Rob Ford may not have subway financing plans, but he does have photos of LRT crashes
Only a day until the meeting that will determine Sheppard Avenue’s transit future, and councillors with crucial swing votes are still asking Rob Ford to clarify financing plans for his darling subway. Centrist Josh Colle said “it’s in the mayor’s court” to outline revenue tools, and Gloria Lindsay Luby, a conservative councillor who might vote with the mayor if Doug would only shut his trap, says she suggested a referendum on increasing property taxes to pay for transit, but hasn’t heard back from the mayor’s office. Apparently, Ford’s camp has been busy with other, more important matters—specifically, handing out out flyers emblazoned with colour pictures of light-rail crashes. Because nothing raises the tenor of a political discussion like disaster porn. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »
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Only a day until the meeting that will determine Sheppard Avenue’s transit future, and councillors with crucial swing votes are still asking Rob Ford to clarify financing plans for his darling subway. Centrist Josh Colle said “it’s in the mayor’s court” to outline revenue tools, and Gloria Lindsay Luby, a conservative councillor who might vote with the mayor if Doug would only shut his trap, says she suggested a referendum on increasing property taxes to pay for transit, but hasn’t heard back from the mayor’s office. Apparently, Ford's camp has been busy with other, more important matters—specifically, handing out out flyers emblazoned with colour pictures of light-rail crashes. Because nothing raises the tenor of a political discussion like disaster porn. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »){kind=link}
Norm Kelly + Rob/Doug Ford = sad, sad, desperate men.
The text of an email I just sent to Norm Kelly is below:
Dear Mr. Kelly,
I am writing to register my utter revulsion to your flyer showing crashes of LRT vehicles (page 2), distributed in an attempt to persuade people to support subways. If this is the depth you think you have to sink to in order to win the argument, then your argument is worthless. I hope for better from an elected representative.
Yours sincerely,
Edmund O’Connor
Rob Ford has a perfectly valid financing plan, he’s explained it time and time again.
“Get a shovel in the ground and the money will flow.”
How is this not a valid financing plan? All we have to do is start building, and money will just start pouring in.
@true tory
theoretically, you can raise taxes in areas with subways because property value goes up, even if you add it one stop at a time.
the big argument agaisnt LRT is no left turns, or long lines for left turns. that on its own would suffocate north york.
This administration is pathetic. Why can’t we have a normal mayor like Vancouver’s Gregor Robertson or London UK’s Boris Johnson? i.e. someone who loves cities and understands how to make them work.
Ford is forever crazy-making. The population shouldn’t have to be alarmed every time he or his brother open their mouths. We’re paying this guy $100,000 + expenses annually to run the city. For the right person, the Toronto mayor’s job could be wonderful challenge – not a game of whining one-ups-manship.
Bullying gets you exactly where he is right now – nowhere. Makes me long for Mel Lastman.
Can Ford’s people get any more crass? We have access to far more images of cars crashing and the results. No one is using them to shut down highways and counter vehicle traffic. We can also pull out photos of the 1995 Toronto subway crash with 3 dead and 30 in hospital, but we have better taste than that. Time for Ford to pull out his magic shovel and start digging so the money can fall from heaven or wherever he expects it to materialize from. His giant pinkness has expired. We need a new mayor. Let’s get on with the LRT and hopes Rob goes away.
“theoretically, you can raise taxes in areas with subways because property value goes up, even if you add it one stop at a time.”
Tax hikes are off the table, for now.
Perhaps under a different administration.
So to get money all you need to do is put a shovel in the ground? Gee if I’d known that I would have invested in shovels instead of a university degree