Tag Archives: Councillor Paul Ainslie

The Magic Middle

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Talk is brewing of some sort of middle ground bubbling up from the rancorously partisan divisions at City Hall. Over at Spacing yesterday, John Lorinc wrote of the Gang of Six; six new councillors who didn’t hue to strict left-right voting patterns during the protracted special council meeting called by the mayor last Wednesday to de-board the TCHC. While Mayor Ford comfortably triumphed on the main issues of the evening, some cracks formed on side motions and amendments that showed the administration doesn’t hold an iron grip on a majority of council.

So as we move forward from what everyone’s referring to as the low-hanging fruit that the mayor’s been successfully bashing away at – and yes, as complicated an issue as the TCHC imbroglio was, its treatment by city council and the press made it a big ol’ low-hanging, over-ripe fruit – and onto more challenging matters like, say, garbage privatization, selling off of city assets, further and deeper cuts to things like the TTC, things may not go as swimmingly the mayor’s way. What happens when things become much more contentious not just between right and left but for those trying to navigate the bipartisan, middle way? When the mob’s frenzied, anti-government bloodlust is sated and people start looking around and realizing, wait, you’re cutting what? That wasn’t part of the deal.

Will the so-called tug-of-war between the left and right on city council become less one-sided with the current winners, Team Ford, having to learn how to be conciliatory instead of confrontational? Is this administration even capable of such a gesture?

It seems hard to imagine not just because the mayor’s been so heavy-handed since taking office but his decade long career as a councillor points to a pathological inability to get along with those he doesn’t agree with. His is a black and white world, and consensus is deemed a sign of weakness. You’re either with him or against him. If you’re against him, it can only mean that you’re a socialist. Or worse.

The problem with the debate so far is that it’s being painted in terms of this radical view of Mayor Ford. I am hard pressed to think of any current (or recent) councillor who veers as hard left as the Fords veer hard right. Yes, City Hall was called Silly Socialist Hall under David Miller. By Sue-Ann Levy who shares the equally skewed opinion with Mayor Ford and his brother that anyone to the left of them is a… how did she describe it in a recent babbling rant? “…gravy train-enabling, public teat-sucking, union-loving… leftist hangers-on and despicable leftist hypocrites.” The mayor himself back in the day when he was still a councillor referred to the Globe and Mail as a ‘socialist newspaper’ in the now infamous Fat Fuck video that he starred in with Giorgio Mammoliti and John Barber.

The Globe and Mail. A socialist rag.

This current council does not suffer from a deeply divided left-right cleft. It is all about the far right versus moderates. The question is, under the baleful, full court press of the mayor and his team, can a genuinely moderate group of councillors emerge and start holding sway come vote time?

Let’s start with the six Lorinc mentions, Councillors Bailão, Berardinetti, Colle, Matlow, McMahon and Robinson. If they consistently voted with the 16 or so who regularly oppose the mayor, they’d still come up 1 short of a majority. Councillors Chin Lee and Ron Moeser have not been slavish in their devotion to Mayor Ford, so they couldn’t be ruled out as allies in this enterprise. That still leaves this group precariously dependent on everyone dutifully following suit which, it seems, only the mayor can count on currently.

So to cobble together a more comfortable consensus, you’d have to look to chip away at that wall of unflagging support Team Ford now can count on to push his agenda through. Discounting the new councillors Crisanti, Crawford and Pasternak who have cast their lot in with the mayor and mortgaged their future on his continued popularity… oh, and his brother, Doug, the mayor’s political Siamese twin… there are 16 councillors who all worked with Mayor Ford when he was a councillor. We know they all didn’t share his views or votes back in the day. In fact, it would be interesting to figure out what kind of common ground they shared with the mayor while serving as councillors together. (Paging Ford For Toronto! Paging Ford For Toronto!)

Surely a handful of these could be counted to buck the mayor if a reasonable centre began to take hold. Giorgio Mammoliti, once sworn enemy of Rob Ford and a fair-weather friend if ever there was one. Nobody else can do an about-face political pirouette like he can. I’d put Karen Stintz in a similar camp. Gloria Lindsay Luby has already opposed the mayor on an amendment during the TCHC debate. As has Frank Di Giorgio on occasion. Denzil Minnan-Wong and Paul Ainslie both smack of opportunists. Councillors John Parker, Michael Thompson, David Shiner and Norm Kelly seem like they’re capable of independent thought and/or can’t be considered hard core ideologues. Think about the sweet revenge, Councillor Peter Milczyn, if you helped make the mayor irrelevant after he tried to unseat you in October.

The fact is, Mayor Ford is irrelevant when we’re talking about finding middle ground. He doesn’t know how and wouldn’t be interested if he did. As Lorinc pointed out in his Spacing piece, the man voted against amendments to the TCHC motion despite them being right up his alley in terms of oversight simply, it seems, because he didn’t like who brought them forth, Councillors Shelley Carroll and Adam Vaughan which, if true, is nothing but spiteful, partisan politics. You can’t find a middle way with that.

In order for this council to find a moderate, middle-of-the-road consensus, Mayor Ford will have to be sidelined. While I realize that is easier said than done as he holds a lot of high cards, it is worth remembering that despite his claims to having a mandate, nearly 53% of Torontonians didn’t give him one. It is those folks you should be afraid of not the mayor.

— moderately submitted by Cityslikr

Cat Got Your Tongue?

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As we mentioned here yesterday, the Ford administration is mainly a media driven machine, delivering its baked to bite size perfection message over the airwaves and on the pages of our dailies. Usually the less discerning outlets like the raggedy-assed Toronto Sun and news outlets on your AM dial. After spending 6-½ hours in the chamber gallery last night witnessing council’s marathon special meeting to decide the fate of the remaining TCHC board members, I’m gaining a better understanding of why that is.

And it won’t come as a surprise to anyone who watched many of last year’s mayoral debates during the campaign. Mayor Ford is fundamentally incapable of formulating a coherent thought that cannot be expressed in more than a 3 word cliché. It makes for great radio and newspaper headlines but when confronted by a living, breathing, semi-sentient human being, well, it all just falls apart. The mayor gets flustered, starts to sweat and turns red to a point where you almost start feeling sorry for him. Which he used to his advantage during the debates, quickly scurrying offstage to the welcoming arms of the media scrum, whining about his mistreatment at the hands of downtown, debate-capable elites. There, there, Robbie. Don’t worry. We’ll make sure everybody realizes you actually won the debate.

No, what’s surprising is that the Ford administration is bereft of a single member who can stand up and defend it at council. I know every group, regardless of where they sit on the political spectrum, has its share of dim bulbs. Same goes for the hardcore ideologues inside any political team. They don’t think they have to explain themselves. The far right has the additional problem of not being able to reveal the full extent of its radical intent, so they end up sounding disingenuous, mouthing words they don’t really mean.

Still, what can you say about a group whose best spokesperson at council is Giorgio Mammoliti, a man prone to never passing up an opportunity to miss a point? Ever since he detached himself from his last vestige of personal dignity to become Mayor Ford’s BFF, the smarmy factor has gone through the roof. He wears his smug triumphalism on his sleeve, and the jokes and jibes Mammoliti tosses toward colleagues and the crowd are riddled with contempt, spite and nastiness that can only come from someone fully cognizant of just what a lightweight he actually is.

The mayor’s brother, Councillor Doug, the face of the administration in the media, is as equally awkward and inept at council but, unlike his mayor brother, doesn’t seem to realize it. He flashes a folksy charm that is neither and comes across more like that married guy trolling ladies night at T.G.I.F. (do either of those things still exist?). Rebuffed, he then turns nasty.

Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday appears to be held in high esteem by his fellow councillors but from an outsider’s standpoint? Whenever he gets up to talk at council, he’s just this side of Abe Simpson, veering from incoherently didactic to outraged in a heartbeat. Why don’t you kids understand this? I’m being perfectly clear! Are you on the pot or something?

Of course, no one does outrage and indignation for this administration better than Budget Chief Mike Del Grande. Once or twice every meeting, he’ll stand and berate anyone and everyone for not getting with the program. He seethes with contempt toward all those who refuse to recognize just how smart and hardworking he is. Or. Who. Simply. Don’t. Understand. Basic. Arith. Metic. He doesn’t need to explain his motivations. If you don’t know, you’re just not trying hard enough. Or stupid.

Councillor Michael Thompson tries very hard to make us understand his point of view. Or, more to the point, wants to look like he’s trying very hard to make us understand his point of view. Verbosity and long-windedness are his stock and trade. Minutes of clause and subclauses, followed by memories of how poorly everyone now affiliated with Mayor Ford were treated by the former regime, come together all wrapped up with a coda that essentially says, the mayor’s right, you’re wrong.

Newcomer James Pasternak has recently taken to defending the mayor with a pained obtuseness that reminds one of that really bad calculus teacher we all had in high school who couldn’t understand why the class didn’t understand what he was saying. Councillor Josh Colle rises occasionally to propose a motion which, as often as not, gets voted down by the mayor. Councillor Mary Margaret McMahon takes turns expressing either effusive praise for staff or the mayor and indignation when her motives are called into question. Councillors Frank Di Giorgio and Chin Lee will occasionally take to the floor to announce they’re backing the mayor because he’s a good guy and they trust him.

After that from a near majority of Mayor Ford supporters, it’s crickets. Long stretches of silence punctuated with button pushing almost unanimously to vote along with the mayor. They could be replaced by those drink dunking birds Homer Simpson — a second Simpsons reference in a single post. Whatever could that mean? – used to do his job while he went out. Rarely seeing fit to explain themselves, they are either merely hoping to keep their heads low and ride along on Mayor Ford’s coat tails, unnoticed, so that if it turns out poorly fingers won’t immediately point in their direction or… What? They can’t be bothered? Too shy?

At last night’s meeting, every one of the councillors who ultimately voted against giving the mayor the power to deep six the last remaining members of the TCHC board rose to speak, question or give a motion or amendment. To make a public pronouncement about why they were going to vote the way they did. They weren’t all barnburners or crowd pleasers. But they stood up and let those attending the meeting, the press, their constituents back home, all know their opinion on what was happening.

That may be the nature of being in opposition. Making the case of why you stand opposed. You don’t have to explain yourself so much when you’re in the driver’s seat.

But to remain silent on such an important, divisive matter, to not even make an effort, that is simply unacceptable. It is nothing short of a dereliction of your elected duties. If you’re unwilling through fear or indifference to stand up every now and then for your cause and display the courage of your convictions, you need to be called out, your political cowardice revealed. It’s peoples lives we’re dealing with here. Everyone should know why you did what you did.

So our Dishonourable Roll Call (in alphabetical order):

Councillor Paul Ainslie. Shame.

Councillor Michelle Berardinetti. Shame.

Councillor Gary Crawford. Shame.

Councillor Vincent Crisanti. Shame.

Councillor Mark Grimes. Shame.

Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby. Shame.

Councillor Peter Milczyn. Shame.

Councillor Cesar Palacio. Shame.

Councillor John Parker. Shame.

Councillor Jaye Robinson. Shame.

Councillor Karen Stintz. Shame.

— chidingly submitted by Cityslikr

Problems With Governing

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We have to stop overreacting to every mumbled declaration coming out of the mayor’s office. We really do.

And I don’t say this, casting aspersions. I am the worst culprit. Whether the mayor (or his official mouthpiece and brother) pronounces Transit City dead or calls for an NFL team to make the city world class or sketches out half-baked subway plans or demands dictatorial mayoral powers, I trend outrage. Can you believe the shit coming out of their mouths?! What are they up to? My god, the sky is falling!!

It’s understandable, this reaction. The boys ran a near flawless election campaign, playing both to their candidate’s strengths and expertly exploiting the gaping weaknesses of his opponents, and installed a stratospherically improbable outsider into the position of mayor. Geniuses of the darkest kind.

So naturally we assume Ford & Co. are bringing that A-game to City Hall. We see machinations with every maneuver, political scheming at the heart of everything that comes out of their mouths. Earnest vigilance must be maintained as we comb through the nuances, trying to read the tea leaves of what is surely a diabolical plan to destroy Toronto as we know it.

I’m beginning to think that as much as we underestimated their power to elect Rob Ford, we’re now overestimating the team’s ability to run City Hall. Having convinced themselves (and enough voters) that the solution to our woes was as easy as fiscal restraint, they have run face-first into the complex.. y glass of actual governance. And the degree of outlandishness in the statements issued from the Ford brain trust is directly proportional to the confusion and scattered thinking going on behind the scenes.

It’s a thought that came to me as I spent a day watching the Executive Committee in action. As ideologically and geographically rigid as it is, the mayor’s cabinet is not functioning like a well oiled machine. Not surprisingly as these are early days yet and this is their first budget process, made all the more manic by the expedited time frame that all signed on to. That some of the team now rail about the lack of quick answers, decisions and reports coming from staff and other committees is indicative of the lack of foresight running through the group. You cut the budget time in half, there are going to be hiccups and stumbles. To expect otherwise is simply admitting you don’t really know how things work.

Many members of the Executive Committee have been out of power positions for a long time if not always, so they’re just getting their sea legs. It also doesn’t help that those councillors who signed on to join Team Ford share, to varying degrees, the mayor’s simplistic view of governing. Stopping The Gravy Train, and all that. So, they aren’t the sharpest tacks in the carpet.

This is one of the drawbacks of the stronger (but not as strong as Doug Ford would like) mayoral system that was ushered in with the City of Toronto Act in 2006. Given the power to now pick an Executive Committee (as opposed to having it emerge from the elected chairs of the standing committees as was previously done), it’s all about buying into and running with the mayor’s vision, let’s call it. This is not unique to Mayor Ford. David Miller did the exact same thing in his 2nd term. The wider geographic and ideological representation of the Miller Executive Committee probably reflected a wider political view in the mayor rather than a less ironclad grip.

While purer, Mayor Ford’s committee is not without divergence. There are the star/power magnets. None more so than Giorgio Mammoliti whose slavish deference to the mayor is exceedingly creepy especially given the often times antagonistic relationship that existed between the two when they were both just lowly councillors. Mammoliti’s devotion, however, is in all likelihood about an inch deep and predicated almost solely on how popular the mayor remains. Ditto Denzel Minnan-Wong.

Increasing their respective profiles also might explain the presence of councillors Ainslie, Berardinetti, Robinson and Thompson. None seem to be hardcore ideologues. Peter Milczyn is the administration’s apologist, countering every criticism of his crew with examples of how bad David Miller et al were. His list of grievances against them is as long as the councillor is short.

Then there’s the ineffability of Norm Kelly and Cesar Palacio. Who knows what’s going on with those two? One’s practically mute and the other, well, he asks questions that baffle more than they clarify. It’s not a language issue. Councillor Palacio seems genuinely confused and out of his depth much of the time on the Executive Committee.

The hardcore believers are Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday and Budget Chief Mike Del Grande. These two are Fordites through and through, believing whole-heartedly that all this city needs is some tough love and fiscal discipline to straighten it out. It’s almost endearing, in a doddering, grandfatherly way in the deputy mayor whose inevitable outburst at the table is always followed by a little nap.

The budget chief is the one to watch, however, as much as he claims to be out of the loop sometimes. Proudly bearing the badge of Michael Del Grande, Chartered Accountant, he appears convinced that he can vanquish the budgetary beast with the simple math one uses in running a household. Don’t spend more than you earn. Anything else is simply an extravagance which We. Can’t. Afford. As he so tells anyone who thinks otherwise. Government’s just like a business. It’s. As. Simple. As. That.

The outlier on the Executive Committee is the disagreeable David Shiner. He seems much more aware of the reality than any of his compatriots. At least twice yesterday, he plaintively bemoaned the lack of provincial funding for the operating budget of the TTC. What’s that you say, apostate? Surely you don’t mean to suggest that the city actually has a revenue problem! Take that back and chant along with the mayor: the city has a spending problem. Combine that with the proposed plans from the city’s finance department to ask the province for a piece of the HST and things at the committee were beginning to sound downright Millerite.

Which could go to explaining at least some of the motivation behind Councillor Doug Ford’s outburst in the Globe yesterday about the mayor needing increased powers to run roughshod over the council. It may be borne of frustration and a growing realization that running City Hall is nothing like running a business. Not even close. Instead of seeing ulterior motives in such assertions, we should see admissions of, if not failure, than recognition on the part of the administration that this isn’t going to be as easy as they’d originally thought. Slogans drive campaigns. Slogans get slaughtered in the halls of power.

That is not to suggest we let slide the crazy notions that get floated from the mayor’s office. Let’s just stop immediately assuming that they’re part of some devious, Machiavellian plot. Chances are, they’re signs of commotion, disquiet and desperation in the ranks as they come to terms with the possibility that they’ve bitten off more than they can chew and are severely under-equipped to deal with the enormous task at hand. Accepting that, we can than adjust our response accordingly.

— calmly submitted by Cityslikr