All Fried Up In The Big Smoke

Less political. More fictional.

Brick By Brick

Posted on May 10, 2013 by "Brother" of Cityslikr

Well, you have to hand it to him.

No ifs ands or buts about it, Mayor Ford had his best day at city council yesterday in a long, long time. Not since the honeymoon period of his administration, when he was able to obliterate anything he didn’t like, has the mayor’s limited and dim view of government so thoroughly triumphed. Small wonder he proclaimed it the greatest day in the history of Toronto or some similar variation on the usual Fordian hyperbole.

He stood firm by his principles of not burdening the voters with taxation, and the majority of city council went along with him, outright rejecting almost all of the ‘revenue tools’ city staff had recommended as a way of funding Metrolinx’s Big Move. The mayor threatened all who dared to defy him with certain electoral defeat in next year’s campaign. Some 30 long months into that heavy-handed schtick and with little evidence he’s ever carried that kind of clout, enough of his council colleagues tucked their tails between their legs and rolled over for him.

None more so than Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker who put his political self-interest right out there front and centre. On Wednesday, the councillor boldly stated on council floor that he would only support any revenue tools recommendations if, in return, the proposed Scarborough LRT extension was reverted to a subway. In effect, another demand, yet again, to alter the terms of the master agreement between the city and Metrolinx that’s in place for what is the first wave of the Big Move which includes the Eglinton crosstown LRT that is already under construction.

To bolster support in his Scarborough ward, Councillor De Baeremaeker argued that any other form of rapid transit aside from a subway was inferior, and that his residents and all of the residents of Scarborough were tired of living with inferior rapid transit (long a tactical political argument pushed by Mayor Ford). Fellow Scarborough councillor Michelle Berardinetti, bringing along some weird internecine provincial Liberal party baggage, helped prop up the argument with slides and talking points that must’ve brought tears to the eyes of the mayor. I’ve taught them so well. Fly, fly my children.

Of course, such cynical pandering was merely a prelude to the heaping helping of it that was to come. If there’s a more calculating member of city council, someone so utterly devoid of principle whose name isn’t Peter Milczyn, it has to be Josh Colle. His motion which was kinda-sorta an amendment to Councillor Milczyn’s, laid out the proposed revenue tools the city would not be supporting which was almost all of them. Let’s call it a negative motion because it put forward nothing, was big on nots with scant mention of anything positive.

When Councillor Matlow stood to ask Colle what exactly he was seeking to do with an amendment which sought to delete a segment of an earlier motion of Matlow’s supporting a proposed sales tax, fuel tax, parking levy and development charges, Councillor Colle said he was seeking to provide the province with an answer to their questions about revenue tools. Not answering would be impolite, I guess. But delivering an across the board no and a couple lukewarm shrugs of indifference represents the height of active engagement.

After more than a year of having her way on the transit file while stoking talk of a mayoral run along the way, TTC Chair Karen Stintz has taken her first serious stumble on this. By supporting a motion that essentially throws no support behind any revenue tools to build transit and by openly siding with misguided parochial pro-Scarborough subway councillors, Councillor Stintz positions herself with very little daylight showing between her views and those of Mayor Ford. The only difference, and it’s a very big difference, is that the mayor is upfront expressing his opinions. Councillor Stintz is simply pretending to express her opinions.

That’s a distinction voters pick up on and usual gravitate toward the one that feels more genuine.

One of the discouraging aspects of the outcome of all this is the pure abdication of responsibility shown by a majority of our city councillors. Not only did this overarching decision to avoid getting behind any of the transit building revenue tools simply dismiss the work done by the city manager and staff — that’s not an unusual occurrence — but it disregards the contribution made by thousands of residents who took time out to participate in the town halls and public sessions put on by the likes of Feelingcongested.ca and others. Sure, we appreciate your opinion, folks. *patpat* Now let us get on with the business of governing.

And by governing, of course, council displayed its preference to not govern. In deciding to sidestep the revenue tools discussion, they left the heavy lifting of persuading a public wary of new taxes that new taxes were necessary up to the provincial government. There is some merit to that since taxation is largely under the control of Queen’s Park. But to so thoroughly disavow any involvement in the funding discussion, to throw up your hands and say, hey, not me, all the while upping your ask for the transit you want built in your part of the city?

It just emphasizes the junior aspect in the junior level of government.

If you don’t want to make any of the difficult decisions in how something as important as transit gets built (all the while demanding your fair share of it), the next logical step is to cede control of the operations of it, isn’t it? Why should one level of government do all the politically risky work of getting the money together to fund public transit up and not make sure it is properly run and delivered? I don’t think it’s unreasonable for Metrolinx to do one of two things in the wake of Toronto city council’s decisions yesterday: walk away and say, have fun wallowing in your congestion or, thanks for all the help, guys. If you don’t mind stepping aside, we’ll take it from here.

And city council basically turns its attention to the more mundane matters of collecting our garbage, keeping our streets clean and our toilets properly flushed. Exactly the stuff Rob Ford tells us local politicians should be doing. By deciding to remain defiantly on the sidelines in the transit funding debate, city council embraced Rob Ford’s political philosophy of do little, tax little and always keep your cell phones on.

Which is fine if that’s all residents want from their councillors. But you can’t expect that and demand things like fully functioning public transit as well. There’s an additional cost that comes with it. One Mayor Ford and every councillor rejecting the idea of new transit taxes and fees refuses to acknowledge.

Near the end of the debate yesterday, the mayor touted his Subway Plan, and how council had previously rejected his Subway Plan. The mayor has no subway plan. He rejected the revenue tools the Chong Report pushed that he cites as the backbone of his Subway Plan. He cannot point to the efficiencies he will find to fund his Subway Plan. The private sector has remained strangely silent on his Subway Plan.

There are no subways without the kinds of revenue tools Mayor Ford and city council refused to get behind. The mayor seems completely comfortable believing that’s not true. As long as we continue to throw our support behind politicians who believe that, we join in on that magical thinking and absolve ourselves of any responsibility for building a better city. We just want our garbage picked up, our street clean of debris and our toilets to flush without incident.

— dispiritedly submitted by Cityslikr

Her Master’s Voice

Posted on April 7, 2013 by "Brother" of Cityslikr

You might almost start to feel sorry for Toronto Sun columnist Sue-Ann Levy if it weren’t for the fact that she has to be the luckiest newspaper columnist around. Seriously. She must wake up every morning, look into the mirror and just cackle to herself.

A terrible writer of words, she gets paid to write terrible words that oftentimes include heavy doses of union/leftist bashing, all the while being safely ensconced inside a union. It doesn’t get any better than that, really. Sanctioned and handsomely rewarded sanctimonious hypocrisy. Talk about your sweet deals.

Not only that but she’s risen to the ranks of official court reporting, the Ford Administration’s go-to print mouthpiece. Sue-Ann Levy, the voice of the mayor of Toronto. Who could’ve seen the stars align in such a way for that to happen?

Still, partisan hackery isn’t all bons bons and caviar. Sometimes there’s real work to be done. All the moving parts of this Rube Goldberg contraption that is the Rob Ford mayoralty have to work just so for it to function properly, and god knows there’s been some seizing up of the machine for a while now. It takes some resolve to continue tinkering in order to keep the wheels from coming off completely. Less loyal apparatchiks would (and have) simply walked away from what they view as the smoldering remains.

But not Sue-Ann. She’s not willing to give up on her spot in the sun, her position of power. Do you know the chances of this situation ever arising again? She’s been on the outside looking in for too long to simply slink back now and resume yapping at the moon. In for a penny, in for a pound as they say.

So there she was, spilling ink over the mayor’s hollow Hero Burgers victory at city council this week and vilifying those who dared interfere with the sacred process of proper procurement. Her shit-list grows longer – overlapping seamlessly with the mayor’s list — now including ‘rogue councillor’ Paul Ainslie. A recent addition, there’s no patented SAL schoolyard nickname for him yet. Something catchy that makes a 10 year-old laugh like she’s honed for the TTC Chair. Councillor Stunts. (Get it? Her name’s actually Stintz). La TTC Turncoat. (Remember? Councillor Stintz backstabbed Mayor Ford and thwarted his chances of building a make-believe subway on Sheppard Avenue).

You see, anyone disagreeing with or defying Mayor Ford is dead to Sue-Ann Levy. It’s not about partisanship. It has nothing to do with left and right although Sue-Ann does especially hate her the Silly Socialists. Since she’s thrown all in with Team Ford, anyone who doesn’t is going to find themselves on the business end of grade school nickname a la SAL.

That is the mark of a true a flak. Never question your meal ticket’s actions. It’s always the other guy’s fault. Haughty ambitions or weak constitutions are to blame for any falling outs with the mayor. Never is he or his brother or the third Etobicoke amigo, Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday in the wrong. Suggesting as much could lead to some unwelcomed introspection or, even worse, unreturned phone calls from the mayor’s office.

It’s called ‘Knowing Which Side Your Bread Is Buttered’. Politics as blind allegiance not good governance. You got to dance with the one that brung ya. And Sue-Ann Levy has danced with Rob Ford.

Any hint of desperation in Sue-Ann’s outbursts – and it’s hard to detect since it sounds like her usual ravings – is because she’s hitched her little red wagon so firmly to Mayor Ford’s star. A star that’s dimmed significantly over the course of the last year to 18 months. If Sue-Ann and the Toronto Sun can’t keep the Team Ford super nova from flaming out entirely, they’ll find themselves once more in the power shadow, no longer the mayor’s official paper of record and just another rag with a Sunshine girl and sports scores.

Being so closely aligned with the current administration and lashing out at any apostate, regardless of political stripe, Sue-Ann Levy risks being relegated deep into the bleacher seats again. Having been granted access to power, she’s showing her true colours and they’re not conservative blue. It’s a shade you turn when you give up reporting or even opining, and just start typing out p.r. memos from head office. What’s that look like? A buttery yellow?

Sue-Ann Levy refers to herself as a ‘general s— disturber’. Actual shit disturbers don’t say s— disturber. They say shit disturber. And real shit disturbers don’t simply regurgitate talking points and pick fights as a proxy for those in power. That’s called sy—phancy.

Such lack of self-awareness would be sad if it weren’t on display by the likes of Sue-Ann Levy. In her, it’s more pathetic but in a funny kind of way.

— almost sympathetically submitted by Cityslikr

Mayor Or May Not

Posted on March 12, 2013 by "Brother" of Cityslikr

For the record, I think city council is doing a pretty bang up job at this moment. All things considered. And by all things I mean, the mayor. Besieged and absent most of the time, he contributes nothing more than an occasional grunt of consent (casino, yes) or dissenting snort (tolls, no way).

Locked into a near submission hold early on in this term by a beast with a mandate, a more passive, compliant group was hard to imagine than our city council. Kill Transit City. Wait, what? Cut the VRT. OK, but how do we replace the reven–Cut office budgets. OK but that’s still not going to replace the revenue from–Privatize waste collection. Can you at least give us proper numbers? Oh, never mind. Whatevs.

Who’s the boss? You’re the boss, boss man.

But then, in a classic dumb wrasslin’ move, Mayor Ford didn’t finish off his opponent when he had the chance. He let up on the choke hold and tagged his partner to take over the beating. But when his partner-brother-councillor got in over his head, his nifty manoeuvre on the Port Lands rebuffed and then used to pummel him, the mayor was too distracted to help out. Oh, look. Football season!

He never really recovered.

And we as a city are the better for it.

City council has stepped up and ably assumed control, as best it can with an obstructionist mayor who, when he’s paying any attention at all, throws nothing more than blocks and hissy fits in order to in any way seem relevant to the civic discourse. Yes, transit plans were delayed by about 18 months but, I’d say, council was third on the list of those responsible for that, after the mayor and the Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty who could’ve stopped the assault in its tracks, so to speak, but instead chose to play politics with it. Actually, fourth if you factor in Tim Hudak’s inane blathering about subways, subways, subways.

For sure, this type of unplanned (but not unsurprising) leaderless style of local governance is not optimal. It appears to have opened things wide for outside influencers, let’s call them, on the casino question. The mayor’s inability to build a majority of councillors to approve a casino has now slowed the proceedings to a halt as staff calls for more information from OLG (which is not necessarily a bad thing) and given more time to lobbying efforts. But it’s also just prolonged the time, space and resources this debate takes of the public discourse. Important matters are not dealt with in the most expeditious of manners.

On the other hand, in the absence of a strong mayoral hand, city staff have seized control of the transit file and pushed it to the forefront. In fact, I might argue that led by our Chief Planner, Jennifer Keesmaat, along with TTC Chair Karen Stintz, the public discussion about tolls, taxes and fees needed to pay for Metronlinx’s Big Move have outpaced the efforts done by the province. With Mayor Ford bleating ineffectually along the sidelines, there have been forums, town halls and other information sessions that have inserted the topic firmly into the region wide discussion. All of it occurring in spite of the mayor’s adamant disapproval.

Pointing to the possibility that while having a mayor contribute positively to the running of the city is preferable, it isn’t absolutely essential. Order does not break down and chaos reign. Sure, it can be something of a circus but I would argue that’s more a product of this particular administration than it is any sort of proof that the system cannot function if a mayor doesn’t prevail.

What we absolutely don’t need is to bestow more power in the mayor’s hands to make sure this kind of gridlock doesn’t happen, as some have talked about repeatedly, not mentioning any names but it’s exactly the same as the mayor’s and rhymes with ‘bored’. No, just the opposite. Until we undertake a radical restructuring of the municipal system here with an emphasis on more city wide representation outside of the mayor’s office while giving more power and say to citizens at the ground level, we might want to harken back to simpler times.

Let’s stop directly electing the mayor of Toronto.

Instead, our mayor will be chosen from the 44 councillors who’ve just been elected. That way, there’s already a momentum toward consensus going forward into the term. There’s a working majority at council from the get-go.

An added bonus would be extra interest in the councillor races because the one elected to be mayor would give up their council seat and be replaced by the candidate coming in second to them in the ward race. Four years down the road, the mayor would have to fight for the ward again, possibly facing the incumbent who’d replaced them. So, there’d be none of this petulant sulking, impatiently waiting for the next election to get your way since you’d have someone else trying to contribute positively to the running of the city who you might just have to face off against in your ward in order to be re-elected.

It’s not perfect, no. But if the office of the mayor has not proven to be indispensable to the running of the city, why pretend that it is? Let’s treat it like it is, a first among equals to borrow a phrase. Only as powerful as the individual holding the office can make it or as strong as the rest of council allows.

— helpfully submitted by Cityslikr