Would you vote for a guy that cost the taxpayers a billion dollars due to mismanagement? Change is needed throughout government and it won't happen overnight, but this vote is about sending a message to governement that people are pissed.
i still need some enlightenment... Looks like Ford doesn't have a filter, which imo is a good thing. Too much political correctness = no action actually taken
Not particularily impressed with any of the candidates to be honest.
Ford would definitely shake things up, but he needs a bit of restraint... he's said some pretty stupid things in the past, and has shown a lot of ignorance for what actually goes on in the city.
It wasn't an easy vote this year, for sure. I wish there were better choices.
Rob Ford, well what I like about him is that he actually gives the numbers. He tells us salaries, where the money is being spent and so on. He also said he would put Toronto's entire budget online for viewing. I like that he wants to take away the vehicle registration tax, although I wouldn't mind it at all if 100% of it was actually going towards road maintenance. As Dark mentioned, he is a loose canon. Who knows what he will do, he's even a tad immature. But there would definitely be some changes.
As for Smitherman, no chance I am voting for this guy. He screwed up at the Health ministry and he is backed by Liberals, by McGuinty. No way in hell I am in any shape or form backing up that guy. Especially when he lied to us about imposing new taxes, and then goes and implements the biggest tax change ever.
The other guy has no chance, so really the way I see it the best option is Ford. It's a gamble, but at least we'll be able to actually see numbers and proof. The way I see it though, either guy you pick will F us over. lol
Ford is the citizens of Toronto's response to Mayor Miller and his union buddies. Esp. WRT to the garbage strike, that was I think the last straw for a lot of people who saw the "leader" (Miller) go into hiding instead of y'know *leading*
Oh Ford isn't going to be all sunshine & roses (more like soundbites and raving) but at least he *will* try and lead (of course herding T.O. city council is like herding cats, but that's Ford's problem, not mine )
We had no chance up here, it was Al "I've failed everywhere else but municipal politics" MacDonald or two nobodies. I voted for one of the nobodies just to ensure I did my part against him.
In Toronto, you've now won a loudmouth, obnoxious mayor who has been a councillor for 10 years for a reason - he never had to be anything more. Slowly the Tory god complex crept into his brain until you get what you have now: a guy elected because he pinned the eHealth scandal on Smitherman, when it was Caplan's fault for that debacle.
Smitherman gave answers, Ford gave talking points. And therein lies the rub: I've always said the people of Toronto want a hamster in charge of the meat grinder, not a smart thinker. Miller totally fubar'ed the garbage situation. Sadly, Miller was seen as the thinking man's mayor (which couldn't be farther from the truth). So, they think they're getting a "nitty-gritty" mayor with Ford to counter Miller and the fact that Smitherman doesn't need to regurgitate his own sound bites en masse.
Hoo boy, did they ever get a "nitty gritty" mayor.
Just watch:
Some disclosure and cancelling of "non-essential" resources and programs.
Not much new taxation outright (i.e. property tax) but more pay-per-use services where they used to be free before.
An actual walling-up of City Hall and government services as Ford learns from his mentor, Stevie Harper.
No further strides in disclosure or progress. No breakthroughs on infrastructure (at least in the short term) as Ford begins to realize that he's just one vote and he's not really liked by quite a few councillors.
Good luck getting that reduction of councillors / wards pushed through.
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