John Tory ← Progressive Bloggers // Blogues progressistes

The Political Road Map: Housing Market…Hot, Hot, Hot Update!

Apr

19

2017

Yesterday, Mayor John Tory(Toronto) met with both Charles Sousa(Provincial) and Bill Morneau(Federal), in an emergency meeting over the unsustainable hot real estate market currently in the GTA. The Three Amigo’s to save the day? While no new promises were made, the respective members of all three levels of government came together to discuss and compare ...

The Wandering Joe: Keeping up with the Torys

Feb

20

2017

It’s been a few years since I’ve written anything about John Tory, so I figured I would take a break from stressing over the decline of Civilization into anarchy and check in on him. Before we look at Toronto of today, lets look at what I last had to say about him. At the time ...

Michal Rozworski: The road tolls for thee

Dec

13

2016

Last week, Toronto mayor Join Tory announced a plan to toll two major Toronto highways, the Gardiner and the DVP. The city is starved for cash with huge shortfalls for both infrastructure (new housing, new transit lines) and even everyday operating expenses. Tolls are supposed to help close this gap. But despite the absolutely huge ...

Babel-on-the-Bay: The grandstanding of Patrick Brown.

Dec

8

2016

People who prefer to grandstand in politics can be a pain in the ass. There are times when a politician should to take a stand on an issue but that is when you can reason and suggest alternatives to help solve the problem. Our Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition in Ontario does not believe in ...

Aaron Manton: On Last Night’s News: My thoughts on the TTC fare increase

Feb

28

2015

I appeared on Global News Toronto last night on behalf of TTC Riders to offer a few comments on the TTC fare increase coming into effect this weekend. Even though they spelled my name wrong, I was happy to have some good quotes make it into the online and broadcast versions of the story: “I ...

Progressive Proselytizing: John Tory’s ascension and the Metro’s ridiculous narrative

Dec

4

2014

As John Tory is now officially the mayor of Toronto, everyone – particularly the media – is in search of an appropriate narrative to go with it. Some of those narratives are good and some are bad, but the Toronto Metro (a free daily mainly consumed on public transit) choose a just laughably terrible narrative. ...

Progressive Proselytizing: John Tory’s ascension and the Metro’s ridiculous narrative

Dec

4

2014

As John Tory is now officially the mayor of Toronto, everyone – particularly the media – is in search of an appropriate narrative to go with it. Some of those narratives are good and some are bad, but the Toronto Metro (a free daily mainly consumed on public transit) choose a just laughably terrible narrative. ...

Progressive Proselytizing: John Tory’s ascension and the Metro’s ridiculous narrative

Dec

4

2014

As John Tory is now officially the mayor of Toronto, everyone – particularly the media – is in search of an appropriate narrative to go with it. Some of those narratives are good and some are bad, but the Toronto Metro (a free daily mainly consumed on public transit) choose a just laughably terrible narrative. ...

Eh Types: Ford Fin

Dec

1

2014

Rob Ford is no longer the Mayor of Toronto. Not in name, not in law, not in anything but perhaps the delusional recesses of his brother’s mind. A quiet ending is not one many city observers would have predicted as little as six months ago. Many likely saw Ford leaving his office in defeat, if ...

Eh Types: You Get What You Need

Nov

5

2014

Between changing more diapers and falling deeper in love than I’d have thought possible, I’ve struggled to put in to words my thoughts on Toronto’s election since the ballots were counted. Sleep deprivation is likely an accomplice to my inability to write an adequate epilogue but hardly the ringleader. More likely the feeling of having ...

BigCityLib Strikes Back: Our Long Municipal Nightmare Is Over

Oct

27

2014

Of course one’s first response must be an overwhelming sense of relief. The Ford’s are gone from power in this town, even though Rob reclaimed his council seat out in Etobicoke. That’s a sideshow. Peak Ford has passed. Ford Nation is dead. Even though they turned out in full force for this the Ford’s have ...

Eh Types: When Being Right Feels Wrong

Oct

27

2014

In March of this year I had a job interview with a well known political consulting group. I must say despite not being hired I immensely enjoyed the interview. One of the questions I was asked, other than my response to a zombie apocalypse, was what I thought the main issue facing Toronto in the ...

The Ranting Canadian: John Tory, the leading Conservative Party candidate for Toronto…

Oct

19

2014

John Tory, the leading Conservative Party candidate for Toronto mayor, has gotten endorsements from the Conservative Toronto Sun (after they previously promoted the Ford brothers), the Conservative Globe and Mail, Conservative Toronto city councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, a bunch of other lesser-known Conservative city councillors, federal Conservative Transport Minister Lisa Raitt, Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper ...

The Ranting Canadian: Doug Ford should drop out of the Toronto mayoral race – he is…

Sep

26

2014

Doug Ford should drop out of the Toronto mayoral race – he is splitting the anti-John Tory vote. John Tory should drop out of the mayoral race because he is splitting the anti-Doug Ford vote. They should both drop out because they are both splitting the pro-Chow vote. If that sounds silly or presumptuous, then ...

Autonomy For All: Ranked Balloting (Toronto) Primer: This Needs to Happen

Sep

23

2014

In 2013, City Council voted 25-16 in favour of a motion that (among other things) asked the province to implement legislation authorizing ranked balloting (or “instant runoff voting” – IRV) for municipal elections in Toronto. Since then, the re-elected Liberals included a specific promise to implement such legislation for all Ontario municipalities. What Is It? ...

Autonomy For All: Ranked Balloting (Toronto) Primer: This Needs to Happen

Sep

23

2014

In 2013, City Council voted 25-16 in favour of a motion that (among other things) asked the province to implement legislation authorizing ranked balloting (or “instant runoff voting” – IRV) for municipal elections in Toronto. Since then, the re-elected Liberals included a specific promise to implement such legislation for all Ontario municipalities. What Is It? ...

Autonomy For All: Ranked Balloting (Toronto) Primer: This Needs to Happen

Sep

23

2014

In 2013, City Council voted 25-16 in favour of a motion that (among other things) asked the province to implement legislation authorizing ranked balloting (or “instant runoff voting” – IRV) for municipal elections in Toronto. Since then, the re-elected Liberals included a specific promise to implement such legislation for all Ontario municipalities. What Is It? ...

BigCityLib Strikes Back: John Tory’s Statement Withdrawing From Upcoming Debates

Sep

15

2014

“With Doug Ford entering the race and less than six weeks to go until election day, we have entered a new phase of the campaign. John has extraordinary demands on his time and, unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate every event and request.” Team Tory elaborates further at the other end of the link. Short ...

BigCityLib Strikes Back: Toronto Set To Elect Henry Blake

Sep

10

2014

Amiable, sort of clueless. The kind of guy who wanders around saying “the world is a square, the world is a square” until someone tells him its a rhomboid, after which he goes around saying “the world is a rhomboid, the world is a rhomboid.” Hopefully somebody tells him the Sheppard Subway is one big ...

Progressive Proselytizing: Olivia Chow loses when the race is about Rob Ford

Sep

8

2014

On paper, the Toronto Mayoral race should be a cakewalk for the NDP’s Olivia Chow. Consider, it is down to two conservatives who will split votes on the right and a single progressive on the left, from a city who has previously had the political makeup to elect NDP candidates like David Miller. Indeed, part ...

Progressive Proselytizing: Olivia Chow loses when the race is about Rob Ford

Sep

8

2014

On paper, the Toronto Mayoral race should be a cakewalk for the NDP’s Olivia Chow. Consider, it is down to two conservatives who will split votes on the right and a single progressive on the left, from a city who has previously had the political makeup to elect NDP candidates like David Miller. Indeed, part ...

Progressive Proselytizing: Olivia Chow loses when the race is about Rob Ford

Sep

8

2014

On paper, the Toronto Mayoral race should be a cakewalk for the NDP’s Olivia Chow. Consider, it is down to two conservatives who will split votes on the right and a single progressive on the left, from a city who has previously had the political makeup to elect NDP candidates like David Miller. Indeed, part ...

Autonomy For All: The "SmartTrack" Political Context

Aug

27

2014

SmartTrack: Politician designed transit works surprisingly well…for politicians To recap: John Tory has centred his Mayoral campaign on a promise to build a heavy surface rail (he calls “surface subway”) electrified line 53KM long that mostly uses 2 existing GO-Transit non-electrified lines and builds 12KM of new track along Eglinton west into Mississauga terminating just ...

Autonomy For All: The "SmartTrack" Political Context

Aug

27

2014

SmartTrack: Politician designed transit works surprisingly well…for politicians To recap: John Tory has centred his Mayoral campaign on a promise to build a heavy surface rail (he calls “surface subway”) electrified line 53KM long that mostly uses 2 existing GO-Transit non-electrified lines and builds 12KM of new track along Eglinton west into Mississauga terminating just ...

Autonomy For All: The "SmartTrack" Political Context

Aug

27

2014

SmartTrack: Politician designed transit works surprisingly well…for politicians To recap: John Tory has centred his Mayoral campaign on a promise to build a heavy surface rail (he calls “surface subway”) electrified line 53KM long that mostly uses 2 existing GO-Transit non-electrified lines and builds 12KM of new track along Eglinton west into Mississauga terminating just ...