Thanks for Nothing: KPMG and the Review that Wasn't

When asked by Councillor Mary Fragedakis if they had considered  the long-term costs of cutting support to BIAs or the economic benefits of arts funding or social services, KPMG's answer was a short and not so sweet,no, we weren't asked to consider the impacts of our recommendations.

In fact according to the Star it appears they did very little for the money the city paid them,relying mostly on city staff reports and talking to a few managers.In effect their report was merely an echo of work already done by city staff. So it appears that Mayor respect for the taxpayers Ford spent that 350 grand to provide cover for and to lend legitimacy to his own slash and burn agenda.

One prestigious international consulting firm contacted by the Star said they would not have accepted the contract.

Just one more example of how the Fords will spare no expense when it comes to "saving" taxpayers money. I don't know how much more of the Fords brand of respect for the taxpayers we can afford.

Time for council to bring the Ford cabal to heel

At Monday’s executive committee meeting,Ford and his not so merry band of toadies voted to turn down the provinces offer of two public health nurses at no cost to the city. This decision not only reeks of ideological blindness but abject stupidity.

At a time when Toronto is fighting a battle against a bed bug infestation and increasing rates of TB, we could have used these nurses, in fact we could use about a dozen more.

One upside is that cracks are starting to appear within the Ford cabal with , budget committee chair Mike Del Grande, public works chair Denzil Minnan-Wong, planning chair Peter Milczyn, and and parks and environment chair Norm Kelly all voting against the Ford's wishes.

This idiotic decision can and must be overruled by council, not only because we need these nurses and to protect the interests of the citizens of this city, but to show the Ford's that there is a limit to how much of their blind ideology that council will allow them to impose on the people they were elected to serve. 

Ford to Students, Seniors and the Poor-Pay up Suckers

In one of his first acts as mayor Ford eliminated the 60 dollar vehicle registration fee,fair enough, this was a central plank in his campaign. The question has always been how will he pay for this given his commitment to balancing the budget while simultaneously freezing taxes.

The answer apparently is make those who can least afford it pay. By raising TTC fares by 10 cents, which coincidentally equals out on average to 60 dollars a year he has continued the conservative habit of shifting the tax burden from those that make up the upper ranks to those of the lower ranks of taxpayers

To compound the harm even further the TTC will also be  eliminating some routes and cutting back service on others. This at a time when we should be expanding service and not just for environmental reasons. There are many who think that not only is this a great idea but also that the transit riders should pay 100% of the cost of running the system.

I say to  them ARE YOU INSANE. Destroy the TTC and watch your commute time double or worse. Plus killing the TTC will kill the city as businesses will flee Toronto in droves as their employees will not be able to get to work,supplys will be late in arriving causing production slow downs and their customers will leave for suppliers located elsewhere.
 
Oh and  about not raising taxes, well besides the fare increase he will be raising fees by approx. 23 million a year.