Toronto Race for Mayor: Memo to Doug Ford

Doug you are going to lose this election . . . and we, the citizens of Toronto are going to suffer for it.

You know what the real issues are at this juncture in the political history of this city. They can be boiled down to one important fact and that is that one level of government in this country is living beyond its means and you are reluctant to openly attack that level of government because you see your own political future, not as Mayor of Toronto, but as an MP serving the Conservative Party in Parliament.

Even the enemy of your brother and of yourself, The Toronto Star has made it clear how the Party in power, federally, in this country, has profligately wasted and stolen money from the public purse.

But your personal ambitions, ambitions that lay with the crooked ruling Party in this country, have kept you from calling a spade a spade and attacking the waste and theft.

What is wasted and stolen by the federal government is this country must be made up for in taxes at the municipal level and it is going to be made up in taxes.

Nobody on the municipal level is willing to bell the cat on this issue. They are spending time at The Regional Board of Trade and The Federation of Canadian Municipalities trying to think up new ways to tax the citizens of this country, in a desperate hunt for funds adequate to their/our infrastructure needs.

torontoist.com...

The Board articulated its policy position on the critical issue of how to fund public transportation development in the region with the March 2013 discussion paper, A Green Light to Moving the Toronto Region: Paying for Public Transportation Expansion. As the Board noted at the time, and continues to do so, our proposal was not cast in stone. It was intended to spark a serious debate. Nevertheless, if opposed to the Board’s proposal, we invite others to come forward with a credible alternative.

The paper put forward four revenue tools (Parking Space Levy, Sales Tax, Fuel Tax, HOV pay lanes) for serious consideration that must be dedicated to funding Metrolinx’s, The Big Move, the region’s transportation plan. The proposed tools, in some combination, would deliver the necessary minimum $2 billion annually to build out The Big Move over the next two decades.

John Tory will be the instrument by which those new taxes will be implemented in Toronto and you have nobody to thank for that but yourself.

It is sad that your brother was removed from the election campaign by serious illness. I think it is a tragedy for the people of Toronto that the only effective voice speaking for them in this election has been subtracted from the race and was subjected to such merciless hounding as he received from the media over the last year or so.

You can't be blamed for that.

I really don't blame you for running a lack lustre campaign for Mayor either. You didn't want to be Mayor and only stepped into the race when your brother's health faltered.

Unfortunately the situation in Toronto is going to get worse before it gets better. We are going to be saddled with huge debts and increased taxes with John Tory in the Mayor's office in this city. There is no way around it because no politician in this city was willing to do what had to be done to show the way around it and that is attack the upper levels of government in this country.

When this race is over Doug, take some time off. Strole down to Sugar Beach and have a seat on those very expensive rocks that Toronto bought in Quebec to help your Conservative party pals in Ottawa get political support in that part of the country.

Don't scratch the paint on the rocks Doug. Toronto will have to pay for the touch ups.

What is a guy to do ...seems that its a damned if you do or a damned if you don't . Hi Ho it's off to pay more taxes you know . a reply to: ipsedixit

The Ford circus is over,the Family has embarrassed the entire Country and the city they represent.These two Rob and Doug have terrorised and entire city and misrepresented an entire Country with their crack smoking re-hab BS song nd dance,NO no one wants a drug user alcohol abusing sociopath running civic affairs or representing anyone other than themselves to their therapists.

No one wanted Rob to stay in office once he began to show his true colors, he held everyone hostage and was promoted by his brother and their minions.

No one wishes to hear from the Fords now,no one.

They are simply using money and social media to try to force their way into politics.These guys are clowns.

a reply to: one4all

There is no doubt that Rob Ford has behaved poorly, but poor behavior wasn't one of his campaign platform planks. He was elected for other reasons.

On the other hand, Doug Ford's behavior may have been surly in some people's eyes, but he can't be tarred with the same brush that is used on Rob Ford.

Rob Ford was elected because he spoke out against against waste at City Hall and a culture of entitlement to spend tax dollars frivolously.

Taking an "anybody but Ford" attitude to the current election is not smart. Toronto has serious issues facing it that are going to effect what is in the wallet of every Torontonian for the foreseeable future. We need to take a hard look at what policy statements are being made by candidates.

We shouldn't fall for "snake oil" just because it is presented by somebody who doesn't get drunk in public.

Here is a link to a well informed article on John Tory's "Smart Track" plan:

SmartTrack (Part Two): John Tory’s Questionable Funding Scheme

torontoist.com...

One, the provincial government already has a plan for building regional express rail, including a route very similar to SmartTrack, and has had it since 2009. Tory’s plan is slightly different from Metrolinx’s: it includes other stations and does a jog along Eglinton West that would require about 10 kilometres’ worth of tunnelling. (A significant cost his campaign did not initially acknowledge.) SmartTrack is essentially a John Tory–fronted pitch of an off-the-shelf product, with a couple of tweaks. For the purpose of calculating TIFs, this is important because then the comparison is not to what the SmartTrack route would look like without transit, but what additional value SmartTrack offers compared to the provincial plan.

Two, Tory’s plan hinges on projected development in three areas: Liberty Village, the downtown core, and the East Don Lands. Liberty Village and the downtown core are already fairly well developed, and the former likely already faces a deficit in terms of the level of municipal services it receives. There is little extra value to be captured here.