Tuesday’s headlines

12 comments

1. “Family-size condos urged for downtown”

   It seems to me the problem with family-size condos is how new condos are financed. People who buy these larger condos are generally not first time home buyers and they don’t have a down-payment. They use the equity in their existing property as the down-payment on their next one, so they have to sell their property at the same time they buy the next one.

   For a new condo developers need down-payments for most of the units a year or two before people can move in to get financing. This means that the only people who buy condos are first time home owners and investors.

   This problem doesn’t apply to the resale market, but that’s neither here nor there for a developer.

   Perhaps a government program to guarantee loans for the family-sized units would help. If the units don’t end up selling for some reason, the government can add the units to it’s affordable housing stock.

2. “there is this pervasive sense of powerlessness, notwithstanding the fact that it’s a government that exercises nearly $9-billion worth of spending,”

   Leading with chutzpah, eh? The fact is that as a Liberal MPP, Smitherman could have done more for Toronto by replacing provincial welfare mandates with uploading than by any amount of powerless ranting (CoTA notwithstanding) as Mayor.

3. Smitherman’s quote from eysterday, “A native song is coming home to serve” may be the most arrogant thing I’ve heard in ages from a politician. Shouldn’t he have been a Toronto advocate while cabinet?

4. Smitherman did nothing for Toronto.

5. Clip of Tory, Smitherman radio interview shows Smitherman’s temper boiling below the surface. Pretty hard to see a guy like that who has had his own way in a majority government and been able to simply roll over the oposition get along in a Council setting where he is more just one among equals. On the other hand if Tory really does enter I don’t think election debates will be the palsey walsey affairs we got with Tory and Miller. If Tory stands up well to Smitherman and gives as good as he gets in debate he should win in a landslide. Torontonians do not want another bully.

6. Don’t know who you’re referring to with “another bully” but in general, one person’s “bully” is another’s “strong mayor”.

7. On the family size condo issue, the debate brings out a fairly stark reality. As things are going those living in the downtown core will either be the very rich, the emply nesters, singles and the very poor with vitually no traditional families. I realized the irony when reading about the first new residents moving into the new apartments in Regent Park. There was a sweet story of a taxi driver’s family moving into a large new 3 bedroom apartment that would easily sell for $800,000. The 2 kids looked to be 10-12 so no babies and it was wonderfull that with the sunsidized unit the wife did not have to work. I know affordable housing is better in mixed neighbourhoods but this seems a huge waste of resourses when you could easily house 2 families for the price of one if the affordable housing was put in a middle class neighbourhood as opposed to a rich one. It is political correctness run amuck. It’s as if the poverty advocates want to score political points more than doing the best for the homeless. I myself moved out of the Bay and Bloor are 15 years ago because I felt like the area was getting too posh and I needed to dress up to go to the market.

8. I’m amused that people think arrogance and a temper are things that would work against him in an election and as Mayor. At least Smitherman has demonstrated his ability to, you know, actually get elected for stuff. People also forget that Smitherman was Barbara Hall’s chief of staff, so City Hall is not exactly foreign to him.

   To me, Tory sounded frightened and cowed when dealing with Smitherman. I’ve liked Tory in the past, but the reality is that his track record as a politician has been one of complete failure. I think Smitherman will wipe the floor with him.

9. Shawn,

   I have enough personal experience to be entitled in my opinion. My sense of the similarity between the two is the dimissive and prickly attitude towards those who disagree with them even when they are being confronted with the truth.

10. I had thought that the e-health debacle was enough to drive a stake through Smitherman’s mayoral ambitions. But apparently it wasn’t. Another sign that politicians are counting on the electorate having a short (non-existent) memory. What one did means nothing — name recognition and “brand”-ability mean everything. No other way to explain Smitherman (or Giambrone) jumping into the ring.

    I like much of what I’ve heard from Glen Murray, but as a relative newcomer to these parts, I don’t think he’d make a credible candidate. I don’t like John Tory (I’ve never voted Conservative); but as much as it pains me to say this, at this point, I don’t see anybody who comes close to him.

11. That’s all I was musing about Dave, not your entitlement to your opinion, etc.

12. Asher,

    That’s why I said ‘if.’