Mayor Rob Ford silently votes against every community grants program, again

Mayor Rob Ford has continued his annual tradition of voting against every one of the city’s community development grants programs.

The six programs would have sailed through council unanimously on Friday, without a vote, had Ford not placed a “hold” on the items in order to vote against them. He lost the votes 34-1, 34-1, 33-1, 34-1, 35-1, and 35-1.

Ford did not offer an explanation. He was also silent when he voted in June against accepting federal money for a gang prevention project that would not have cost the city anything. He lost that vote 33-1.

Ford, ever the lone wolf, is an ardent advocate of small government. As a councillor, he railed against grants on the council floor and on talk radio, characterizing them as “free money” given by taxpayers to community groups running ineffective or odd programs that don’t deserve city support.

The grants approved on Friday, totaling about $16 million, will go to 306 projects. Nineteen of the funded projects are explicitly intended to make communities safer; 25 provide recreation programming; 24 are intended to improve race relations and promote community participation among minority groups, 13 are local festivals or events.

The biggest chunk of funding, $13.5 million, goes to 214 groups running programs “that advance council’s strategic goals and priorities by working to improve social outcomes for vulnerable, marginalized and high-risk communities.”

Extend-A-Family, for example, will get $21,230 for its Safe and Secure Futures program, which aims to help families better support relatives with disabilities. Newcomer Women’s Services Toronto, which provides counselling, employment training, anti-violence workshops and other services for immigrant and refugee women, will get $38,210.

The 19 community safety projects include a Jane-Finch program to improve relations between young people and the police, a Scarborough program to help female Caribbean immigrants age 16 to 18 develop better conflict resolution skills, and a Scarborough project to reduce violence and substance abuse among Tamil young people.

Ford voted the same way on the grants programs last July, also in silence. He lost 43-1 in votes on four programs, 42-2 on the fifth, and 41-3 on the sixth. He also lost 37-1 last July in a vote on anti-HIV/AIDS grants. He supported an HIV prevention grant this week.

Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Daniel Dale