Mayor Miller comes out with a cheeky swipe at Jane Pitfield in a set of new ads that are set to release Wednesday. Thanks to Rob Granastein’s blog at The Sun for the head’s up.
Permalink for …and Miller swings back with a left!
Posted by Matthew Blackett
Categories Toronto-2006, Election Tidbits, Mayor
By Brett Lamb
Permalink for Downtown to downtown air travel?
Posted by Matthew Blackett
Categories Toronto-2006, Waterfront
The most visible part of an election is always the lawn signs that pock publicly-owned land and voters’ front yards. The scene above was captured by Spacing photographer Bouke Salverda in Ward 13, Parkdale-High Park. As a kid growing up in North York in the early 1980s, I remember how all these signs would line the hydro fields near where I lived. The rainbow of colours would grow as election day drew closer. My parents were usually involved with a certain candidate, so I took it upon myself to count how many signs “our” candidate would have on front yards as we drove from our bungalow home to the local hockey rink.
I soon learned that lawn signs are also the target of attacks. I currently live on Lansdowne Avenue near Queen Street West and within two days of signs going up, a large number of them were kicked down or thrown on to the street. The race here in ward 14 is tight and I wondered it the campaign was quickly turning dirty. But I soon discovered while taking out my garbage late one night that it was a group of kids who took it upon themselves to do their own kind of election canvassing by throwing signs at passing cars. I could see the heads of driver turn quickly when the heard the clunk sound of coroplast hit their car doors. The kids slowly made their way up Lansdowne Avenue pulling out all the signs (gotta love the non-partisanship of the boys). When they got to my house they tried to take out our large, wooden staked sign even though my girlfriend and I were standing on the porch saying, “Keep walking, guys.” They ignored us and kept trying. When one of them got a sliver they finally retreated. (EDIT: after posting this, I looked out my window and watched kids from the nearby junior high school kick the crap out of our sign. Democracy is taking a beating, so to speak.)
Up in Ward 21 (St. Paul’s), there is a nasty campaign taking place between Councillor Joe Mihevc, former mayor John Sewell, and former councillor John Adams. I recently visited some friends in Ward 21 and all indications show Mihevc winning the sign war hands down, but there were a lot of his signs scattered around roads and lawns (below image) while the other candidates’ signs were intact. This is probably due to the sheer number of Mihevc signs — if you have more signs up your signs are more likely to be damaged. But back in the 2000 election, Mihevc’s signs were targeted by his opponent Rob Davis. One of Davis’s supporters in 2000, George Milne, was caught red-handed taking down Mihevc signs. Milne later ran against Mihevc in the 2003 city election and lost by a large margin. Davis is currently supporting John Adams.
If you have photos of lawn signs in your neighbourhood, please send them along to us.
Permalink for Lawn signs wars
Posted by Matthew Blackett
Categories Toronto-2006, Lawn signs
A few weeks ago Spacing posted a story about the Toronto Waterfront Viaduct (TWV), a plan to rid the city of the Gardiner Expressway and create connections between communities down by the Lake. To call the plan ambitious is an understatement: it’s an idea the likes of which Toronto has not seen (let alone developed) in a long time.
Many of Mayor David Miller’s supporters were dismayed by his unenthusiastic response to the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation’s recommendation to tear down the Gardiner east of Spadina Avenue, criticizing his apparent lack of determination on this waterfront issue. The Mayor is also on record as having said the TWV proposal “is cool and interesting, but from a practical, real-world point of view, I’m not sure it would really be doable.”
While logistics and practicality always need to be taken into consideration, Toronto and its waterfront need big thinkers with high ambitions. I contacted all candidates running in waterfront wards about the Gardiner, the TWV, and redeveloping the Waterfront, and some of them shared their thoughts and hopes for what the City’s “crown jewel” could be:
Ward 13, Parkdale-High Park
I am a believer in aiming high with ideas because at the end of the day, even if the end result falls short of our ideals, they are always better results than if we had aimed low. For those who dismiss grand ideas instantly because of perceived limitations, those are the ones who work towards mediocrity. I support any ideas that show a love for our city and for a desire to make it great. I believe in community participation. For these reasons I would give serious consideration to the TWV proposal and encourage others with vision to also submit their ideas.
Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina
Nick Boragina
We need some kind of thoroughfare though this part of the city. If it is replaced with an underground highway, or this proposal to move it to above the railroad tracks, then perhaps this is not such a bad idea. Making a wide avenue might create more lanes, but with a slower flow it means less vehicles per minute can use it, and I foresee that creating a shorter but wider road will just cause the same “its ugly” complaints in the future. Underground highways seem to be the way of the future, and learning from Boston we could move the Gardiner underground, and possibly even connect Allen Road to the Gardiner using an underground route.
The waterfront definitely needs to be redeveloped employing the highest/best environmental objectives (i.e. the latest technologies in energy efficiency, green roofs, small ecological footprints, etc.) The new waterfront must be accessible, transit-oriented, as well as being cycling and pedestrian friendly. Taking down the Gardiner is generally a good idea, because that would help satisfy the City’s objectives. It is, however, premature to consider funding such an endeavour as the City is currently unable to provide basic social services (daycare, housing, etc.) at the level we would like because of cash shortages. The [TWV] idea is certainly interesting, but is currently very much in the realm of imagination.
Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina
The most useful thing about the discussion [on taking down the Gardiner] for me has been people’s comments about the rail lands north of the waterfront. Many people believe that the railway is the real obstruction to the waterfront, yet it’s hardly ever discussed.
Personally, I think ideas about tearing down the Gardiner are impossible at present, but the discussion allows us to assess our transit situation in the City and the GTA. There simply aren’t enough transit alternatives in and around our city to get rid of the Gardiner. Instead of lamenting that likely it’ll stay up for the meantime, we should work towards a time when it’s more realistic. This will involve, among other things, increasing the role and accountability of the Greater Toronto Transit Authority, and a solution to the financial problems that are stalling massive transit improvements.
The problem with tearing the highway down is where does the faster traffic go? At the moment crossing the Gardiner to the waterfront is relatively easy. If the faster traffic comes from the DVP or the QEW, will it slow down on the Lakeshore? Or will it be similar to school zones? At the same time I do not see how the Lakeshore becomes pedestrian friendly with five lanes of traffic.
For me, prior to any discussion on the Gardiner, the Front Street extension has to be in place and given the number of hotels and conventions in the downtown, there has to be a connection to the airport that is as fast or better than the bus. Otherwise why would conventions come into Toronto?
Another consideration is all those 200,000 vehicles using the Gardiner are not from the suburbs, given the increasing growth in offices in Mississauga and Markham, some of that traffic is downtown people going to the suburbs.
The TWV is an interesting idea and it is a show of strength that people are looking at alternatives in Toronto. Doing something over the railway tracks is a great idea — Chicago and Montreal both improved their downtowns by covering the trains, no reason Toronto could not. My concern with the viaduct and towers — if the Gardiner is seen as a barrier, why would that design not be?
Reconnecting our city to the waterfront needs to be made a priority and taking down the Gardiner is key, but we need to make sure that we offset the Gardiner with something effective. Tearing down a roadway will not mean cars will go away unless we augment other services to make up for it. [The TWV] proposal represents a balanced transportation alternative that, in my eyes, is aesthetically pleasing. There are fresh ideas; we just need to be more receptive to them!
Council’s current approach, which is to slam through the Front Street extension and ripping down the Gardiner is unimaginative and will only replace the Gardiner with what may become Toronto’s largest parking lot, a 10-lane Lakeshore Boulevard. And then we’ll have a similar situation one block north on Front Street. More roads alone are not going to solve anything.
As for the increased price tag, I’m tired of council short-changing us with lack of foresight, let’s spend the right price on the right solution. And if that means examining alternative revenue collection streams like tolls, then so be it.
On the TWRC report:
It is a terrible waste of money and an even worse idea. Building an off ramp to the Gardiner and aiming it at the heart of the downtown, while building 10 lanes of road way across the waterfront is absolutely hideous. The solution is worse than the problem. Does anyone actually believe that creating more road capacity is going to end traffic? Does anyone really believe that building wider and wider east-west roads will make getting to waterfront easier of more beautiful? This is not an exercise in city building. It’s road-building and its bad road-building at that.
On the TWV:
If I had a billion dollars I would not spend one nickel of it on building a bigger highway into Toronto. I don’t care how spectacular it may look. Traffic is choking our children and our city. Land use planning that glorifies the car eventually destroys a city. Everywhere an expressway truncates or exits into this city a neighbourhood is destroyed. (Think of Eglinton and the Allen Expressway, the Gardiner and Jameson). Why do we want to kill the rail lands before they are even finished? I will not let City Hall destroy downtown Toronto, just so more people can get downtown. After all if we destroy it, who is going to visit anyway?
On road tolls:
I think car drivers should pay user fees for every trip they take on the highway by automobile, just like subway riders do every time they take the TTC.
Next, we’ll take a look at what candidates in wards 30, 43, and 44 had to say.
Permalink for Big ideas and the waterfront: wards 13, 19, and 20
Posted by Ian Malczewski
Categories Toronto-2006, Development, Planning, Waterfront
Tensions ran high last night at the Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina, all-candidates’ debate, as frontrunners Helen Kennedy and Adam Vaughan lobbed accusations back and forth.
This ward is being touted as one of the city’s tightest races.
Kennedy first came under fire for supporting the use of Section 37 funds for the Bloor Corridor visioning study. (Section 37 of the Toronto’s Official Plan requires developers to give money to the City in exchange for height or density variations. This money is typically used for community improvement projects.)
“We shouldn’t be using Section 37 money for that,” said candidate Chris Ouellette. Instead, he said that the government should fund visioning studies.
“Section 37 is not a dirty word,” Kennedy said in defence, pointing to various community projects it had helped fund.
Vaughan jumped in and said that Section 37 had “undermined the neighbourhood” and was a part of an ad hoc planning process that needed to be disciplined and reformed.
Kennedy was further pressed when she admitted that she had opposed a youth treatment centre while on the East York Council. She argued that her opposition had been based on the community’s desires and that the proposal had not been suitable for various reasons. When Vaughan started to argue, Kennedy snapped, “Get your facts straight before you make any statements.”
Kennedy was heckled by a vocal pro-Vaughan crowd throughout the night, but Vaughan too had his controversial moments.
All of the candidates came out strongly against his idea of gated laneways. “People should be in laneways,” said candidate Desmond Cole, who then suggested that Vaughan once wanted to ban the sale of spraypaint to kids under the age of 16.
Later, a resident asked whether Vaughan’s “maverick” approach would actually work at City Hall.
Ouellette said, “The real issue is — has Adam pissed off enough councillors in the past 10 years that none of them will be willing to work with him in City Council?”
“Of course I can work with people,” Vaughan said defensively, noting that the group approach has not worked at City Hall.
Kennedy took the opportunity to remark, “If you’re constantly on the attack, always in opposition, you’ll never get anywhere.”
Candidates Doug Lowry, Carmin Priolo, Devendra Sharma, and Joseph Tuan were also present. The debate, which took place in the Al Greene Theatre at Bloor Street West and Spadina Avenue, was hosted by various residents’ associations and Business Improvement Areas.
Check out the Globe and Mail’s Campaign Bubble blog for another take on this event.
Permalink for Kennedy, Vaughan spar at Ward 20 candidates’ debate
Posted by Julia Lo
Categories Toronto-2006, Debates, Development, Planning
Mayoral:
Candidates court the business vote [National Post]
Pitfield, LeDrew, and Miller duked it out before Toronto’s multi-cultural business associations last night.
Taxing issues [Toronto Sun]: “Mayor David Miller and Jane Pitfield used last night’s debate hosted by the city’s multicultural business communities to blast each other over the city’s soaring taxes.”
Misc:
Candidate criticized for using mosque [Toronto Star]
A number of Muslim councillor candidates in Ward 26, Don Valley West, have used the Darus Salaam as a busy place to hand out flyers. Now, some candidates are complaining that the president of the mosque is using his position unfairly.
The real Charm is to inspire a dream [Toronto Star]: Of all the names on all the ballots in all the wards in Toronto, it’s a good bet Charm Darby’s is among the catchiest. Her slogan alone — “Imagine … A City With Charm” — could probably justify her being elected.
Rowdy voter cheered by crowd, Racoons have rights too [Toronto Star]
Raccoons and rowdies. Yes.
Sewell shares early list of well-known donors [Globe and Mail]
This includes Marjorie Harris, Stephen Clarkson, and Alan Broadbent, for a total of about $28,000.
Also in this section, Friends of Socknaki…are benefitting from his two feet on the pavement.
Oakville:
Choosing change or continuity [Globe and Mail]: “For voters in Oakville, the Nov. 13 municipal election comes down to a choice between continuity and change, and the Terrys’ decision to stick with Ms. Mulvale is good news for one of the higher-profile municipal leaders in the province.”
What’s in a name? [Globe and Mail]: “Jeff Gareau, a candidate for council in Oakville’s Ward 4, uses another name in his work as an investment counsellor, The Globe and Mail has learned.”
Elsewhere:
Ex employee: Vaughan `cozy’ with builders [Toronto Star]: “Vaughan municipal politicians are far too cozy with developers and often interfere in the planning process on their behalf, a former city hall employee now running for council says.”
Permalink for Tuesday’s links to election news
Posted by Karen MacKenzie
Categories Toronto-2006, Election Tidbits
WARD 37 (Scarborough Centre) - Michael Thompson: C+
Transit has not been a priority for this councillor, as most of his statements on transit issues have focused on a subway to replace the aging Scarborough RT. However, with other Scarborough councillors, he did come around to favour an LRT network over subway construction.
WARD 38 (Scarborough Centre) - Glenn De Baeremaeker: B+
A recent appointee to the TTC Commission, De Baeremaeker is also a grassroots environmentalist who cycles to City Hall from Scarborough. He once said “when people are stuck in a traffic jam, their reaction is that we need more roads. It’s a false argument. The more roads we build, the more cars come.” He’s also changed his mind on a Scarborough subway extension and become a vocal supporter of an LRT network in Scarborough.
WARD 39 (Scarborough-Agincourt) - Mike Del Grande: D
Eye Weekly put him in the City Council “loony bin”. His record on public transit is nearly non-existent and he is seen as an acerbic budget hawk.
WARD 40 (Scarborough-Agincourt) - Norm Kelly: C-
Although he is a former TTC Commissioner, Kelly tended to vote against service improvements or other iniatives that would have required increased transit funding.
WARD 41 (Scarborough-Rouge River) - Paul Ainslie: C
Appointed in January 2006 to fill the vacancy left by Bas Balkissoon (who left for Provincial politics), Ainslie has not had time to make his mark with regard to transit issues. He originally supported a subway to replace the Scarborough RT, but now favours an LRT network instead. While Ainslie seeks to win the vacant seat in Ward 43, Scarborough East, (somewhat unethically we must note), there are 10 people vying to fill the void in Ward 41.
WARD 42 (Scarborough-Rouge River) - Raymond Cho: B
Opposes the Markham Bypass connecting Highways 401 and 407 via the Rouge Park, which would bring thousands of additional cars daily through Malvern. His record on public transit lies mainly in his support for a subway to replace the Scarborough RT. Failing that, he supports the extension of the RT to Malvern and the extension of the Sheppard subway to Meadowvale. We’re not sure where he proposes to find the money, but we admire his enthusiasm.
WARD 43 (Scarborough East) - David Soknacki: B-
As head of the Budget Advisory committee, he has tended to vote against new spending, including the Ridership Growth Strategy and money to replace the TTC’s aging streetcar fleet. However, he has acknowledged that money is needed for key projects like the reconstruction of the Scarborough RT and suggests that reconstruction could be rolled in with new streetcar purchases. Soknacki has since left municipal politics, and there are seven candidates running to replace him.
WARD 44 (Scarborough East) - Gay Cowbourne: C+
Voted to reduce Ridership Growth Strategy spending, but is a strong advocate for local environmental issues. She is not seeking re-election, and there are eight candidates running to replace her.
Written by James Bow with additional commentary by Craig Cal
Permalink for City Council TTC Report Cards: Wards 37-44
Posted by Craig Cal
Categories Toronto-2006, Transit/TTC
I was brought up in a family of voters. I’ve never missed an election. I’m one of those people who encourage all my friends to vote and I get frustrated when people interviewed on the news admit they who don’t know who the candidates are. As a result, I’m very embarrassed to say that I’ve never taken the time to make an informed decision about who to choose for school board trustee. It’s often not until I’m faced with a ballot of unfamiliar names that I realize it’s too late to figure it all out.
This year, I did my research, and I wrote an article for this week’s Eye Weekly on the issues being debated in trustee elections across Toronto.
Trustees may not receive a living wage — despite a recent pay hike, they still only get somewhere between $10,000 to $20,000 a year for their work — but many of the issues they deal with are the same as those that top mayoral candidates Jane Pitfield and David Miller have been debating leading up to the Nov. 13 vote. As former trustee Fiona Nelson has pointed out, trustees are “the only elected officials whose sole responsibility is to take care of the needs of children.”
You can read the full article online here.
One thing I didn’t mention in the article is that many of the people who run for trustee often end up running for city council later on — another reason to pay attention to who’s representing you on your school board.
Many of the trustees turned city councillor are also women. Of our 13 female city councillors, at least 9 of them first served as school board trustees. These include Jane Pitfield, Shelley Carroll, Paula Fletcher, Pam McConnell, Suzan Hall, Sandra Bussin, Gloria Lindsay Luby, Maria Augimeri and Frances Nunziata. As far as I can tell (I just went through councillors’ bios on the City website), only two of our male councillors first entered politics by being elected to a school board: Mike Del Grande and John Filion.
To find information about who’s running for Trustee in your area, People for Education have set up a great website that provides information on who’s running, what trustees do, and where you can vote.
Illustration from Eye Weekly.
Permalink for We have some trustee issues
Posted by Dale Duncan
Categories Toronto-2006, School Trustee, Civic Democracy
Mayoral:
Mayoralty candidate Pitfield accuses LeDrew of joining race to help out Miller [National Post]
I won’t say it didn’t cross my mind.
Mayoral debate draws fresh blood [Toronto Star]
Everything “changed during an afternoon debate yesterday as LeDrew harshly attacked Pitfield as he’s never done before, calling her, among other things, “Calamity Jane” and saying she lacks “leadership and judgement.”"
I wonder how long it took one of his campaign aides to come up with that. And in what depth they discussed the timing before unleashing the moniker on the world.
Election notebook: Miller campaign expects to run up $800,000 bill. [Toronto Star]
Other stuff:
Municipal politicians try webcasting [Toronto Star]
Three mayoral candidates, three YouTube videos. Oh, and Paul De Buono, from Vaughan’s Ward 3, wrote and recorded a song in his home studio, which is posted on his website.
Crime, safety on minds of voters [Toronto Star]: “Crime, transportation and garbage are the issues that resonate most with Toronto residents — even ahead of taxes — according to a Toronto Star/Decima Research poll.”
Candidate’s independence questioned [Toronto Star]: An all-candidates meeting in southwest Scarborough erupted into catcalls after a candidate’s independence was questioned because she’s married to a Liberal MPP.
Curing the no-can-do [Toronto Star]: Christopher Hume endorses, er, writes, “With a candidate like Adam Vaughan, Toronto may be on the eve of something radical — an intelligent voice on city council.”
From the weekend:
Where the streets — uh, lanes — have no names [Globe and Mail]
Adam Vaughan angered young activists by suggesting gated laneways be the way to go.
Permalink for Monday’s links to election news
Posted by Karen MacKenzie
Categories Toronto-2006, Election Tidbits
Will the mayor pay penance?
Mayor David Miller spoke with the Toronto Community News editorial board recently about his vision for the city.
And, behold, miracle of miracles — this vision included bike lanes. (Sound trumpets and queue shining rays of light on Bloor street, here.)
As reported by insidetoronto.ca:
Miller was contrite about the city’s failure to significantly implement the ambitious Bike Plan.
“I learned a lesson here. My approach was to say, the bike plan is underfunded, let’s put money in the budget for it, which we did. We increased the funding I think by $1 million a year. And it didn’t result in many more kilometres.
“And, the lesson I learned is, the only way for the bike plan to succeed…is we have to bring the cycling community together with the neighbourhoods and get some strategic routes in the bike plan first. It has to be a political exercise, not a money exercise. We tried to do it with money and it hasn’t worked because of local opposition so now we have to try to work together with communities and cyclists,” he said.
Am I misreading this, or is our leading municipal politician admitting that it’s not money, but a complete lack of political will that is stalling progress on bike lanes?
I’m also wondering if readers have any ideas for “strategic” routes? Bloor Street anyone? I’ll look forward to any suggestions, but you might also like to email the mayor directly with your ideas.
I also wonder if this “local opposition” the mayor refers to could be the incessant calls for reports, studies and surveys by one councillor…hmm….
Perhaps the power for the final say on installing a bike lane should be taken out of the hands of the local councillor. “Work together” is a nice feel-good phrase, but what is he actually suggesting?
The Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT) has some very realistic, well-thought out plans for expediting the bike plan on its website.
One key suggestion is to increase the number of staff working on planning, designing, and implementing cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.
And, perhaps most relevant as it refers to the mayor’s comments here, is the suggestion to change the approval process.
“We need a new bike lane approval process that will not allow individual councillors to delay the implementation of bike lanes - a bike lane should be built in the year it is proposed and budgeted for.”
Let’s hold the mayor to his promise to change the way things are done — so that we can actually get things done.
Thanks to bikingtoronto.blogspot for the image.
Permalink for Sins against the bike plan
Posted by Tammy Thorne
Categories Mayor, Toronto-2006, Sustainable Development, Planning, Pedestrian, Cycling
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