plan being offered by mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi is a notable change from previous policy announcements: “It’s a new tack for Mr. Rossi, a former Liberal fundraiser and head of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Coming out of the starting gate, he seemed to be occupying the [...]
Rocco Rossi Eyes TTC, Police In Plan To Rein In Spending
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board met with mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi shortly after he released his fiscal platform, which offers his plan for reining in spending: “You have to be open to virtually every department,” Mr. Rossi told The Globe and Mail’s editorial board after unveiling his budget plan on Monday. The fourth-place mayoral [...]
Sun Editorial: George Smitherman, Tax Fighter?
Mayoral candidate met with the Editorial Board of the Toronto Sun to defend his provincial record as well as explain how he will tackle Toronto’s budget: “Smitherman said he’ll use his first 100 days in office to do a “full Oprah” review of the budget, cross-examining senior staff about where waste can be cut responsibly. [...]
Gee: The Secret Of Ford’s Success
The Globe’s Marcus Gee speaks with one voter, former Miller supporter Peter Robinson, who is fed up enough with City Hall to consider voting for Rob Ford: “It almost seems that every time you turn around you are paying more money,” he said on the phone Wednesday, after e-mailing me about the Ford phenomenon. “Maybe [...]
Levy: Ford Math Comes Up Short
While Sue Ann Levy thinks Ford’s core messages are in sync with Toronto voters, she sees some serious holes in his plan: “For one thing, Ford already has a huge black hole to fill if he intends to get rid of the Land Transfer and Personal Vehicle Taxes. Those two taxes combined could represent about [...]
Star Editorial: Competing Plans For City Finances
In an editorial in today’s edition, the Star Editorial Board suggests that there are two very different approaches to the city’s finances on offer from mayoral candidates George Smitherman and Rob Ford: “It is telling that on the same day that Smitherman released his detailed financial platform in a high-profile speech followed by intense questioning [...]
‘Time Of Sacrifice’ Coming For Toronto, Smitherman Warns
In a discussion with the Toronto Star’s Editorial Board, mayoral candidate George Smitherman notes that city workers will be expected to do their part to reign in spending: “He points to the huge deficits that Ottawa and Queen’s Park are running, which affects the funding those governments can offer the city, so Toronto needs to [...]
Agar: Demanding Fiscal Responsibility Doesn’t Make You Evil
CFRB host Jerry Agar takes issue with those who look down on voters fed up with the status quo at City Hall: “Those people who are warning the city will be a ruined, hollowed out hell-hole under Ford teach us that the way to prosperity is ever-increasing taxes and fees. That is fiscal responsibility. Smart [...]
