The quest for more [Toronto Star]: With barely half the polls reporting, Sean Hill erupts with words nobody wants to hear, let alone believe. “We lost.” Gnawing worry in the campaign office dissolves into stunned disbelief. Gulping back tears of disappointment, Alejandra Bravo buries her head in her campaign manager’s shoulder as Hill throws his arms around her. “It’s okay,” she murmurs. “We did everything we could.”
Miller’s time to take a stand [Toronto Star]: The next 10 to 12 months could be the most pivotal in Toronto’s history, and it’s up to newly re-elected Mayor David Miller to take advantage of a rare opportunity to return the city to a stable financial base, city observers say. With an Ontario election slated for next October and a federal election likely in the not-too-distant future, Miller and mayors across Ontario — indeed, across the country — hope to ratchet up enough pressure to get the new financial deal they’ve been starving for.
Potential mayor slayers [Globe and Mail]: The municipal election is over and done with which means it’s time to begin the idle speculation on who might in 2010. There’s every chance that David Miller will try again, but who will he face? And after his lopsided victory last week, would it be too much to ask for the next race to have a bit more punch? With that in mind, Globe Toronto rounds up a few of the names we’re hearing kicked around for next time.
Province urged to allow municipal political parties [National Post]: Almost everywhere, political parties are part of local government. For 70 years, they have dominated Vancouver municipal politics. Montreal has a pair of civic parties. New York and Tokyo, Stockholm and Rome, Berlin and London, England, all have parties of their own. And yet, in Toronto, there are no party colours and no slates of candidates. In Toronto, formal civic parties are not just non-existent but effectively banned. The Ontario Municipal Elections Act does not permit the formation of parties to field candidates in municipal elections. The law reflects the somewhat quaint view that partisan politics have no place at City Hall. But after Toronto’s municipal election this week, which saw Mayor David Miller romp to victory and little turnover in the calcified city council, many people are asking whether it is time for Toronto to launch a party of its own.
Cost may stall automated train plans [Toronto Star]: TTC commissioner Peter Li Preti hears about automated trains and thinks:Big cost. Wrong move. Li Preti and other commissioners weighed in on TTC chair Howard Moscoe’s controversial $750 million recommendation that a computer drive our subways. “Every time he comes up with a bright idea, he comes up with a big cost, and the TTC cannot afford it,” he said.Li Preti would rather build new subway lines, and believes it’s a service expansion plan the provincial and federal authorities would get behind quicker than driverless trains.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Li Preti is now a former-TTC Commissioner, defeated in the recent election, who backs the $6-billion Spadina subway extension. He even proposed at one point in 2006 to cut under-performing bus routes to help pay for the subway expansion. Those savings would be in the single-digit millions, while the cost of the subway is in the billions.
The numbers game is garbage [Globe and Mail] John Lorinc looks at City Hall’s trash talk: Is the City of Toronto talking trash when proudly touting its rapidly improving waste diversion rate — now said to be the highest among large North American cities? Over the past few years, city officials have been aggressively expanding recycling and green bin programs. The result: A reported 40 per cent of all waste generated by Toronto households, small businesses and apartments is diverted from that infamous landfill in Michigan. During the fall election campaign, David Miller upped the ante, promising that the city would reach 70 per cent diversion by the time he’s up for re-election in 2010.
Hazel at 85: still a hurricane [Globe and Mail]: Assumptions have a way of piling up around Hazel McCallion, and from a casual distance, it’s not hard to see why. She’s 85 and looks it, so she must be a bit doddery by now, right? She has been mayor of Mississauga for 28 years, so the new term she won on Monday — her 11th straight since 1978 — will surely be her last. And the 700,000 people of her sprawling suburban city, a Toronto urbanist’s worst nightmare, can’t possibly be content with all those strip malls and protruding garages. Can they?
