October 23, 2006
Talk local, act global
"I'm shocked, utterly shocked as a Torontonian, as a proud Canadian and as the mayor of Toronto, that there's even an argument about this [untendered subway car deal]," Miller told a lunchtime rally organized by the Labour Council of Toronto and York Region.
"I think it's shameful to play politics with people's families, lives and jobs. Thunder Bay's a great city in our province. It needs this plant, and if the people of Thunder Bay are going to be able to live in decency and dignity, it needs the high quality jobs there, the high-tech jobs, and it needs Toronto's business."
…
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and a federal government representative also signed off on the Bombardier deal. Miller noted that the federal and provincial governments will pay much of the contract's cost.
"If I as mayor stood up and said 'We're going to take $500 million from the federal government and the provincial government and we're not going to use it to create jobs in Ontario — we're going to use it to create jobs in China — the federal and provincial governments would never give us another nickel for public transit," Miller said before the final vote was cast.
"It’s time to allow landed immigrants to vote in municipal elections," Miller told the Star’s editorial board in a question and answer session today.
"We allow people who don’t live in Toronto to vote, simply because they own property here," Miller said.
"It’s not like a national election; you’re not determining issues of what this country should do or shouldn’t do," he said. "You’re determining issues that directly affect people’s lives."
Posted by Chris Selley at October 23, 2006 07:54 PM
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Comments
God, Miller is a tool. The problem I have - as a voting Torontonian - is what is the alternative? LeDrew is, basically, a cartoon character and Pitfield makes Miller look like a Nobel Prize winning chemist.
Posted by: Mike at October 24, 2006 08:25 AM
For that matter, why is LeDrew even included in the debates? How does he differ from any of the other umpteen fringe candidates that crowd the ballot every 3 years? Have we seen any poll to suggest that his support is significant enough to consider him more of a contender than the transvestite model or this guy?
Posted by: kyle at October 24, 2006 11:13 AM
Talk local act global
Let me tell you why I believe that the decision not to tender the subway contract is so wrong.
It's important to standup for Canadian jobs. It's also important to standup for the poor and the vulnerable. And to standup for those on fixed incomes.
When Council decided not to allow others to tender for subway cars, the public lost the ability to determine the premium - if any - for that decision.
Establishing how much more one bid cost over another would allow the public to understand how Council paid for it. Just what programs would be impacted? Or should Council increase taxes if there was a premium?
If the contract was tendered, then the public could see whether there was a better proposal on the table, see if one could get equivalent Canadian content from the lowest bid, and even ask the other levels of government to pay for economic development outside of Toronto, which is their responsibility.
Finally, if at the end of the process Council decided on a higher cost for a social goal, at least the public would understand what Council traded for that objective.
So by acting locally responsibly, one does act globally.
Posted by: David Soknacki at October 24, 2006 11:56 AM