Once bitten, twice foolish
Talking transit or covering the waterfront, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and his brother Doug have revealed themselves as masters of the oblivious.
The similarities in how they handled the two files are striking. In both cases, the brothers staked out positions that fly in the face of common sense and, beyond that, reality itself. Then, they put up everyone’s back defending the indefensible.
The Fords’ pattern is to work backwards: they start with the answers and then ask questions — or not, depending on the state of their own ineffable rightness.
The transit fiasco began when the Fords declared their intention to build “subways” on Eglinton and Sheppard rather than “trolleys.” But as we all now know, there’s no justification for burying the LRT, economic or demographic.
Little wonder the Fords’ allies on city council have started to distance themselves from the brothers. On Tuesday, Ford acolyte Denzil Minnan-wong felt compelled to suggest publicly that the mayor slow down, take a deep breath and start again.
No surprise, either, that Torontonians are suddenly talking about “fact-based” decision-making as if it were something new, something novel and untested in these parts. Perhaps it is.
But because of his belligerence and ineptitude, the mayor lost control of the transit file this week. In an unprecedented move, city council has sidelined him, surgically removing his allies from the Toronto Transit Commission.
The same scenario is being played out on the waterfront. Last summer, Doug Ford unleashed a firestorm of outrage when he proposed developing the Port Lands with a mall, monorail and ferris wheel. Ignoring a decade of work by Waterfront Toronto, the agency created to oversee waterfront revitalization, Ford heard loud and clear from Torontonians that his scheme was not welcome.
City council voted against Ford that time, too, but did instruct Waterfront Toronto to examine the feasibility of speeding up Port Lands redevelopment. The Star has learned that those studies are complete and, although not yet publicly released, will recommend against accelerated growth. As the reports point out, there’s a limit to how many condos the market can absorb, especially one as saturated as Toronto’s. It also addresses issues such as demand for office and commercial space and, yes, transit. Though the Fords tend to be indifferent to such details, fortunately, others aren’t. With more than $1.5 billion worth of development on the books and much more to come, Waterfront Toronto has amply demonstrated the virtues of orderliness. Indeed, orderliness is what will make the massive redevelopment program a success. A rush to build, no matter how tempting, would only undermine the process. The agency won’t release its findings until March 31, when the next public meeting on the Port Lands is scheduled. But because the Fords’ scheme was so ill conceived and divisive, they have ruined their chance to play a meaningful role in waterfront revitalization, which will change the face of Toronto. Like transit, the waterfront is a topic on which the mayor should be expected to have input. His job, of course, is to represent the city. In both instances, however, he has failed. Rather than seek consensus, he has managed only to divide and be conquered. Ford’s behaviour does no one any favours, least of all himself. As polls show, Torontonians are losing faith in his ability to lead. Council already has. At this point, one wonders whether he fully grasps the nature of his job. He’s no longer in opposition; now he’s the mayor. Christopher Hume can be reached at chume@thestar.ca.