Stop the Gravy Train!

In a couple of weeks the City of Toronto will have a new Mayor by the name of Rob Ford. The out going Mayor, David Miller increased Toronto debt by the millions, increased taxes by bringing in a new land transfer tax, and a vehicle renewal tax that had to be paid on top of the one the Province charges when you get your sticker renewed.

Rob Ford's whole platform was to "Stop the Gravy Train" at city hall. You had members of city council throw themselves ging away parties using their office budgets, you had members of council who were not re-elected just not show up to work for the last few weeks. Talk about sore losers...

Now can Mayor-Elect Rob Ford keep his promises of reducing taxes while also reducing debt. He claims that he would cut the fat at city hall like the office expenses of each member of council. He would put into place a hiring freeze, and offer early retirement to some city workers. He also plans to contract out a lot of the jobs which are currently done by the unions. Cut grants to art groups, and just reduce spending.

I for one do wish him luck, but he's just one voice and one vote on council. For him to be successful he will need to work with other members of council, and as Mr. Ford is a strong Conservative, and most of council are either Liberals or NDP, that could be a problem for him. When people say that party politics are not involved at the municipal level of government they need to wake up and smell the coffee. Party politics have always been involved at the municipal level. If you live in Toronto, or Wasaga Beach it does not matter as it's everywhere.

If Rob Ford wants to reduce the city's debt and offer tax cuts he should look at selling off some assets that the city owns, like Toronto Hydro, places like the St. Lawrence centre for the arts, and the Toronto Centre for the Arts. These two performing art centres cost the city millions to run each year and I'm sure that the private sector can and will do a better job, than the public sector. Don't get me wrong I want to see funding for the arts continue, but the city would be better off selling these assets and using that money to develop more affordable housing, and help getting people back to work in the city which has a 9.5% unemployment rate as of the end of October.

If Rob Ford is able to keep his campaign promises, and prove to everyone that he has what it takes to run the biggest city in Canada then I would not want to be a Liberal running in the 2011 Provincial election.