Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Mayor Rob Ford’s subway dream for Sheppard could be dead March 15

City council will gather ahead of schedule, on March 15, to decide what kind of transit the city wants built on Sheppard Ave. E.

The meeting, originally slated for March 21, is expected to spell the end of Mayor Rob Ford’s move to extend the Sheppard subway.

The city gave notice Tuesday that the meeting would happen during March Break to avoid conflicts with other meetings.

It is expected the panel charged with recommending the best transit for Sheppard will advocate light rail on the road, rather than the subway extension Ford promised in the election.

“It’s the vote the province has been waiting for,” said TTC chair Karen Stintz.

Council’s endorsement of a Sheppard plan is among the signals Premier Dalton McGuinty says the province needs to move ahead on spending $8.4 billion for Toronto transit.

The panel was appointed earlier this month, when council approved a road-level LRT for Finch Ave. W. and building the Eglinton LRT above-ground east of Laird Dr. to Kennedy Station — a plan that ran contrary to the mayor’s vision of all-underground transit.

TTC chief general manager Gary Webster was fired by Ford’s loyalists on the TTC board last week for supporting LRT as a way to spread rapid transit to more parts of the city.

The panel will hold its final meeting Friday, but no one expects it to favour a subway.

“We haven’t had a formal vote yet, but in conversation with other panelists, most want the transit that will benefit the largest number of people,” said Jamie Kirkpatrick, a transit advocate representing the Social Planning Council on the panel.

“It’s pretty clear when you look at the make-up (of the panel) where this is going,” he said.

The expert panel includes the mayor’s chosen subway point man, Gordon Chong, but also University of Toronto Cities Centre director Eric Miller, who has publicly advocated for surface LRT.

There are also representatives of the TTC, CivicAction, Toronto Women’s City Alliance, the Sheppard East Village Business Improvement Area and former mayor David Crombie. Metrolinx has been present in an advisory role.

Chong was surprised Tuesday when told by the Star that the meeting date had been moved up.

“I didn’t know they moved it,” Chong said. When asked to confirm reports that he is the only person on the panel pushing the merits of a subway over an LRT, Chong said: “The five or six of us around the table agreed not to speak to the media right now, and I had better honour that.”

Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Tess Kalinowski and David Rider

No comments:

Post a Comment