Ford needs council

Rob Ford may be a bully but he still needs friends to scrap the streetcars says a local councillor.

Ford is an opponent of the $8.5-billion Transit City project, which has already seen Bombardier’s Thunder Bay plant awarded with a $1.3 billion contract to build streetcars. On Tuesday, Ford said he wouldn’t need the permission of Toronto city council to kill that project. 

McKellar Coun. Paul Pugh said while that’s Ford’s opinion, Toronto city council hasn’t met yet and the pronouncement doesn’t hold much water.

"I don’t believe the people of Toronto elected a dictator, they elected a mayor," Pugh said. "Unless he manages to bully people all of these statements are without any legal backing whatsoever."

Pugh, a Bombardier union official who campaigned on his record for getting the massive streetcar contract to Bombardier in Thunder Bay, said it’s not up to Ford to dismiss Toronto council.

While shifting to subway cars might be good news for Thunder Bay eventually, Pugh said it would take more than nine years before cars were built if a subway announcement was made today.

"Mr. Ford would be long gone before you’d see the first subway and the people waiting to build them would be waiting a long time," Pugh said.

Mayor Keith Hobbs said he hadn’t heard the latest news from Ford, but has been trying to get in touch with him to set up a meeting. Ideally, Hobbs said he wants Ford to visit Thunder Bay and tour the Bombardier plant.

Hobbs said given the past statements made by Ford, it’s time for the city of Thunder Bay to go on the offensive, and called Ford’s statements disappointing. 

“We’re maybe going to have to aggressively push that if that’s the case," Hobbs said.
But Pugh said the visit is unlikely.

"I have absolutely no hope for Mr. Ford," Pugh said.