Toronto Mayor Rob Ford gets a running start and uses a fast fakeout to avoid talking to reporters before his first radio show.
Mayors Gregor Robertson ( Vancouver, BC) and Joe Fontana (London, ON) call on the Canadian government to support improving rental conditions in Canada’s large cities in its upcoming federal budget. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has spent the first years of his mandate stripping the city’s supports for low-income families and selling off city-owned affordable rental units, making the nation’s largest city even more hostile to renters.
Montréal, QC: Luc Ferrandez, mayor of Montréal’s Plateau-Mont-Royal borough, discusses street-level changes in his community designed to slow down and redirect suburban commuters cutting through the neighbourhood. Road space has been taken back from vehicle traffic, in exchange for widened boulevards, gardens, markets and pedestrian spaces, putting the needs of people above the wants of commuters. Toronto’s Mayor Rob Ford blasts any such proposal in Canada’s largest city, labelling any idea to return precious urban space to the people as “the war on cars” and proposing to spend billions of dollars extra on infrastructure projects, just to prevent the loss of vehicle lanes.
Miami, FL: Miami hires expert consultants from the Dutch capital to improve cycling infrastructure to the city built for cars, and to better cycling education. Rob Ford fired a world-renowned transit expert when he dared disagree with the Toronto Mayor’s ill-advised billion-dollar suburban subway boondoggle.
New York, NY: Mayor Michael Bloomberg launches the young adult literacy program, the first in a series of programs aimed at supporting disadvantaged youth in gaining the skills for a better life. Facing the same budget pressures, Toronto’s city council is instead considering closing libraries and ending support programs, backed by Mayor Rob Ford’s belief that cities should only pay for roads and police.
Minneapolis, MN: the recent winner of Bicycling Magazine’s award for most bicyle friendly city in America shows off its famous Midtown Greenway, a dedicated bicycle route attracting new development and business in the city centre. In Toronto, Mayor Rob Ford’s bike plan calls for removing bike lanes from many city streets, because as he says, “roads are for cars and trucks.”
