Student guide to Rob Ford's Toronto

John Nyman
Arts Editor
Let’s pretend for just a few minutes that we, the students, didn’t lose the election.
I’m not talking about pretending Smitherman or Pantalone won. I mean, now that it’s over, we can calm down, take a step back and take a real look at what Rob Ford means for Toronto and York students.
Pledge number one on Rob Ford’s campaign website: downsizing city council to 22 members from the current 44. The primary aim of this move would be to cut spending – what those cuts will go toward is a story for another time.
While cutting the number of city councillors would save money and make council more “productive” – though their measure of productivity is anybody’s guess – it might be worthwhile to reflect on the enormous task 44 councillors already face in representing the opinions of millions of Torontonians living in one of the most diverse cities in the world. There are certainly many more than 44 communities and interest groups in our city.
The problem is especially apparent for the student community, which is notoriously difficult to engage or unify despite a long list of common financial and social interests. Fewer councillors and less council spending means it’ll be even harder for city politics to reach out to students. Starting to feel like you aren’t going to have much of a say in Ford’s Toronto?
Here’s another way of looking at it: why 22? Why not reduce it to 11 councillors? How about six? In fact, why don’t we just trash our bicycles and give Ford a crown?
You might say that, at the very least, we’ll have more money, but it isn’t hard to see that Ford’s “respect for taxpayers” won’t do much for students, who are much better known for putting government funds toward personal and intellectual development than paying taxes on houses and cars.
In fact, it seems the only money Ford plans to actually give back are to people who do pay those taxes: his most specific pledges call for abolishing the land transfer and vehicle registration taxes. I don’t pay either of those. Do you?
Finally, when it comes to criticism, I don’t need to do much more than mention Ford’s official transit plan; his call to make the TTC an essential service, which would mean no more TTC strikes, may have some merit. The plan also claims streetcars “will do nothing to reduce gridlock or provide faster, better public transit options” and berates Toronto’s “irrational approach to bike lanes.” I hardly feel threatened by the so-called “war on cars.”
These are the main issues facing our city, according to Rob Ford.
I tried, York, I tried to take this seriously, but that’s all we’ve got. And that’s all from Ford’s official website, too. I don’t even want to look at the YouTube videos, ridiculous quotes he’s made or the arguments fielded by his competitors.
Instead I’m going to go gape at the election results, break down in tears watching the next mayoral speech and maybe even vote in the next election.