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[maharg]

Toronto's subway is a disgrace to Canada. How can TO call itself's Canada's city when it has a substandard public transit system? The subway lines are nothing but a meaker V shape.

Traffic and congestion will keep get worse in TO

Have you ever used a public transit system in Canada outside Toronto?

 

[firehawk12]

Have you ever used a public transit system in Canada outside Toronto?

I like Ottawa's dedicated bus lane system. It's a cheap solution to the problem, but it worked.

 

[ProfessorMoran]

I'd love a London-esque tax on drivers in Toronto - then put all that money back into the TTC. But given how super conservative the suburbs are, that'll never happen. Ford more years and all that.

You don't have to be super conservative as a suburbanite to not want to pay an extra tax to drive when you already pay tax on gas, you just need commonsense, why the heck would you force drivers who don't take the TTC pay for the TTC instead of charging people living in urban areas who use it everyday? You use it, you pay for it, simple as that, if the city has the budget for transit, I'm all for bettering the TTC but we're already taxed enough as is and there are more pressing needs like fixing those giant sinkholes we call potholes.

 

[gutter_trash]

Have you ever used a public transit system in Canada outside Toronto?

vs

 

[gabbo]

I remember during the "crisis" that the Bank of England was trying to get people to spend. And hell, Canada took forever to get rid of what were essentially super low interest mortgages. Economists are silly.


I'd love a London-esque tax on drivers in Toronto - then put all that money back into the TTC. But given how super conservative the suburbs are, that'll never happen. Ford more years and all that.

Amalgamation, woo!

 

[maharg]

<maps that aren't to scale and don't mean anything to someone who doesn't live in either city snipped>

Ok, well from the perspective of the rest of this country either of those look pretty nice.

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

They can probably put one north of 16, just need a wider east-west highway to take some traffic off of 7. A lot of people like to drive.

Don't want to sound like a NIMBY, but no, you can keep your stinkin' highway

The sprawl is already so bad, why would you want to build further up north? That will make the Highway 7 traffic worse, not better. The truth is, there are too many cars on the road, not that there are not enough roads. Your 'solution' would put even more cars on the road and we'll be back to square one. We need to encourage carpooling, pedestrian communities (no more new suburbs), biking and public transit.

I like Ottawa's dedicated bus lane system. It's a cheap solution to the problem, but it worked.

York Region is doing it too. I really like it. Not because of the busways, but the way they reshape the streets to make room for the bus lanes. They're starting construction on my street this year, it's going to be a huge pain meanwhile but it will look beautiful when it's done.

We don't need new subways except the DRL as far as I'm concerned. It's expensive and it's being used as a shameless political tool to build subways in the middle of nowhere for votes. Either make a really good case for a subway or stop wasting people's time and money.

 

[explodet]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pol...m-using-broadcasters-content-in-ads-1.2636138

Most of Canada's major broadcasters are cracking down on political parties using their material in advertising.

In a letter sent to political parties today, representatives from CBC, Radio Canada, CTV, Rogers, and Shaw — which owns Global Television — said they would no longer air political advertisements that include material taken from their airwaves without their express authorization.

Broadcasters have for years complained to political parties about this practice, but to no avail. Instead of taking the political parties to court for copyright infringement, the TV companies have mutually agreed to not air material that offends their standards.

Quebecor, the company that owns Sun TV and TVA, is the only major broadcaster to not sign the letter.

An interesting development.

And if I still watched TV this would mean something to me.

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

(Ontario)

280 jobs lost in Brampton as Unilever closes plant

Anyone else notice the food processing industry going poof ever since Wynne became agricultural minister? 700 jobs lost at Heinz in Leamington, 500 jobs at Kellogs in London, 300 jobs at Chips Ahoy plant in London... all in the last 6 months.

 

[firehawk12]

You don't have to be super conservative as a suburbanite to not want to pay an extra tax to drive when you already pay tax on gas, you just need commonsense, why the heck would you force drivers who don't take the TTC pay for the TTC instead of charging people living in urban areas who use it everyday? You use it, you pay for it, simple as that, if the city has the budget for transit, I'm all for bettering the TTC but we're already taxed enough as is and there are more pressing needs like fixing those giant sinkholes we call potholes.

The idea is to disincentivize commuting into the city and reduce congestion. If you can afford to pay for it, you'd be happier because it means fewer cars on the road and everyone else is happier because that money can be used on transit to service more people.

York Region is doing it too. I really like it. Not because of the busways, but the way they reshape the streets to make room for the bus lanes. They're starting construction on my street this year, it's going to be a huge pain meanwhile but it will look beautiful when it's done.

We don't need new subways except the DRL as far as I'm concerned. It's expensive and it's being used as a shameless political tool to build subways in the middle of nowhere for votes. Either make a really good case for a subway or stop wasting people's time and money.

I wish we had more light rail. I'm sure drivers would hate it, but if Queen and King were set up like Spadina and St. Clair and had completely dedicated streetcar lanes? Yeeeah.

http://www.ohdq.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/planmetro2013.jpg?sfvrsn=0
vs
http://www.chfi.com/files/ttc-subway-map-637x357.gif

Imagine!

 

[maharg]

You don't have to be super conservative as a suburbanite to not want to pay an extra tax to drive when you already pay tax on gas, you just need commonsense, why the heck would you force drivers who don't take the TTC pay for the TTC instead of charging people living in urban areas who use it everyday? You use it, you pay for it, simple as that, if the city has the budget for transit, I'm all for bettering the TTC but we're already taxed enough as is and there are more pressing needs like fixing those giant sinkholes we call potholes.

If you think people should pay for what they use, you should be in favor of a toll. Gas taxes do not distribute costs by use and do not even remotely cover the cost of road infrastructure. Meanwhile you're railing against paying for someone else's transit while demanding that their taxes go towards making your drive more pleasant.

 

[Azih]

You don't have to be super conservative as a suburbanite to not want to pay an extra tax to drive when you already pay tax on gas, you just need commonsense, why the heck would you force drivers who don't take the TTC pay for the TTC instead of charging people living in urban areas who use it everyday? You use it, you pay for it, simple as that, if the city has the budget for transit, I'm all for bettering the TTC but we're already taxed enough as is and there are more pressing needs like fixing those giant sinkholes we call potholes.

The problem if you follow this logic is then why the heck should Torontonians pay for anything else and not keep all the tax money generated in Toronto to improve Toronto infrastructure? The TTC would be far better off right now if Toronto tax dollars didn't flow out to provide services/subsidies for other areas of the province and country.

 

[Mr.Mike]

The problem if you follow this logic is then why the heck should Torontonians pay for anything else and not keep all the tax money generated in Toronto to improve Toronto infrastructure? The TTC would be far better off right now if Toronto tax dollars didn't flow out to provide services/subsidies for other areas of the province and country.

Because Toronto doesn't exist in a vacuum.

Take the NITC (New International Trade Crossing) project. I love it because it's going to remove the trucks I have to deal with on my daily commute. But Windsorites certainly aren't the only people who are going to benefit from the project. All of Ontario's industry will now be able to ship their goods to America quicker and easier now because of it. Currently we have more than a quarter of all Canadian-US trade driving through city streets and waiting in lines that are often miles long to cross the border on a privately owned bridge that's gettin pretty creaky. Toronto will probably benefit the most in absolute terms too anyway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_International_Trade_Crossing

 

[Azih]

Because Toronto doesn't exist in a vacuum.

Take the NITC (New International Trade Crossing) project. I love it because it's going to remove the trucks I have to deal with on my daily commute. But Windsorites certainly aren't the only people who are going to benefit from the project. All of Ontario's industry will now be able to ship their goods to America quicker and easier now because of it. Currently we have more than a quarter of all Canadian-US trade driving through city streets and waiting in lines that are often miles long to cross the border on a privately owned bridge that's gettin pretty creaky. Toronto will probably benefit the most in absolute terms too anyway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_International_Trade_Crossing

Hey I agree with you, improvements to infrastructure and economic prospects in one region benefit everyone. Similar to the Windsor bridge situation congestion costs the GTA billions in lost productivity and snarls truck traffic on the highways that also harms the flow of goods in the whole region. ProfessorMoran's insistence that Toronto transit can go hang because he doesn't personally use is myopic and poor policy. Toronto tax dollars fixing pot holes in Barrie and helping build new bridges in Windsor is a great thing and so is Windsor and Barrie tax dollars going to build a DRL or light rail and bus lines in the GTA.It's also why I was very dissapointed when Wynne caved to regionalism and said that funds for new transit in the GTA would only be raised from the GTA itself.

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

I know she's the Premier of Ontario and all, but all her seats are from Toronto. So it's no surprise that people aren't going to be too happy with a tax on them from a premier they didn't vote for, to pay specifically for Toronto transit.

 

[Zombie James]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tor...final-round-of-election-bill-debate-1.2636102

The government has shut down debate on its controversial bid to rewrite Canada's election laws.

Just one day — and a little more than two hours — after consideration of the now-amended fair elections act bill got underway in the House of Commons, Conservative MPs used their majority to pass a motion that will see the House spend just one more day on report stage, followed by one day for third reading.

The controversial bill is now likely to go to a final House vote early next week.

Not surprisingly, opposition members were unanimous in their condemnation of the move to curtail debate.

New Democrat House leader Peter Julian called it "absolutely disgusting," and reminded the House that Van Loan had actually served notice of his intent to bring down the hammer just 10 minutes after Wednesday's debate began.

In response, Democratic Reform Minster Pierre Poilievre suggested there has been "more than enough debate" on the proposed reforms to the Elections Act.

 

[NetMapel]

Have you even seen the piece of shit subway system in Vancouver? Toronto has the best subway system in Canada by far.

lol what ? Can't tell if serious or not.

 

[ProfessorMoran]

If you think people should pay for what they use, you should be in favor of a toll. Gas taxes do not distribute costs by use and do not even remotely cover the cost of road infrastructure. Meanwhile you're railing against paying for someone else's transit while demanding that their taxes go towards making your drive more pleasant.

Right now I don't need to use the 407 because the 401 is still viable, but I'm not against paying tolls, not a big deal to me.

 

[explodet]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tor...final-round-of-election-bill-debate-1.2636102

Pierre Poilievre comes across as so non-confrontational, running away from the debate each time. Or in my own words, he's a wiener.

Meanwhile in Ontario, the provicial election didn't take long to descend into clown shoes territory.
Wynne is campaigning against the Tories, but not the Provincial Tories.

And speaking of those guys:
Tim Hudak says apprentice plan will create 200,000 jobs
Tim Hudak says he would lay off 100,000 civil servants

You're kinda sending out mixed signals, Tim.

 

[Azih]

Pierre Poilievre comes across as so non-confrontational, running away from the debate each time. Or in my own words, he's a wiener.

Meanwhile in Ontario, the provicial election didn't take long to descend into clown shoes territory.
Wynne is campaigning against the Tories, but not the Provincial Tories.

And speaking of those guys:
Tim Hudak says apprentice plan will create 200,000 jobs
Tim Hudak says he would lay off 100,000 civil servants

You're kinda sending out mixed signals, Tim.

Private good, Public bad.

He's been mega consistent. He's like a stuck weathervane pointing straight towards Mike Harris's house.

 

[explodet]

He's like a stuck weathervane pointing straight towards Mike Harris's house.

Oh no, you made me think of Mike Harris!
*starts chasing the Liberals campaign bus*

Seriously though, it's surprising how deep the mental scars of the Common Sense Revolution can run. I guess it didn't help that a bunch of them moved on to the Federal Tories, and who are still in power.

 

[Zombie James]

And there goes any hope of getting Toronto votes.

 

[killer rin]

And there goes any hope of getting Toronto votes.

Why does it feel like the only way to fix Ontario is to just fire all the politicians and hire brand new ones to take their place. Just hearing about how the campaigning is currently going down makes me shake my head.

 

[Fuzzy]

And speaking of those guys:
Tim Hudak says apprentice plan will create 200,000 jobs

His apprenticeship plan creates more apprentices at the cost of licensed trades people. The current ratio is 4 licensed people for ever 1 apprentice and he wants to lower it to 1:1. Want to know what's already a pretty common occurrence when a 5th year apprentice gets their license? They get laid off (I know I was and many other people I know) because the contractors don't want to pay them 20% more just because they passed a test. Lower the ratio to 1:1 and contractors will easily lay off a bunch of licensed people for all of these apprentices, especially the non-unionized contractors who are already cheating on the 4:1 ratio (lots of them count former field workers that are now in the office in their ratio).

 

[Azih]

I'm a pretty committed Dipper but I think the Horwath campaign has got off to a decent start. A government that makes sense is a pretty good slogan.

 

[equippedwithtowel]

I'm a pretty committed Dipper but I think the Horwath campaign has got off to a decent start. A government that makes sense is a pretty good slogan.

Good start in terms of no fuck ups, they've got zero visibility here in Ottawa.

 

[Mr.Mike]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...rporate-taxes-by-30-per-cent/article18596374/

Hudak says he intends to create 120,000 jobs in the private sector by cutting the corporate tax rate by 30%. This is meant to replace "corporate welfare".

Every party seems to be making outlandish promises except the NDP. The liberals want to spend billions of dollars we don't have, and seemingly without a realistic plan to find the money. And the Conservative intend to cut most of the provincial bureaucracy, drop corporate taxes 30% and create a million jobs (for about 550,000 unemployed persons in a Ontario).

The ONDP really seems to be the most conservative of the lot. (in the non-political sense of the word).

 

[equippedwithtowel]

If there was a uniform swing of 15 points away from the party that won a given seat in 2011 and towards the NDP, the NDP would still win Ottawa Centre and be in spitting distance in Ottawa-Vanier, but still lose every other seat. I don't know the ridings enough to know per-riding candidate issues, to see if they've got a superstar who is competitive, but as a whole the party appears to have a relatively low presence and capacity here. That many of the signs seem to highlight Horwath rather than the riding candidate suggests that at least what I've seen aren't superstar candidates, either.

All very true. I just have limited input to give as I have no clue how the GTA is playing out right now.

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

There's no seats for NDP in the East except maybe Peterborough. Ottawa Centre is usually NDP-friendly but Yasir Naqvi is too popular; although he did break a major promise to his constituents (that he would fight to rid of the OMB), so there's that.

Horwath's concentrating on the Southwest. High unemployment region that's very disatisfied with the Liberals. Easy to group the left wing vote to the NDP like they did in Windsor, London, Kitchener-Waterloo and Niagara.

http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2014/05/10/ontario_2014_election_will_be_won_and_lost_in_key_battlegrounds.bb.html

Also worth adding that Horwath was in Hamilton, Hudak was in Ottawa before the writs were officially dropped.

 

[gutter_trash]

http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/quebec/407985/sondage-leger-creux-historique-pour-le-pq
one month after Quebec's election; the PQ sinks even lower and is now ranked 4th among 45 year olds & younger. (a generational party)

PLQ 40 %
CAQ 27 %
PQ 19 %
QS 11%

bye bye separatists

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

WTH Harper calls Trinity-Spadina and Scarborough-Agincourt byelection for June 30 (day before Canada Day), making the byelection and the provincial election campaigns collide -_-

 

[BigJonsson]

WTH Harper calls Trinity-Spadina and Scarborough-Agincourt byelection for June 30 (day before Canada Day), making the byelection and the provincial election campaigns collide -_-

I wonder what turnout will be, Thornhill managed 27% in the Winter by-election

 

[Mr.Mike]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...-nearly-derailed-by-ttc-cops/article18597722/

The rollout of Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak's transit plan went off the rails Sunday when his photo-opportunity was broken up by TTC cops.

Mr. Hudak, his entourage and reporters covering the announcement were ejected from the Toronto subway by transit security after the Tories failed to clear the event with the TTC, which bans campaign events in the system and requires permits for filming on transit property.

the Tory campaign team struggled to respond to the debacle. While Mr. Hudak and his spokesman apologized, the party instead blamed unionized TTC workers for deliberately spoiling the day

&#8220;CUPE workers stop Tim Hudak photo op on the TTC. They are only interested themselves, not fixing transit for commuters,&#8221; the Ontario PC Party&#8217;s official account tweeted.

Mr. Hudak eventually managed to stage his announcement on a bridge overlooking the Davisville subway yards, where he promised to build a new Toronto subway line from Dundas West to Pape, passing through the southern end of downtown. He also re-iterated an earlier pledge to put the TTC subway under the province's control and marry it with the GO regional rail network.

Mr. Hudak, for his part, smiled awkwardly as the scene unfolded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMTL38osfxs

 

[explodet]

That reminds me, I should ask for June 30th off so that I get a 4 day weekend.

 

[firehawk12]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle18597722/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMTL38osfxs

I... don't know how I feel about a provincially run TTC. That sounds like a good idea, right? Or am I bewitched by the promise of more money being fed into the system?

 

[Mr.Mike]

I... don't know how I feel about a provincially run TTC. That sounds like a good idea, right? Or am I bewitched by the promise of more money being fed into the system?

By the PC's?

Although having the province take over the TTC could be a good step to building out a more comprehensive public transit, not just for Toronto, but for the rest of Ontario too. And maybe they could undo the amalgamation?

 

[firehawk12]

By the PC's?

Although having the province take over the TTC could be a good step to building out a more comprehensive public transit, not just for Toronto, but for the rest of Ontario too. And maybe they could undo the amalgamation?

They'll never undo the amalgamation. lol

Well, if nothing else, having the Provincial government take over would hopefully mean that new mayors wouldn't just change plans on a whim.

 

[gutter_trash]

WTH Harper calls Trinity-Spadina and Scarborough-Agincourt byelection for June 30 (day before Canada Day), making the byelection and the provincial election campaigns collide -_-

Lowest voter turn-out.... ever

 

[Fuzzy]

They'll never undo the amalgamation. lol

Well, if nothing else, having the Provincial government take over would hopefully mean that new mayors wouldn't just change plans on a whim.

Yeah, instead new Premiers would like Mike Harris with the Eglinton subway.

 

[Mr.Mike]

Lowest voter turn-out.... ever

Well, if you've every wanted to cast a vote and feel like it REALLY counts, here's your chance!

 

[firehawk12]

Lowest voter turn-out.... ever

Two Toronto ridings they don't have a chance in. They don't really care.

Yeah, instead new Premiers would like Mike Harris with the Eglinton subway.

Hopefully a provincial government has more to lose by wasting more people's money.

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

I... don't know how I feel about a provincially run TTC. That sounds like a good idea, right? Or am I bewitched by the promise of more money being fed into the system?

GO Transit is slightly better run than the TTC but that isn't really saying much. He wants to upload it because Metrolinx does open tenders (works with both union and non-unionized contractors). TTC only works with unionized contractors. It has nothing to do with efficiency.

What worries me more is he wants to privatize GO buses. Get out with that shit.

 

[Fuzzy]

Two Toronto ridings they don't have a chance in. They don't really care.

This is the PCs best chance of picking up Scarborough-Agincourt since Jim Karygiannis first won the seat in 1988. They have a real shot too.

 

[gutter_trash]

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/misha-abarbanel/liberals-ndp_b_5307199.html

The Left Is Undermining Both the Liberals and the NDP

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

If this was a truly democratic country, half the Liberals would be in jail and the Ontario Liberal party would cease to exist because they would default on their $1 billion debt. So getting kicked out of legislature is a good tradeoff I'd say.

I'm not "Left" if Left means supporting corruption and criminality thick and through. NDP made the right choice.

edit: holy shit, 308 has Conservatives winning in my riding (Wynne's hometown). That's when you know the electorate is MAD lol

 

[Azih]

Yeah there's a limit to how much the NDP could reasonably support. Incompetence is one thing (gas plants) outright criminal attempts to destroy evidence (boyfriend with admin password wiping harddrives) is another.

 

[Mr.Mike]

Oh boy

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

These results are good. Liberals need to go lower, and then the left and centre vote will go to the NDP in a split second like it did in the byelections.

Final results: 41.2% NDP, 32.7% PCs, 15.8% OLP

Final results: 61.3% NDP, 20.1% PCs, 11.9% OLP

Can't seem to find the Kitchener-Waterloo or the Niagara Falls one, but we all know what happened there. OLP started out first or strong, but they collapsed and gave way to NDP in otherwise conservative ridings.

And remember when the Liberals were knocked out thanks to the gas plant scandal.

Hope, love and optimism and all that.

 

[gutter_trash]

Hudak team and press pool kicked off TO subway by transit police

Look at Hudak stand still in background with his politician smile, motionless still

 

[Heshinsi]

Oh boy

Why can't the left join together like the right did?