January 25, 2012 Rob Ford’s hand-picked executive committee has unexpectedly hit the brakes on two of his own divisive proposals, a move that signals a recognition that the mayor does not have the support he needs to force city council’s hand. It’s a policy retreat that some city hall insiders believe could give way [...]
January 24, 2012 […]
January 23, 2012 The provincial agency building new rapid transit in Toronto is urging the city to figure out what it wants, after the TTC chair expressed her opposition to burying the entire 19-kilometre light rail transit line along Eglinton. Karen Stintz is zeroing in on an eastern section of the Eglinton-Scarborough-Crosstown, from Brentcliffe [...]
January 23, 2012 If Mayor Rob Ford decides to try and keep his campaign promise of eliminating the land transfer tax, he’s going to face some stiff competition. A group of Councillors that occupy the “middle” of the political spectrum at City Hall has gained some steam over the last week since making amendments to [...]
January 23, 2012 Mayor Rob Ford, still stinging from a budget defeat last week, is reaching out to council centrists on the thorny issue of selling Toronto Community Housing Corp. homes. Ford’s executive committee had been expected to vote Tuesday to sell the 675 single-family homes to raise more than $220 million to repair [...]
January 22, 2012 A bold statement on the weekend edition of The City from Newstalk 1010 show host and councillor Josh Matlow.After surveying some councillors from the so-called “mighty middle” at city hall on the future of the land transfer tax, Matlow declared Mayor Rob Ford will not be able to scrap it as planned. [...]
January 21, 2012 “We couldn’t have been more clear and more respectful,” Councillor McMahon said. “We said, ‘Take it. You champion it. We do not need credit at all,’” she remembers. They repeated the offer on the morning of council, but the idea of dipping into the surplus stymied the deal, she says. By [...]
January 18, 2012 How mighty is city council’s political middle? Councillors in the new “lefty middle” downplayed the notion Wednesday that they would become a caucus or political party at City Hall but wouldn’t rule out working together on certain issues. The “middle” joined with left-leaning councillors and a handful of right-leaning [...]
January 18, 2012 Get ready for Toronto city council’s next big fight. The controversial sale of 675 Toronto Community Housing Corporation homes goes to Mayor Rob Ford’s executive committee next week. One member of council’s political middle is already predicting a majority of councillors won’t support it. […]
January 18, 2012 Who says you can’t fight City Hall? Torontonians who successfully pushed back against Mayor Rob Ford’s reckless cuts are the real winners in this year’s budget process. By the hundreds, they came to all-night public meetings; they inundated city councillors with expressions of concern; they tweeted, blogged and organized and, in [...]
