"The men [women too!] who yield power make an indispensible contribution to the nation's greatness, but those who question power make a contribution just as indispensible, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us."
Steve, I compliment you on your tenacity in bringing to the forefront the issue of election financing in Ward 18 which has resulted in the disclosures (varied as they are) from the candidates on the ballot Oct. 25th. Bravo.
However, I must chide you for refusing to give credit where credit is due and for refusing to apply the high standard of scrutiny (well deserved as it is) to all candidates and in particular Kevin Beaulieu - a candidate who quite possibly will be Ward 18's next councillor.
Ironically, in light of Beaulieu's donor disclosure the average person may question your motives for bringing up this issue in the first place. Beaulieu's donors include a "S Dobson". Would this be you? If so, are we to assume you are seeking preferred treatment for the industry you work in (film) should Beaulieu be elected? Seems ridiculous doesn't it. If you did donate you'd probably end up with no more than a thank you note from Beaulieu and perhaps a cup of coffee next time you saw him. Period.
If you are a supporter of Beaulieu's, then say so. Be as transparent as you expect the candidates to be. If you didn't donate to Beaulieu's campaign than just give credit to Bailao for addressing your concerns. Period. it encourages the other candidates to do the same.
For those that complain about the caliber of our candidates for public office (or elected officials), perhaps we should remind ourselves that if they were treated more fairly they would be more inclinded to respond inkind.
Last night I attended an event with Mayoral candidate George Smitherman, I was an undecided voter up until about 2 weeks ago, and have now decided that we cannot sit back and watch candidates like Ford take this city down a very oppressive path.
I think that Toronto is a Great City, I have travelled all over the world and we do have a first rate city, but I believe that Rob Ford is the last candidate we should be supporting as mayor.
We have our issues in our neighbourhood, but I believe they will only get worse if we have a mayor hellbent on the kind of cuts that Ford talks about.
We may not like the fact that there is a Toronto Land Transfer tax, but it has not impacted home sales in the GTA, we are an engine that people are driven to, over 80,000 people a year move to the GTA, if you figure half of them make Toronto their home, and half of those need new housing.. the revenue from the LTT that Toronto keeps helps to pay for programs and added assistance from the city for those new to Toronto.
Rob Ford can go ahead and cancel the LTT, it will still take a very long time to get through council, and oh yeah, there is a cancellation penalty somewhere in the region of $12-36 Million dollars that will have to be paid for by the current residents from ???
I believe that people who want to live in Toronto budget for the costs, (and get a rebate for properties under $400K)
I personally asked Rob Ford if he was aware of the fee on cancelling the Toronto LTT - he didn't understand the question, then advised he didn't read the contract that the city entered into for LTT collection as he voted against it!!
I don't know about you, but I want a mayor that reads what they are voting on, so for that reason I am putting my vote behind George Smitherman, (I like Joe, but with 12% of the vote, I have to vote strategically) I am suggesting that if you are undecided, or if you were planning on supporting Joe Pantalone, that please do the smarter thing and place the X on Smitherman's name on Oct 25th.
We haven't had our soil tests done yet, but it's on our TODO list. I know that some people around here work around contamination issues (whether true or just assumed) by creating container gardens, or refreshing their topsoil.
I'm definitely interested in hearing more about other peoples' experiences with this.
In fact...there was an article in The Star about this recently. Too bad it lacks actual data about soil testing, rather than speculating about what's in the soil due to previous industrial uses.
I have my facts straight gentlemen. You are allowed money for an audit and for the expenses listed such as thank you parties. Ana must be planning on a bunch of thank you parties al la Kyle Rae with all that extra fundraising. That's a lot of money in these tight times, probably the cash strapped City could use it.
As I said before there are still issues relating to other campaign expenses and links to donors and I am pretty sure there will be complaints to the election office.Can you say Senso?
It is indeed a small victory that at MY request candidates have felt the public pressure to start showing their donors BEFORE the election date. It's not perfect this year, and none are bound to do so by law, but I would like to think that maybe there is a change coming in how this will be done in the future and I respectfully remind you of where this issue came from in the first place; Bailao's previous public fillings in 2003. I hope that Ward 18 is setting the wheels in motion for better transparency in the future and next campaign I agree we should codify what we want in terms of details; does anybody know of any other wards or candidates that are doing the same ?
Derek: I agree with you that the election financing reforms have improved the situation and levelled the playing field. And I don't doubt Bailao has issue with city hall's actions over the past 7 years however I don't recall her being critical about the new election financing regime. In fact, by her disclosure she has gone above what is required by the new law.
The point has to be raised that Beaulieu's disclosure has not met the basic standard of transparency. He has not released the full names of his donors nor the amounts they donated which is information that will become public after the election anyway. Moreover, the fact that his disclosure is buried deep within his website begs another question - if you want to publicly disclose something why make it hard for people to find?
RBMorro: The City policy is that only donors over $100 need to be disclosed. People who gave less than that had no expectation that their names would be made public and, consequently, did not consent for their personal information to be released.
Also, expenses outside the limit are far more strictly controlled than they were in the past. Ana complains alot about how things have been over the last seven years. Yes things have changed: strict campaign contributions and financial financial controls make it harder to buy victory.
She will have a lot of difficulty spending twice the limit.
ScottD is obviously unaware that candidates are allowed by campaign financing law to raise money beyond the campaign spending limit and moreover to claim expenses for activities not directly related to the campaign period (cost of fundraisers, thank you parties et. al.)
It's a diservice to the exchange of ideas when critics of any candidate are willing to make accousations without consulting the rules regarding the standard they are supposedly professing to uphold.
Re. the disclosures, it is interesting to note that of all the candidates that have disclosed their donations, Bailao is the only candidate to disclose the full name of all her donors and the dollar amount donated by each. She has even disclosed contributions under $100 which election laws do not require one to do.
It gives me pause to think that if the other candidates are not willing to do this now re. their own money matters (before election day no less), what will those candidates do once elected to office re. city budget matters and our tax dollars?
Having sent emails to all candidates, and having checked all their ebsites (those thathave them), I sadly find the following 4 candidates have already broken the promise to reveal their donor lists:
Doug Carroll, Frank de Jong, Abdirazak Elmi and Joe MacDonald.
Note that the promise was made to release donors, not dollars, so kudos to those few that did give full disclousre.
I've noticed that some Trianglers are frustrated by the pace of the process required to bring French Immersion to Perth PS. I can sympathize. I spent two years with a bunch of west end parents trying to start an alternative school, which eventually became the Grove last year. The TDSB bureaucracy is indeed frustrating to deal with and for awhile it looked like we had done all our work for nothing. It was only after we approached Maria Rodrigues for help that things took a huge turn for the better. She was incredibly helpful in helping us navigate the required hoops and whistles. But her real value came when we encountered a giant hurdle that looked like our project was doomed. Because of the controversy over the Africentric school, the TDSB staff had imposed a moratorium on new alternative schools just before we were due to seek approval. Yikes!
Wasting no time, Maria successfully lobbied a coalition of fellow Trustees to overturn the moratorium, personally introducing the motion at the Board, and we were approved soon afterwards. It was VERY impressive to observe her in action. Then once we were up and running, we started a coalition with other parents to reverse the Board's three-decade long policy of denying Special Needs supports to alternative and French Immersion schools. Thanks in part to Maria's support, and the high regard that TDSB chair Bruce Davis seemed to have for her, we won our fight in only a few months. Those are some of the reasons why I'm strongly supporting her re-election and why I'm not shy to broadcast it.
For those who aren't parents, she also helped usher in the new policy of using schools as community hubs after hours. And, like most people in this group, I'm very much against the plan to bring hundreds of diesel trains a day through our neighbourhood. I thought it was kind of cool that Maria Rodrigues and some of her progressive colleagues on the Board found a way to ally with the community and enlist the TDSB in the fight to electrify the Georgetown Corridor. They commissioned a study that found the health of thousands of children in 76 schools along the line would be affected by the diesel trains and convinced the Board to support electrification. Check out this article about her efforts:
As for bringing FI to Perth, her own daughter attends a French Immersion school and I think it's a pretty safe bet that she's on your side. Hang in there a little while longer and you'll get your wish. I wish you Bonne Chance in your fight.
Ana says that she will fix the city budget but she has raised twice the money she is allowed to spend. That makes no sense. Any surplus will go into the city election rebate fund which means half of her donors money is going somewhere else that donors probably thought. Are they unaware of the spending limits? Never mind that there are the same issues as before plus donors connected to Senso magazine controversy as written about in Now. Bailao's details of her donors leave me scratching my head. Anybody have any idea what is up with the Bailao campaign? With calls last Week to the election office her filing will certainly be one of the most watched in years.
I sent an email to all 12 City Councillor candidates in Ward 18 reminding them of their Sept 29 on air Rogers TV debate to release their donor lists one week prior the election.
Just a reminder that Perth Avenue Junior Public School invites you to attend a public meeting about adding grades 7/8 and French Immersion programming. Curtis Ennis, Superintendent and Maria Rodrigues, Trustee should both be in attendance. Your support is very important so please try to attend..and pass it on!
Oops forgot to say a Big Thank you to Donna Cowan who acted as the Moderator for the event at the South Perth and Sterling Road Residents Association. also Thanks again to Pastor Miller and Son for their assistance in pulling off this event, we are very lucky to have this venue in our own backyard!
Also a couple of other items to note:
Don't forget the Community Walk with the students from York University that plan to present the Charrette, we're scheduled to meet November 3rd at 10 am at Sterling and Dundas .
York U's event at The Church of the First Born (Community Charrette) is Scheduled for November 18th at 5:30 (I stated 7pm in error last night) Posters will be posted for this soon.
Withouth pointing to specific councillors responses, the following questions were posed to each of the candidates, (they were sent these questions in advance and should have been able to have done their homework, some did and it was clear some did not)
There were ideas submitted from investigating ways to get provincial assistance in getting fines collected from jurisdictions outside of Toronto & Ontario, what punitive measures can be implemented or should we just forget about collecting these funds as this represents such a small hit against the overall City of Toronto Annual Budget. There was also a suggestion on getting collection agencies hired to go after these debts. (which is already the practice)
On the question of how to keep families in the city , there was no clear winning comment, though with a bit of planning foresight the city could adopt changes to allow for 6 storey wood construction residential developments, they work in other cities it should allow for families to afford to stay in the city and still provide density changes to neighbourhoods without putting in huge towers.
On the question of how to deal with issues that do not have majority resident approval, the majority were of the opinion that they would want to make sure they had majority consensus, however there was some dissent that offerred sometimes a councillor just has to take a stand in what he believes is right, ( the example was green initiatives, often rejected by the majority now almost wholly embraced) .
All candidates agreed on pressuring for Electrification of the rail line at the outset.
All Candidates claimed to have not received any financial support from the strip clubs. some of the candidates want them out of the neighbourhood altogether, which is a tougher battle as they were here long before most of the residents, but beautification and residential intensification may be a quicker way to get them to leave.
Heated words were exchanged between 2x over the course of the debate and were directed at 2 candidates.
The room was full with standing room only.
1 Bright spot was a School Board trustee actually showed up!! John Costa, a fresh approach and energetic personality that certainly, just by virtue of attending has garnered my vote.
These were the questions that were given ahead of the meeting.
I am sure that there is someone in attendance that took copius notes and will hopefully post them to this site.
Check out torontoist. and Globe and mail political blogs for better details on events from last night.
1. As of June 2010 there was an estimated $219 million in unpaid fines, what steps would you undertake with the new City of Toronto Act to implement measures to collect on these outstanding fines.
2. Our area is experiencing a rebirth of young families wanting to raise their children within a dynamic, urban environment where one can enjoy walking, cycling and taking public transit to local schools, parks and restaurants. However, most new housing developments, being built close to the downtown core, have traditionally been condos or town-homes that are NOT targeted to growing families. Moreover, many of our local schools are being considered for closure.
Not everyone wants to raise their families in the outer suburbs. If YOU are elected city councilor to our vibrant Ward, how would YOU encourage and promote city policies to keep families within the city proper?
3. Question: You are the now the councilor of ward18 and have been on the job for the past 6 mths.
How would you deal with residents (assuming they are in the majority) who may not agree on the direction you are going & won’t support what you have done or plan to do.
4. The present terms of reference for the $4 million electrification study assume that over 300 diesel trains daily will run through our west-end neighbourhoods until 2020, affecting the health of over 300,000 people. To our dismay, this expensive study is not including the cost of electrification at the outset. I would like to know the position of each candidate about this massive diesel rail corridor, and what they will do to protect Ward 18 from the Liberal provincial governments plan to use diesel, rather than electric, trains for both the Air Rail Link and Georgetown corridor expansion, when we know as a fact Tier 4 'clean diesel' does not exist.
5. Have you received campaign funding or support from the strip clubs on Bloor – Club Paradise, and The House of Lancaster?”
I wasn't able to make it to the debate and I'm sure a few other residents were unable to attend also. How was the evening? Could someone post a quick recap of the yesterday's evening's debate for us?
It's interesting to read the comments on that article. There are what I would guess are campaign operatives trying desperately to pretend that nothing untoward happened, or that NOW is in the wrong for reporting it, or - bizarrely - trying to smear Beaulieu. It looks like a voter suppression tactic to me... try to convince voters that "they're all equally bad" so that only your committed followers come out to vote.
I'm sure it will be an interesting debate tonight. Wish I could be there.
As long as it is reported it is legal; remember these are not third party people, these are people who have previously donated to Ana and are doing work for her now---connected. What would the cost be for delivering thousands of magazines ?
I am hearing that 2, possibly 3 other campaigns have contacted the Elections Office about this story today.
All Ana has to do is report donations and she is in the clear (although once again the construction industry issue pops up) Donations and reporting are challenged after the election with a compliance audit.
Personally I believe that all fundraising should be done by a week before the election and the donors posted so people can see BEFORE they vote. At the recent Rogers Ward 18 debate all the candidates present said they would do this this year so it will be interesting to see if any of them live up to that very public promise.
It is legal for candidates to get support from anywhere, as long as they do not get direct financial support from unions or corporations, and do not exceed maximumn campaign expense limits ($28,747.30 in ward18).
It is legal for someone to run for ward18 city council even if they do not live in Toronto, let alone the ward.
That said, there is a difference between legal and ethical - or at least perceptual - that I am sure most voters will want to consider when backing or voting for a candidate.
When anyone makes as a main slogan of their campaign "Committed to the Community" they open the doors to being questioned as to just whose community they are talking about. Residents in ward 18 or big developers from outside the ward?
There is also the issue of whether this favourable delivery of magazines by a company connected to Bailao is a contravention of election law----ie should it be be counted as a donation (and then be legal). You cant have a friend go and print up a series of friendly brochures, posters, or magazines and deliver them without it being declared part of your campaign funding.
This looks like an attempt to make up for lost donations to the construction and development business by using Senso as a front. In the Now story you will see that most of the names pop up in Ana's previous donation list from when she last ran (posted in this thread). Its hard not to think that Seno is acting as a branch of the Bailao campaign and if so, that's illegal.
I think that they should be in the ward enough to understand the day-to-day goings on in the area. How else are they going to be able to represent the needs of the community?
JFK once said ...
"The men [women too!] who yield power make an indispensible contribution to the nation's greatness, but those who question power make a contribution just as indispensible, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us."
Steve, I compliment you on your tenacity in bringing to the forefront the issue of election financing in Ward 18 which has resulted in the disclosures (varied as they are) from the candidates on the ballot Oct. 25th. Bravo.
However, I must chide you for refusing to give credit where credit is due and for refusing to apply the high standard of scrutiny (well deserved as it is) to all candidates and in particular Kevin Beaulieu - a candidate who quite possibly will be Ward 18's next councillor.
Ironically, in light of Beaulieu's donor disclosure the average person may question your motives for bringing up this issue in the first place. Beaulieu's donors include a "S Dobson". Would this be you? If so, are we to assume you are seeking preferred treatment for the industry you work in (film) should Beaulieu be elected? Seems ridiculous doesn't it. If you did donate you'd probably end up with no more than a thank you note from Beaulieu and perhaps a cup of coffee next time you saw him. Period.
If you are a supporter of Beaulieu's, then say so. Be as transparent as you expect the candidates to be. If you didn't donate to Beaulieu's campaign than just give credit to Bailao for addressing your concerns. Period. it encourages the other candidates to do the same.
For those that complain about the caliber of our candidates for public office (or elected officials), perhaps we should remind ourselves that if they were treated more fairly they would be more inclinded to respond inkind.
Last night I attended an event with Mayoral candidate George Smitherman, I was an undecided voter up until about 2 weeks ago, and have now decided that we cannot sit back and watch candidates like Ford take this city down a very oppressive path.
I think that Toronto is a Great City, I have travelled all over the world and we do have a first rate city, but I believe that Rob Ford is the last candidate we should be supporting as mayor.
We have our issues in our neighbourhood, but I believe they will only get worse if we have a mayor hellbent on the kind of cuts that Ford talks about.
We may not like the fact that there is a Toronto Land Transfer tax, but it has not impacted home sales in the GTA, we are an engine that people are driven to, over 80,000 people a year move to the GTA, if you figure half of them make Toronto their home, and half of those need new housing.. the revenue from the LTT that Toronto keeps helps to pay for programs and added assistance from the city for those new to Toronto.
Rob Ford can go ahead and cancel the LTT, it will still take a very long time to get through council, and oh yeah, there is a cancellation penalty somewhere in the region of $12-36 Million dollars that will have to be paid for by the current residents from ???
I believe that people who want to live in Toronto budget for the costs, (and get a rebate for properties under $400K)
I personally asked Rob Ford if he was aware of the fee on cancelling the Toronto LTT - he didn't understand the question, then advised he didn't read the contract that the city entered into for LTT collection as he voted against it!!
I don't know about you, but I want a mayor that reads what they are voting on, so for that reason I am putting my vote behind George Smitherman, (I like Joe, but with 12% of the vote, I have to vote strategically) I am suggesting that if you are undecided, or if you were planning on supporting Joe Pantalone, that please do the smarter thing and place the X on Smitherman's name on Oct 25th.
Thanks for posting those links.
We haven't had our soil tests done yet, but it's on our TODO list. I know that some people around here work around contamination issues (whether true or just assumed) by creating container gardens, or refreshing their topsoil.
I'm definitely interested in hearing more about other peoples' experiences with this.
In fact...there was an article in The Star about this recently. Too bad it lacks actual data about soil testing, rather than speculating about what's in the soil due to previous industrial uses.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/856342--city-offers-soil-cleanin...
Fortunately, the City is putting together a program to make soil testing easier for residents.
I have my facts straight gentlemen. You are allowed money for an audit and for the expenses listed such as thank you parties. Ana must be planning on a bunch of thank you parties al la Kyle Rae with all that extra fundraising. That's a lot of money in these tight times, probably the cash strapped City could use it.
As I said before there are still issues relating to other campaign expenses and links to donors and I am pretty sure there will be complaints to the election office.Can you say Senso?
It is indeed a small victory that at MY request candidates have felt the public pressure to start showing their donors BEFORE the election date. It's not perfect this year, and none are bound to do so by law, but I would like to think that maybe there is a change coming in how this will be done in the future and I respectfully remind you of where this issue came from in the first place; Bailao's previous public fillings in 2003. I hope that Ward 18 is setting the wheels in motion for better transparency in the future and next campaign I agree we should codify what we want in terms of details; does anybody know of any other wards or candidates that are doing the same ?
Derek: I agree with you that the election financing reforms have improved the situation and levelled the playing field. And I don't doubt Bailao has issue with city hall's actions over the past 7 years however I don't recall her being critical about the new election financing regime. In fact, by her disclosure she has gone above what is required by the new law.
The point has to be raised that Beaulieu's disclosure has not met the basic standard of transparency. He has not released the full names of his donors nor the amounts they donated which is information that will become public after the election anyway. Moreover, the fact that his disclosure is buried deep within his website begs another question - if you want to publicly disclose something why make it hard for people to find?
RBMorro: The City policy is that only donors over $100 need to be disclosed. People who gave less than that had no expectation that their names would be made public and, consequently, did not consent for their personal information to be released.
Also, expenses outside the limit are far more strictly controlled than they were in the past. Ana complains alot about how things have been over the last seven years. Yes things have changed: strict campaign contributions and financial financial controls make it harder to buy victory.
She will have a lot of difficulty spending twice the limit.
Derek
ScottD is obviously unaware that candidates are allowed by campaign financing law to raise money beyond the campaign spending limit and moreover to claim expenses for activities not directly related to the campaign period (cost of fundraisers, thank you parties et. al.)
It's a diservice to the exchange of ideas when critics of any candidate are willing to make accousations without consulting the rules regarding the standard they are supposedly professing to uphold.
Re. the disclosures, it is interesting to note that of all the candidates that have disclosed their donations, Bailao is the only candidate to disclose the full name of all her donors and the dollar amount donated by each. She has even disclosed contributions under $100 which election laws do not require one to do.
It gives me pause to think that if the other candidates are not willing to do this now re. their own money matters (before election day no less), what will those candidates do once elected to office re. city budget matters and our tax dollars?
Having sent emails to all candidates, and having checked all their ebsites (those thathave them), I sadly find the following 4 candidates have already broken the promise to reveal their donor lists:
Doug Carroll, Frank de Jong, Abdirazak Elmi and Joe MacDonald.
Note that the promise was made to release donors, not dollars, so kudos to those few that did give full disclousre.
See the results here: http://davenportdemocracy.blogspot.com/ and judge for yourselves.
Remember to vote October 25, Monday. Thanks
I've noticed that some Trianglers are frustrated by the pace of the process required to bring French Immersion to Perth PS. I can sympathize. I spent two years with a bunch of west end parents trying to start an alternative school, which eventually became the Grove last year. The TDSB bureaucracy is indeed frustrating to deal with and for awhile it looked like we had done all our work for nothing. It was only after we approached Maria Rodrigues for help that things took a huge turn for the better. She was incredibly helpful in helping us navigate the required hoops and whistles. But her real value came when we encountered a giant hurdle that looked like our project was doomed. Because of the controversy over the Africentric school, the TDSB staff had imposed a moratorium on new alternative schools just before we were due to seek approval. Yikes!
Wasting no time, Maria successfully lobbied a coalition of fellow Trustees to overturn the moratorium, personally introducing the motion at the Board, and we were approved soon afterwards. It was VERY impressive to observe her in action. Then once we were up and running, we started a coalition with other parents to reverse the Board's three-decade long policy of denying Special Needs supports to alternative and French Immersion schools. Thanks in part to Maria's support, and the high regard that TDSB chair Bruce Davis seemed to have for her, we won our fight in only a few months. Those are some of the reasons why I'm strongly supporting her re-election and why I'm not shy to broadcast it.
For those who aren't parents, she also helped usher in the new policy of using schools as community hubs after hours. And, like most people in this group, I'm very much against the plan to bring hundreds of diesel trains a day through our neighbourhood. I thought it was kind of cool that Maria Rodrigues and some of her progressive colleagues on the Board found a way to ally with the community and enlist the TDSB in the fight to electrify the Georgetown Corridor. They commissioned a study that found the health of thousands of children in 76 schools along the line would be affected by the diesel trains and convinced the Board to support electrification. Check out this article about her efforts:
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/05/19/9496811-sun.html
As for bringing FI to Perth, her own daughter attends a French Immersion school and I think it's a pretty safe bet that she's on your side. Hang in there a little while longer and you'll get your wish. I wish you Bonne Chance in your fight.
-Max Wallace
Ana says that she will fix the city budget but she has raised twice the money she is allowed to spend. That makes no sense. Any surplus will go into the city election rebate fund which means half of her donors money is going somewhere else that donors probably thought. Are they unaware of the spending limits? Never mind that there are the same issues as before plus donors connected to Senso magazine controversy as written about in Now. Bailao's details of her donors leave me scratching my head. Anybody have any idea what is up with the Bailao campaign? With calls last Week to the election office her filing will certainly be one of the most watched in years.
I sent an email to all 12 City Councillor candidates in Ward 18 reminding them of their Sept 29 on air Rogers TV debate to release their donor lists one week prior the election.
Well - you can see the results at:
http://davenportdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/10/who-funds-who-in-ward-18....
My notes and a link on that last debate:
http://davenportdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/10/last-ward18-debate-and-an...
Toronto Observer did a rather short and biased (IMHO) story:
http://www.torontoobserver.ca/2010/10/15/residents-demand-greater-attent...
Why is it that media always leave out facts and cherry-pick one aspect?
Is it poor journalism or stingy editors or biased media?
Hey Everyone,
Just a reminder that Perth Avenue Junior Public School invites you to attend a public meeting about adding grades 7/8 and French Immersion programming. Curtis Ennis, Superintendent and Maria Rodrigues, Trustee should both be in attendance. Your support is very important so please try to attend..and pass it on!
When: Monday, October 18, 2010
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Where: Perth Avenue PS Library
Child care is available.
A comment was unpublished because it was unintentionally factually inaccurate and could open up the issue of libel for our humble community web site.
Thank you.
Donna Cowan is a great choice for moderator as she knows the issues that directly effect people in our area.
for posting info about the debate. glad to here that john costa was there as well!
Oops forgot to say a Big Thank you to Donna Cowan who acted as the Moderator for the event at the South Perth and Sterling Road Residents Association. also Thanks again to Pastor Miller and Son for their assistance in pulling off this event, we are very lucky to have this venue in our own backyard!
Also a couple of other items to note:
Don't forget the Community Walk with the students from York University that plan to present the Charrette, we're scheduled to meet November 3rd at 10 am at Sterling and Dundas .
York U's event at The Church of the First Born (Community Charrette) is Scheduled for November 18th at 5:30 (I stated 7pm in error last night) Posters will be posted for this soon.
See you there.
Cheers,
Philip
Thanks for the update Philip! Who ended up being debate moderator for the evening?
Withouth pointing to specific councillors responses, the following questions were posed to each of the candidates, (they were sent these questions in advance and should have been able to have done their homework, some did and it was clear some did not)
There were ideas submitted from investigating ways to get provincial assistance in getting fines collected from jurisdictions outside of Toronto & Ontario, what punitive measures can be implemented or should we just forget about collecting these funds as this represents such a small hit against the overall City of Toronto Annual Budget. There was also a suggestion on getting collection agencies hired to go after these debts. (which is already the practice)
On the question of how to keep families in the city , there was no clear winning comment, though with a bit of planning foresight the city could adopt changes to allow for 6 storey wood construction residential developments, they work in other cities it should allow for families to afford to stay in the city and still provide density changes to neighbourhoods without putting in huge towers.
On the question of how to deal with issues that do not have majority resident approval, the majority were of the opinion that they would want to make sure they had majority consensus, however there was some dissent that offerred sometimes a councillor just has to take a stand in what he believes is right, ( the example was green initiatives, often rejected by the majority now almost wholly embraced) .
All candidates agreed on pressuring for Electrification of the rail line at the outset.
All Candidates claimed to have not received any financial support from the strip clubs. some of the candidates want them out of the neighbourhood altogether, which is a tougher battle as they were here long before most of the residents, but beautification and residential intensification may be a quicker way to get them to leave.
Heated words were exchanged between 2x over the course of the debate and were directed at 2 candidates.
The room was full with standing room only.
1 Bright spot was a School Board trustee actually showed up!! John Costa, a fresh approach and energetic personality that certainly, just by virtue of attending has garnered my vote.
These were the questions that were given ahead of the meeting.
I am sure that there is someone in attendance that took copius notes and will hopefully post them to this site.
Check out torontoist. and Globe and mail political blogs for better details on events from last night.
1. As of June 2010 there was an estimated $219 million in unpaid fines, what steps would you undertake with the new City of Toronto Act to implement measures to collect on these outstanding fines.
2. Our area is experiencing a rebirth of young families wanting to raise their children within a dynamic, urban environment where one can enjoy walking, cycling and taking public transit to local schools, parks and restaurants. However, most new housing developments, being built close to the downtown core, have traditionally been condos or town-homes that are NOT targeted to growing families. Moreover, many of our local schools are being considered for closure.
Not everyone wants to raise their families in the outer suburbs. If YOU are elected city councilor to our vibrant Ward, how would YOU encourage and promote city policies to keep families within the city proper?
3. Question: You are the now the councilor of ward18 and have been on the job for the past 6 mths.
How would you deal with residents (assuming they are in the majority) who may not agree on the direction you are going & won’t support what you have done or plan to do.
4. The present terms of reference for the $4 million electrification study assume that over 300 diesel trains daily will run through our west-end neighbourhoods until 2020, affecting the health of over 300,000 people. To our dismay, this expensive study is not including the cost of electrification at the outset. I would like to know the position of each candidate about this massive diesel rail corridor, and what they will do to protect Ward 18 from the Liberal provincial governments plan to use diesel, rather than electric, trains for both the Air Rail Link and Georgetown corridor expansion, when we know as a fact Tier 4 'clean diesel' does not exist.
5. Have you received campaign funding or support from the strip clubs on Bloor – Club Paradise, and The House of Lancaster?”
I wasn't able to make it to the debate and I'm sure a few other residents were unable to attend also. How was the evening? Could someone post a quick recap of the yesterday's evening's debate for us?
Much appreciated!
It's interesting to read the comments on that article. There are what I would guess are campaign operatives trying desperately to pretend that nothing untoward happened, or that NOW is in the wrong for reporting it, or - bizarrely - trying to smear Beaulieu. It looks like a voter suppression tactic to me... try to convince voters that "they're all equally bad" so that only your committed followers come out to vote.
I'm sure it will be an interesting debate tonight. Wish I could be there.
As long as it is reported it is legal; remember these are not third party people, these are people who have previously donated to Ana and are doing work for her now---connected. What would the cost be for delivering thousands of magazines ?
I am hearing that 2, possibly 3 other campaigns have contacted the Elections Office about this story today.
All Ana has to do is report donations and she is in the clear (although once again the construction industry issue pops up) Donations and reporting are challenged after the election with a compliance audit.
Personally I believe that all fundraising should be done by a week before the election and the donors posted so people can see BEFORE they vote. At the recent Rogers Ward 18 debate all the candidates present said they would do this this year so it will be interesting to see if any of them live up to that very public promise.
It is legal for candidates to get support from anywhere, as long as they do not get direct financial support from unions or corporations, and do not exceed maximumn campaign expense limits ($28,747.30 in ward18).
It is legal for someone to run for ward18 city council even if they do not live in Toronto, let alone the ward.
That said, there is a difference between legal and ethical - or at least perceptual - that I am sure most voters will want to consider when backing or voting for a candidate.
When anyone makes as a main slogan of their campaign "Committed to the Community" they open the doors to being questioned as to just whose community they are talking about. Residents in ward 18 or big developers from outside the ward?
There is more comments on this on my website.
There is also the issue of whether this favourable delivery of magazines by a company connected to Bailao is a contravention of election law----ie should it be be counted as a donation (and then be legal). You cant have a friend go and print up a series of friendly brochures, posters, or magazines and deliver them without it being declared part of your campaign funding.
This looks like an attempt to make up for lost donations to the construction and development business by using Senso as a front. In the Now story you will see that most of the names pop up in Ana's previous donation list from when she last ran (posted in this thread). Its hard not to think that Seno is acting as a branch of the Bailao campaign and if so, that's illegal.
Elections Toronto should investigate.
I think that they should be in the ward enough to understand the day-to-day goings on in the area. How else are they going to be able to represent the needs of the community?