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Mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi is the sort of candidate my dad would have voted for: his proposed policies are ideologically right-of-centre, pro-business, pro-suburb.
The Empire Club apparently loves him.
The Globe tells us about his promises:
Here's my favourite, though:
Seriously? Ban bike lanes? Because ... because ... I can't even think of a reason that the fine upstanding citizens of the Empire Club might want to do this. Because adding an extra meter of pavement for bicycles to roads is somehow a challenge to their use of the roads? Because otherwise that good pavement might fit a half-lane? Because having bikes in traffic makes driving easier?!
Or is it just that Mr. Rossi and the entitled so-and-sos at the Empire Club can't deal with the notion that there might be space in the city for people who don't subscribe to their way of life, whose status and self-worth are not dependent on Empire-Club sanctioned benchmarks, who aren't like them? And think that if they get rid of bike lanes the cyclists will hang up their helmets and stay home or buy cars? Because really, I can see no practical reason to ban bike lanes.*
So, basically, Rossi is the candidate of the small-minded, petty-hearted entitled Scrooges.
Nice.
* Not that I think on-road bike lanes are the best accommodation for cyclists that the city could provide. Not by a long shot. But we're really unlikely to get the kind of curb-separated cycling boulevards running parallel to but separate from sidewalks that I want to see. We're unlikely to even get bike paths that are cleared of snow by the city. And a dedicated lane, even if it's only designated by a stripe on the road and occasional enforcement by traffic police is better than nothing.
The Empire Club apparently loves him.
The Globe tells us about his promises:
- Halting Transit City, because replacing streetcar tracks along St. Clair disrupted business, was expensive, and took a long time.
- Creating a GTA-wide economic development corporation, to further kill downtown Toronto, and make the suburbs even uglier
- Put private-sector experts on the TTC's board, because private-sector public transit makes
- so much sense.
- Outsource more city services, so that the city can use fewer unionized labourers, and have less oversight of key services such as childcare, parks, and, yes, garbage collection
- Sell Hydro Toronto and other city assets to put the proceeds into debt reduction, because the city clearly shouldn't be in the business of providing essential services such as electricity, nd because higher electricity bills are clearly in the best interest of Torontonians.
- Give the
graftfees that developers pay for exemptions from zoning rules to poor neighbourhoods in the inner suburbs, through a "city builders" fund. Because actual inner city neighbourhoods like, say, Moss Park, don't need funding, and because further institutionalizinggraftexemptions from zoning is a fabulous idea.
- Prepare long-term budgets. He says nothing about actually sticking to them.
Here's my favourite, though:
- Ban bike lanes on arterial roads and "look at" removing future bike lanes.
Seriously? Ban bike lanes? Because ... because ... I can't even think of a reason that the fine upstanding citizens of the Empire Club might want to do this. Because adding an extra meter of pavement for bicycles to roads is somehow a challenge to their use of the roads? Because otherwise that good pavement might fit a half-lane? Because having bikes in traffic makes driving easier?!
Or is it just that Mr. Rossi and the entitled so-and-sos at the Empire Club can't deal with the notion that there might be space in the city for people who don't subscribe to their way of life, whose status and self-worth are not dependent on Empire-Club sanctioned benchmarks, who aren't like them? And think that if they get rid of bike lanes the cyclists will hang up their helmets and stay home or buy cars? Because really, I can see no practical reason to ban bike lanes.*
So, basically, Rossi is the candidate of the small-minded, petty-hearted entitled Scrooges.
Nice.
* Not that I think on-road bike lanes are the best accommodation for cyclists that the city could provide. Not by a long shot. But we're really unlikely to get the kind of curb-separated cycling boulevards running parallel to but separate from sidewalks that I want to see. We're unlikely to even get bike paths that are cleared of snow by the city. And a dedicated lane, even if it's only designated by a stripe on the road and occasional enforcement by traffic police is better than nothing.
