In the last round of municipal elections many eyebrows were raised in Toronto (and in Thunder Bay, too) after the polls closed and a new mayor with different ideas and a different approach was chosen.
Rob Ford was elected by voters in Toronto who were collectively “fed up” with something. He won the election with a promise of doing “something else” for a change. Unfortunately, just like many other incumbents, he seemed to be stuck in the “same old, same old” mold.
Very recently, however, he took a bold stand by withholding his support for Toronto’s 2020 Olympic bid. Regardless of his motivation it was refreshing to see a public figure saying no to such extravagant spending of tax dollars. Jittery taxpayers all over the country who would have to foot the bill are also breathing a sigh of relief .
Even his opponents had to agree with the decision. Just a couple of weeks ago council was ready to close public libraries to save money. Hosting the 2020 Olympics would be a real slap in the face even if they planned to use one of the abandoned library buildings as the Olympic Stadium.
I’m not a big fan of Mr. Ford’s abrasive style but I do like the common sense reflected in this decision. Toronto is already hosting the Pan Am Games in 2015 but they wanted to springboard right into the 2020 Olympics. They are behaving like bigshots.
Respected adults of my parent’s generation used to warn us all the time not to act like bigshots. We were also told to be careful how we spent our hard earned money.
Just like other cities in Ontario, Thunder Bay for instance, Toronto has debts, expenses and social problems to deal with. Maybe that’s why they expect Ontario and the rest of Canada to help out with the bills. The Olympian supporters claim that the entire country is behind them.
I’m not so sure about that. Toronto is the city most Canadians love to hate. How would you feel about having even more of your tax dollars spent in the Greater Toronto Area?
This has been described in clear Canadian terms of reference. Somebody wants to throw a huge block party but they are planning to raid our beer fridge to pull it off.
Toronto’s controversial mayor was not swayed by that tired, old argument that the Olympic Games could not possibly go over budget or that they would actually make money. If that’s true, let private developers come up with the money for this expensive party.
Another well-known party, the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, had a bid budget of $874 million. The actual costs are difficult to determine but I read estimates as high as $6 billion.
Whatever it cost, British Columbia taxpayers are on the hook for the difference.
Better them than Ontario taxpayers, right? Well, not so fast. Toronto is out of the running for the 2020 Olympics but they are still the host city for the Pan Am games in 2015. That event was supposed to be a dry run for the Olympics and then on to further fame and fortune.
If nothing else it seemed like an excellent way to get the rest of the country to pay for Toronto’s decaying infrastructure. Fortunately, Rob Ford applied the kybosh before this Olympic nonsense got out of hand.
The budget for the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto is $1.4 billion. In today’s world of trillion dollar budgets it will likely end up costing many times that amount. That’s a shame because Ontario taxpayers will have to cover the difference. I don’t like the sounds of that.
There is broad support for the Olympics and there is even enthusiasm for hosting the event in Toronto but taxpayers are getting a little reluctant. And why not? We are all still a little skittish from the excess spending and waste at the G8/G20 last summer.
However, when all is said and done, maybe we could play this to our advantage.
Perhaps we should send Mayor Ford a note congratulating him on his courageous decision to save the country a few billion dollars.
And now that Toronto has all that extra money, he might want to order a few more TTC subway cars or some fancy new streetcars from his friends here in Thunder Bay.
In the meantime there are plenty of real bigshots out there who can pick up the Olympic torch.
Rob Ford was elected by voters in Toronto who were collectively “fed up” with something. He won the election with a promise of doing “something else” for a change. Unfortunately, just like many other incumbents, he seemed to be stuck in the “same old, same old” mold.
Very recently, however, he took a bold stand by withholding his support for Toronto’s 2020 Olympic bid. Regardless of his motivation it was refreshing to see a public figure saying no to such extravagant spending of tax dollars. Jittery taxpayers all over the country who would have to foot the bill are also breathing a sigh of relief .
Even his opponents had to agree with the decision. Just a couple of weeks ago council was ready to close public libraries to save money. Hosting the 2020 Olympics would be a real slap in the face even if they planned to use one of the abandoned library buildings as the Olympic Stadium.
I’m not a big fan of Mr. Ford’s abrasive style but I do like the common sense reflected in this decision. Toronto is already hosting the Pan Am Games in 2015 but they wanted to springboard right into the 2020 Olympics. They are behaving like bigshots.
Respected adults of my parent’s generation used to warn us all the time not to act like bigshots. We were also told to be careful how we spent our hard earned money.
Just like other cities in Ontario, Thunder Bay for instance, Toronto has debts, expenses and social problems to deal with. Maybe that’s why they expect Ontario and the rest of Canada to help out with the bills. The Olympian supporters claim that the entire country is behind them.
I’m not so sure about that. Toronto is the city most Canadians love to hate. How would you feel about having even more of your tax dollars spent in the Greater Toronto Area?
This has been described in clear Canadian terms of reference. Somebody wants to throw a huge block party but they are planning to raid our beer fridge to pull it off.
Toronto’s controversial mayor was not swayed by that tired, old argument that the Olympic Games could not possibly go over budget or that they would actually make money. If that’s true, let private developers come up with the money for this expensive party.
Another well-known party, the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, had a bid budget of $874 million. The actual costs are difficult to determine but I read estimates as high as $6 billion.
Whatever it cost, British Columbia taxpayers are on the hook for the difference.
Better them than Ontario taxpayers, right? Well, not so fast. Toronto is out of the running for the 2020 Olympics but they are still the host city for the Pan Am games in 2015. That event was supposed to be a dry run for the Olympics and then on to further fame and fortune.
If nothing else it seemed like an excellent way to get the rest of the country to pay for Toronto’s decaying infrastructure. Fortunately, Rob Ford applied the kybosh before this Olympic nonsense got out of hand.
The budget for the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto is $1.4 billion. In today’s world of trillion dollar budgets it will likely end up costing many times that amount. That’s a shame because Ontario taxpayers will have to cover the difference. I don’t like the sounds of that.
There is broad support for the Olympics and there is even enthusiasm for hosting the event in Toronto but taxpayers are getting a little reluctant. And why not? We are all still a little skittish from the excess spending and waste at the G8/G20 last summer.
However, when all is said and done, maybe we could play this to our advantage.
Perhaps we should send Mayor Ford a note congratulating him on his courageous decision to save the country a few billion dollars.
And now that Toronto has all that extra money, he might want to order a few more TTC subway cars or some fancy new streetcars from his friends here in Thunder Bay.
In the meantime there are plenty of real bigshots out there who can pick up the Olympic torch.
