On Monday, October 25th, hundreds of thousands of Torontonians cast their votes in a fiercely contested mayoral race. The support was divided primarily between candidates George Smitherman and Rob Ford. The result: a long-predicted victory for Ford, with Smitherman following bitterly behind. With Ford’s radical new plans for the city, citizens can expect to see drastic changes in Toronto.
One of Ford’s most prominent platforms is the eradication of all streetcars, so that funds may be redirected towards the expansion of the TTC’s Sheppard subway line. He intends to abandon David Miller’s Transit City, calling it a “multi-billion dollar disaster.”
Although over $100 million has already been invested in the project, Ford is wiping old transportation blueprints clean in order to make room for his new plan, which he promises will only cost $4 million. This, of course, does not include the billions of dollars in penalty fees that the city faces if he decides to break the contract between Toronto and Bombardier for new streetcars.
Ford plans on paying two thirds of the fees with taxpayers’ money, and the rest with possible provincial aid, which he strongly believes will be granted. “[McGuinty] has to face the voters…his election is 12 months away,” he said in a radio interview. He mentions, that, if the costs prove to be too much of a strain on taxpayers, he will not move forward with his plan, instead keeping streetcars as they are.
Other policies that Ford is known for include his opposition to bicycle lanes. In a council meeting in 2009, he infamously called cyclists “a pain in the ass”, and is determined to move most of them onto the sidewalks, which he believes is the safest solution for everyone.
To compensate, our newly elected mayor plans to reacquaint cyclist with nature, creating pathways alongside ravines and through parks all across the GTA. He has not entirely abandoned the idea of bicycle lanes on roadsides, either. On the contrary, he plans to extend them in areas that “make sense”, where they will not aggravate traffic congestion.
With so much of Toronto’s budget allocated to his transportation plan, and with cuts on both the vehicle registration tax and the land transfer tax, Rob Ford is setting out his funding priorities. Sadly for Toronto’s cultural side, this does not include funding for arts.
In a debate at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Ford began his argument by telling the audience how much he loves and enjoys the arts, but followed this statement by suggesting to look for philanthropists for funding, as “not everyone supports the arts.”
