Toronto at a crossroads: Will Ford's austerity agenda be derailed?

[JohnyCanuck]

The City of Toronto is at a crossroads. While Ford has not yet revealed his plans for gutting services, slashing City jobs and privatization, the potential areas identified for so-called "efficiencies" are frightening. On the chopping block are thousands of unionized jobs and services including public libraries, childcare spaces, night buses and recreation centres and programs. Recent comments by the mayor suggest that he will be pushing for the cancellation of the entire community grant program, a fund upon which many community agencies rely in order to deliver needed services to marginalized communities.

But there are reasons to be hopeful. For one thing, activist organizations, unions, community agencies and community groups have not been silent. A massive organizing effort is underway against the Ford cuts. While the effectiveness of the efforts by these very disconnected groups is certainly up for debate, there is real resistance. One major barrier has been that the City unions, still rebuilding public support following a disastrous 2009 strike and immersed in their own contract negotiations, have been unable to provide significant leadership for a broad fight back to defend jobs and services.

Second, Ford's own plan for shoring up legitimacy for his massive cuts is backfiring spectacularly. A series of community meetings and an online survey were meant to provide the veneer of public consultations. There is no doubt that the surveys were designed in order to get results supportive of Ford's agenda. The surveys asked respondents to identify "where" cuts should be made, not "if" they should be made. If, despite this leading question, a respondent felt that a particular service should be maintained, they were asked to identify whether services should be maintained by way of increases to property taxes or user fees or both. No other options were provided. The expectation was that self-interest would win the day and the survey results would support the cuts. Instead, the almost 13,000 Torontonians who participated in the survey voted overwhelmingly in favour of preserving city services. A large majority were even in favour of increasing property taxes if necessary.

These results are all the more hopeful in a context in which Ford publicly called upon his "Ford Nation" to turn out in droves to participate in the public consultations. It should not be forgotten that while Ford rode a tide of popularity into the mayor's office, he did so on a campaign that he would not cut services. The survey results suggest that Torontonians expect him to keep that promise.

http://rabble.ca/news/2011/07/toronto-crossroads-will-fords-austerity-agenda-be-derailed

[CHIMO]

1. Teen surprised by reaction to speech

Fourteen-year-old Anika Tabovaradan can hardly believe all the fuss around an emotional 2 a.m. speech she gave at this week’s executive committee meeting.

The teen sobbed while telling Mayor Rob Ford how much she loved her local library. When she was finished, uttering the words “I’m not making much sense anymore,” the gallery erupted into applause and cheers. It was the emotional high point of a very, very long day and night.

But if you ask Anika, the shy teen thinks a sock puppet named Roy, who took to the microphone around 3 a.m., and “Those senior ladies, so powerful and sarcastic in their speeches,” are the ones who deserve the spotlight.

“Totally, it’s a sock puppet!” she says, laughing in her living room on Friday, a curly black mop of hair shaking back and forth.

http://www.thestar.com/news/torontocouncil/article/1032536--teen-surprised-by-reaction-to-speech


http://www.thestar.com/videozone/1032535--student-annika-tabovaradan-makes-tearful-plea

[nenagh]

2. Thank you for posting that..

I put it on FB..