David Miller’s problems are closing in on several fronts. The garbage strike and the street car fiasco are only the two latest crises to plague the Toronto mayor who seems to think that he and his city are “special”. Dalton McGuinty is certainly one of the enablers of this egocentric behaviour.
Just as wise parents realize that they do their child no favour by encouraging irresponsibility, the higher levels of government need to stand firm against Miller’s whining. At least the Federal Government knows that tough love is the only answer.
Today Toronto City Council will meet at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in an 11th hour effort to try to figure out what to do about the street car dilemma. (City Hall is no longer an option because then they’d have to cross the picket line, and that would never do. Leave picket lines for the citizens of Toronto to deal with where they have to stand in long lines to drop off garbage and face the evil eye of bylaw officers when they idle their cars or try to leave their garbage in the wrong place.)
David Miler thought Toronto was ‘special‘ and didn’t have to adhere to the rules of the stimulus funding. He figured that John Baird would give in for political reasons just as Dalton McGuinty does time and time again because that is where the votes lie. But the Feds didn’t play the game and now Miller is in trouble.
The Globe’s Marcus Gee compares the City of Toronto to the General Motors situation both in terms of past generous labour settlements and incompetent, over-paid management. I also see a common thread of arrogance, but GM was finally humbled.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal Government is one of the enablers that is allowing Toronto to act like a petulant child, but the true enablers are the Toronto taxpayers and voters who grumble but then reelect this type of incompetence. And by extension, Ontario taxpayers are also enabling Toronto to act irresponsibly when they elect a union-pandering provincial party to power.
Time for a reality check and some tough-love, or we’re all going down with them.
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Update: Mary T is first out of the gate with a very practical suggestion for David Miller:
Perhaps Miller could ask all the stores to donate the nickle/bag to the city to pay for the trains.
Maybe that’s the kind of thinking that Terence Corcoran was referring to this morning – Transit needs ideas, not money.
And on that column about dysfunctional public transit systems as noted by Corcoran, no wonder the union finally declared it would not picket the Metro Toronto Convention Centre because the streetcar deal creates “good jobs.”
Afternoon Update:
David Miller, under attack at emergency meeting, urges council to fund streetcars – Post:
…Councillor Doug Holyday wanted to know why the meeting was being held at the convention centre “at great cost” instead of at Nathan Phillips Square.
“I think the tax payers are owed an explanation,” he said. The clerk said not enough staff at city hall were around to run a meeting.
Good grief!
It gets worse. The Globe has a lengthy report. The relevant information is near the end:
“The mayor stood up and described it as a victory for the city,” said councillor Karen Stintz (Ward 16, Eglinton-Lawrence). “I don’t think we are looking at a victory. I think we are looking at a mess that we now have to be cleaned up.”
The hastily-called meeting – coming on day five of a city workers’ strike – is being held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre instead of the usual council chambers at city hall, being picketed by locals 79 and 416 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
“If they had the staff to run the electronics…and do the things that are necessary to run this meeting, why couldn’t they do it at city hall,” asked councillor Doug Holyday (Ward 3, Etobicoke Centre). “I think it is obvious that some of them don’t want to cross the picket line.”
The session, held in a cavernous room on the main floor of the convention centre, has been set up to mimic the seating layout at city hall. But the sessions are not being televised, with most of the audience made up of non-union city officials, councillor aides, and several federal Toronto-based members of Parliament…
New Democrat Olivia Chow and Liberals Gerard Kennedy and Mario Silva issued press releases denouncing the Harper government’s refusal to provide direct aid to the streetcar project.
During this morning’s debate, the strategies in place by the mayor and his allies on one side – and his opponents on the other – quickly emerged.
At first through procedural wrangling, and later through questions of the mayor and city and TTC staff, Mr. Miller’s critics hammered away at the wisdom of expecting the federal government would cough up short-term stimulus money (for projects to be largely completed by Mar. 31, 2011) for a streetcar project that would roll out between 2012 and 2018.
But almost none of the mayor’s allies asked any questions, so as not to prolong the eventual decision.
This sounds like a three ring circus! And leave it to Chow, Kennedy and Silva to jump on Miller’s bandwagon.
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Evening Update: “This is probably my proudest moment as mayor of Toronto…” (Post).
Mayor Miller, if this is your proudest moment I wouldn’t brag about it.
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Saturday Update: Thanks to Jack’s Newswatch for featuring this post today.
Don’t do as T.O. does – National Post editorial
