The Miller Era

four months into our hellish nightmare come reality of a Toronto ruled by the pig headed narrow minded Rob Ford and it is clear the next 4 years are going to be agonizing.
     The issues i have when it comes to Rob Ford are vast, but my biggest one is that this man and the vast majority of men and woman who put him in office dont like this city, and have no concept of what it means to be a city. These people dont want to be in a city because their lives up until amalgamation were suburban lives. But in 1998 the Harris government made a decision which would put those living the suburban dream smack dab in the very city they loathed. the very city they eagerly awaited to depart each work day. Living in the city of York, Etobicoke, Scarborough, and North York meant you did not care much for silly things like community centers with free programs for kids, or pools, ice rinks, soccer fields, baseball diamonds and other city funded extras. Those people lived in new neighbourhood in sprawling subdivisions with little in the way of sidewalks and few public parks. Transit was not needed since these community's of the future, a backwards 1950's notion that cars are the only way to move around. and for those whom needed to ride transit well under Metro the TTC ran buses through these areas. So the people who elected rob ford to office resent the the fact that now they pay slightly more in property tax to fund things they have never used because their former municipality's never provided them. these people don't like cities so when you force them into one obviously the result will be upheaval. Now we will suffer and by we i mean the good people of Toronto. Real Toronto before it was unfairly burdened with the sprawling maze of single family detached homes called Metro.

G20

With the insanity that was G20 a month behind us, and most of the dirt on the subject brought to the surface i felt it was time to reflect on the matter. Almost every single thing to do with G20 seemed fucked up and pre destined to be a giant disaster. from the moment Harper made the decision to host the event in Canada’s largest city, smack dab in the heart of the financial core. Harper did this despite objections form every official at the City of Toronto. From the Mayor to the Chief of Police and the heads of the TTC, the conscious was this; the G20 will mean nothing but bad things for this city, furthermore placing the event in the downtown core presents a very hard environment to keep secure.

Its although those in charge of planning this event were sitting at some long bored table in Ottawa and thought to themselves “Hey why not do everything we can to piss of Toronto” Lets accept the fact that the event was destined to be in Toronto, fine so be it but out of all the locations in this city, and all the convention centres, hotels and facility’s capable of hosting such a gathering why would you chose Metro Convention centre? In order to secure this building it required the closing of several major roads and obstructed access for countless business, even a condo. Had this event taken place on the CNE grounds setting up a perimeter logistically would have created little to no major disruption to day to day business in Canada’s financial capitol.

I remember the days leading up to that day, common conversations overheard in the city were pretty optimistic, i was fairly confident that nothing major would happen. I mean i was born and raised in Toronto, i have never witnessed in my lifetime a major riot, the best i ever saw was 10 years ago when OCAP pulled their typical anti government anti police shit on queens park. And that was a mere scuffle compered to what was about to unfold in the streets of Toronto “New York but without the crime” “New York if it were run by the Dutch” the city with many reputations but violence and civic disorder not being one of them. I had confidence in our police force and our military to ensure things would not be allowed to get out of control.

The days just before the weekend i was amazed at the show of force by our police force, and then the other police forces that followed. People were upset with the level of officers on our streets but people seemed not to realize what was coming our way, even the 60,000 officers on duty could not maintain full order when chaos erupted.

Allot of people were pissed off at the cops during G 20 but i personally think they handled themselves extremely well considering the difficulty faced. Toronto's chief of police was routinely left out of the loop about details such as the fact that the “special powers” granted to the police were in fact nothing more then legislation stating that the area within the security fence would be treated as a courthouse or other such building and that the public works act could be enforced within that area. At first the chief was told it was an area 10 meters outside the fence, the chief told the public and his officers this but this information was incorrect and the government knowing full well the public and police were under the wrong impression about the area in question did nothing to correct this misinformation instead using it as a scare tactic.

TPS (Toronto Police Services) and the ISU officers were told that their main objective was not to let one person anywhere near the security fence. Previous G 20 protests all saw the fence breached and this was not to happen this time around. When the black bloc as they are called made their first appearance splintering out of a peaceful protest there was very little the police could do. (think about a bag of marbles and the bag braking) there was no way the police could predict the path these people were going to take, and mobilizing officers to intercept these people requires some idea of where to send the officers. People failed to realize that the same moment havoc was being wrecked on Yonge St. Riots were taking place down at Queen, Richmond, and University.

People became critical of how quick police were to round up citizens, my response is simple. After the tactics of the bloc were demonstrated police knew that there was no way to Handel this with kid gloves, a group of peaceful protestors could change clothing any moment and create another fire storm. For this reason the police took no chances, and i was fine with this, if it meant not seeing building go up in flames and the entire downtown turn into a mob scene then so be it. I was at home and i made a point of not going anywhere even close to police activity because doing so is just asking for trouble. The cops don’t know who you are or what your intentions are, and this is not a normal day, they are expecting anything to happen so you may be minding your own business but the guy next to you looks that way except for the weapons concealed under his clothing. The cops were doing a job, and in allot of cases a very unpleasant one. Allot of officers worked 16 hours none stop that weekend, wearing body armour in 30C temps, allot of the officers in riot gear were regular officers who normally never have to step into riot gear.

Granted there were cases of police brutality and excessive use of force and this is never acceptable, also not acceptable were the conditions to which detainees were held. But we are human, and bullying is common among people who posses the upper hand, in this case 60 000 officers many of whom would never set foot in this city again had control over the people and they abused their powers which is appalling and should be dealt with in the form of termination.

In closing things could have been much much worse, but thanks to the police and their actions damage was minimal compared with other cities after G20. Truth be told events such as this one should not be held in major urban settings, this is just asking for trouble a city of 2.5 million can mobilize fairly fast, a town of 15 000 probably just wants you our and could care less then to protest.  

Transit

     Elections as always so entertaining, its the one and only time politicians act like they are one of us. “citizens” its the one time that you will see a Prime Minister, Premiere or Mayor pretend to “connect” with the electing public. But after they have won they move into another realm, and that feeling as though politicians might actually relate to normal citizens vanish.

Looking back in history the people who lead us and achieved great things and produced results which over the long term benefited most of the people who put that person in power. These men and woman were always controversial, they almost always had a personal ambition to accomplish something and they would push for their beliefs even if it rubbed some other leaders or CEO's the wrong way. It was thinking like that which built the railway across Canada, saw a universal healthcare system built, built subways, and created the regional transit service known as GO. All the things i listed were not always popular, the idea of spending billions to lay a network of commuter rail lines across the GTA was seen as a wast of money, many thought that money would be better spent expanding our highways. And had the money been spent doing that very thing it would have been very popular with the public since construction of highways tend to move allot faster with results seen allot sooner then transit building.

But the premier knew that unless such a service was built future commuters would suffer due to a lack of public transit options. Sadly it seems like it has become more important to passiveie the public whom become enraged at the meer idea of taxes let alone increased taxes, that investment and expantion of our transit systems has been at a more or less halt for the past 20 years. And over that 20 years Toronto's population has gone up by over a million, and after amalgamation Toronto now had several new jurisdictions it was solely responsible for. Before 1998 If North York had poor public transit it was more seen as north york short coming but now the only body responsible is Toronto.

But even with the downloading of 5 municipality’s and an ever booming population Toronto saw no major expansion of subways or LRT construction, in fact the TTC provided less service overall in the 90's due to lack of funding. Plans were made but due to the short sighted actions of a Conservative government at the time plans to build a subway line along Eglinton ave. Were cancelled by queens park. The line itself had barely been dug out and had to be filled back in upon its termination. Toronto's next chance at some transit construction came in the form of then North York motivated Sheppard subway, which had this line been completed to its original plan would have been quite beneficial to Toronto and taken allot of the demand off the now over capacity Yonge line. Sheppard’ss original path was to start at Downsview station east to Finch following it s current path but past where it ends today tofinallyy terminate at theScarboroughh RT. This layout would have allowed people in the city’sss north end a rapid way downtown, it would have given aalternativeee tusing the yonge line and it would give people in Scarboroughh an alternative to getting downtown from the Bloor Danforth line. But in another shortsighted move of stupidity funding was slashed to the line and it was ordered to be cut back to what we see today. So my question is this, have the days of true political will and ambition passed us by? Have we become so cash strapped that massive capital projects are just not possible? Or are leaders to chicken shit of voter backlash from raised taxes and new revenue sources to fun a massive expansion of transit in the GTA. Because if we don’t act soon and put public transit ahead of the personal car we will be a victim of our own success, commercial transportation is held up in traffic delaying goods and stalling the economy, this while car after car sit idling on the 401 16 lanes wide with one person per car, as they sit there a commuter train passes an overpass moving at 100kph carrying 1500 passengers, and then a subway train emerges form the tunnel into open air carrying 1000 passenger and moving at 80kph, Now why are we still using cars?

Rob Ford's take on transit

The following is an article from Steve Munro's web page, it outlines the sheer stupidity and narrow minded thinking that makes up Rob Fords campaign for mayor of Toronto. maybe people will think twice before voting for this giant douche .

Rob Ford Campaign Disavows Policy Advisor’s Transit Blog

June 23rd, 2010

The Toronto Star reported today that an article written by Rob Ford’s Director of Policy, Mark Towhey, back in February does not represent the Ford campaign’s position on transit.
For the record, I attempted to get the campaign to react to this article by writing to the ever chatty candidate on June 17, but heard nothing in return.  The Star was a bit luckier.  Ford and Towhey don’t have much use for the media, or anyone whose political leanings could be described as left-leaning, and so I may not be one of the people who “count” in Ford’s political analysis.
Ford’s official position seems to consist of little more than scrapping anything that even vaguely resembles a streetcar, building subways, and having the TTC declared an essential service.
I will not do Towhey the honour of dismembering his drivel at length, and leave it to readers to peruse his attitudes.  They show a profound disrespect for people who use transit and for spending on anything other than the most obviously money-making ventures.  The idea that transit is a both a service and an investment in the city is utterly foreign.
Just a few points deserve mention:

In an election year, the exclusively left-wing political elite on the TTC board are [sic] ducking for cover.

If Towhey had done the most basic homework, he would know that the TTC board includes such flaming lefties as Peter Milczyn and Bill Saundercook.  They may be in a minority, but that’s also the makeup of Council.  An “exclusive left-wing” board it is not.  They argue strongly, and sometimes successfully, for their positions.

Apparently, there is a General Manager (a position that was high profile a number of years ago, but has since subsided into irrelevance,) however I can’t find anyone who knows who this person is, nor what he (or she?) does.

Gary Webster, who is frequently quoted in the media, will be surprised to learn that he is unknown.  He is hardly irrelevant.

In fact, 16 per cent of the $9.2 Billion (yes that’s Billion with a ‘B’) 2010 operating budget of the City of Toronto goes to keeping the TTC rolling.

Well, in fact, that number is the gross cost of running the TTC, not the net cost after you include the farebox revenue (which also shows up in the City’s books along with property taxes and all of the other fees, subsidies, contracts, what-have-you).  In fact the net cost of running the TTC is considerably lower than the cost of running the police force which gets almost no subsidies from anywhere.
This information is easily available in the City’s budget background information online, and one would hope a “director of policy” might be somewhat familiar with how the budget works even if his boss isn’t.

On the capital side, City Hall will spend $1.33 Billion this year alone to purchase new buses, streetcars and make other capital investments in TTC infrastructure. These are real dollars and they are driving out-of-control increases in property taxes that are forcing Toronto residents, and especially its small businesses, to begin planning an exodus to the outer suburbs.

Yes, the Capital Budget for TTC this year is $1.33-billion, but that’s the gross number.  Over half of this will come from Queen’s Park and Ottawa, some via the transit share of the gas tax, some via project-specific funding (such as the Spadina Subway), and some through a grab-bag of other funding schemes (see TTC Capital Budget for details).
Towhey proposes that all funding for the TTC be cut off on April 1, 2011.  I am not making up this date.  He would sell the TTC and use the proceeds to pay down various municipal debts.  The fact that these debts and liabilities include many related to the TTC itself seems to have escaped him.  Moreover, he forgets that large chunks of the TTC were paid for by other governments who might ask for a share of the proceeds.

But how will people get to and from work, shopping, school, etc? Good question. I imagine more people may drive — so some of the billions the city saves should go to improving its roads. Others will be forced to use bicycles, hire more taxis, join car pools, etc. Apparently, that’s good for the environment, even. Bonus.

What is utterly missed is that the idea that transit might be a general benefit like water, or a fire department, or even roads.  Taxis are a prohibitively expensive way to get around, especially for long trips.  Car pooling has its limitations, especially for non-commuting trips, and we all know what Ford’s attitude to cyclists is — put them anywhere but on a road that might go someplace useful.
Towhey has a vision for transit:

I want a fast, convenient and affordable way of getting from the door of my home to the doorway of my workplace, shopping centre, school, theatre, friends’ houses, etc. That’s what the TTC should be providing: door to door solutions. The subway has value only when it’s delivering this. Ditto buses. Ditto streetcars.

Door-to-door service will not be provided by transit, ever.  If Towhey had wanted this, he might have at least advocated for land use controls that would make it possible, or at least cheaper.  Of course, in his world, all of this will be provided by the private sector.

Many bus routes, however, would be abandoned. They’re not profitable. Such is life. The TTC should have dumped these routes long ago. But what about the people who need them? Well, life’s tough. Instead of being the only three people on a 60 passenger bus, perhaps these people will have to introduce themselves, get to know their neighbours and share a taxi.

Yes, life is tough, and it my profound hope that the citizens of Toronto dump Rob Ford and his Director of Policy for whom large chunks of the population don’t warrant their attention or public spendin

Reaction

I was trying to figure out how i felt about everything that has happened in my life in the last little while. The problem is i have been so over whelmed by everything that has happened i haven't had the time nor will to analyze it all. The most prevalent emotion i have been consumed with is sadness. I lost (although be it through different means) two people who held the most important positions in my life and whom i loved and relied upon for support and guidance.
     My mothers death was expected, but no amount of expectation or preparation could eliminate the pain of a loss that great entirely. My former partner leaving me was a shock so large i found myself nearly shutting down entirely.
I had gone though many issues betwen us in the past, but we were suppose to be engaged, and i thought if i knew anything i knew that no matter what former partner would always be there for me, even if for whatever reason we were not together he would never leave me in a time of need. But there i found myself wanting to lean on someone who was not there, he would not even speak to me.
  Thats when i got confused and not able to understand where i stood in my own mind. I dont know where to go, how to get there or why i should even bother. I have always been able to push myself to get though something, always had the power to grab myself shake myself and get back on track . Maybe not the same track as before but at least it was a track. This time i dont even know where the hell the track went.  I miss my mother and my former partner and myself allot. but only one of those 3 people is ever going to help me.

I personally think it is fantastic that 4 billion dollars was removed from funding transit expansion..... because you know having to pass up 4 subway trains just to get on one where you can fit in the doors is just lovely.
  Consider this if you will... during rush hour the subway runs 1 six car train every 2 to 3 min. Each train holds at full capacity 1000 passengers. How the hell can you ignore that kind of passenger volume.
    Unlike those places you see where passengers pile onto the roof of the bus a subways roof clearance does not accommodate for such inventive seating, although it is a solution for dealing with those rude pricks who rush into the train before people exit, or those retards to hold to doors open for their buddy, and lets not leave out the ghetto tactless fucktard playing their horrible music made even worse because its blasting out of their trashed LG cell phones speaker.

I had a bad ttc day.... does it show?