Queen's Park
March 10th, 2010
Anyone who doesn’t own a car, and the insurance that goes with it, is going to have fewer resources to deal with injuries if they are hit by a car, as a result of …
March 9th, 2010
At a packed Board of Trade speech last week, Rocco Rossi vowed that as mayor, he would “put everything on the table” in negotiations with the province over the future of the TTC (and, by implication, its murky relationship to Metrolinx).
Everything?
Rossi seems to be implying that the TTC’s very status as a city agency may be in play if he wins. Rival George Smitherman doesn’t appear to disagree. In an interview with The Star, Smitherman (who’s found religion on the topic of contracting out) mused about outsourcing bus routes to private operators, as is done in London. He’s been vague about the rest of his TTC plans (the precondition to all changes, he said in an email, is the city getting its “house in order”), although he praised Metrolinx and called for more seamless transit within the region in a speech to the Board of Trade last December.
Time to call these guys out. If elected, are they planning to have council ask the province to upload all, or part, of the TTC to Metrolinx? And if so, what are the arguments? And what would drive the province to agree?
Spacing contributors John Lorinc and Steve Munro bring the debate out of the rhetorical shadows.
The Case For Uploading
In the past sixty years, the TTC has served Toronto well, concentrating growth within the former Metro boundaries and driving intensification closer to the core. In the 905, by contrast, municipalities and the province failed to invest comparably in transit, leading to today’s gridlock, productivity losses, and sprawl.
The region’s transportation crisis, however, cuts across municipal borders.
March 1st, 2010
From what I can glean, there are three competing explanations for what former Liberal health minister David Caplan was up to last week when he introduced a private member’s bill that would declare the TTC an essential service.
Let’s quickly dispense with the loose cannon version. Premier Dalton McGuinty has always run a tight ship, and it’s inconceivable that a member of his caucus could introduce a private member’s bill - especially one that addressed the jurisdiction of a senior minister - without a vetting process from the central command. Indeed, as a well-placed Liberal source assured me, “This was planned.”
What the move sought to accomplish, however, remains the subject of much speculation.
Theory A: A shot of electoral ginseng for George Smitherman.
After Caplan tabled the bill and transportation minister Kathleen Wynne declared it a non-starter, the premier said in the legislature that it’s an important issue for the mayoral race. Smitherman - who hasn’t been quick off the draw with anything so far in this race - had a statement of support all teed up and ready to go:
“I want to applaud David Caplan’s Private Members’ Bill as it reflects an appropriate source of concern about the cost of a TTC strike to the city and commuters - there can be no doubt that work stoppages cause a huge disruption. I look forward to the debate continuing in the Legislature - including a full committee hearing with public consultations. Based on the outcome of that debate, we can have a fulsome discussion about the options the city might have in the future.”
In other words, he’s marking territory among right-of-centre voters.
November 3rd, 2009
Toronto lawyer Patrick Brown sent out a mass e-mail this evening warning of troubling developments for non-drivers (people without auto insurance) in new regulations being proposed for the insurance industry by Ontario’s minister of finance, Dwight Duncan. I haven’t had the opportunity to do research on the new regulations beyond reading what’s in today’s newspaper, which brands the regulation as financial relief for motorists. I’m providing the e-mail here for your information and discussion.
This morning I attended a stakeholders meeting with the Ministry of Finance regarding the new changes to auto insurance. It is now on the news.
The present law reform is not fair to cyclists, public transit users or pedestrians.
Today I specially asked whether the reduce benefits being proposed will apply to innocently injured cyclists, pedestrians and transit users. The answer was “yes”.
The system here in Ontario is complex to say the least, but I will try to simplify as best I can the issue below.
When anyone (including cyclist, pedestrian car driver) is injured or killed by a bad driver (even a drunk driver), they will have various benefits available to them. These include various things to help them get better. Medical benefits, rehab benefits, attendant care etc.
With the new changes introduced today, many benefits are being drastically reduced. However, the justification for such a reduction is “consumer choice”.
June 29th, 2009
Well, so much for the National Transit Strategy.
When city council approved the additional $417 million for the streetcar purchase on …
June 22nd, 2009
For all the spin and counter-spin hovering around the David Miller-John Baird feud over the streetcar “ask,†most observers have neglected to …
June 19th, 2009
According to the Globe and Mail, another twist has developed in the political soap opera centred around federal funding of Toronto’s streetcars.
Ottawa is standing firm in its refusal to give
…
May 8th, 2009
“We’re breaking new ground for Transit City thanks to the recent investment from Premier Dalton McGuinty and the Ontario Government’s Move2020 initaitive.”
As my hastily snapped and poorly framed camera phone picture of the advertisement above shows, …
April 1st, 2009
A press conference will take place at 2:30 in Vaughan where, according to the Globe and Mail, “Premier Dalton McGuinty will today announce billions in funding for Toronto Mayor David Miller’s light-rail transit vision.” The …
March 16th, 2009
Spacing Radio headed to Hamilton last week for the Ontario NDP leadership convention to find out if a new leader will have any affect on how politicians tackle city issues at Queen’s Park. Host David …
