Toronto City Council Defeats Mayor, Resurrects Transit City

In a stunning blow to Mayor Rob Ford -- who, on his first day in office in 2010 scrubbed the "Transit City" plan in favor of an ill-thought out and unfunded subway scheme -- the Toronto City Council has quashed his plans and resurrected the old one.

February 9, 2012, 12pm PST | Michael Dudley

Writing for the Globe and Mail, Marcus Gee marvels at the political obstinacy of Mayor Ford, who could have worked a deal with his opponents but instead has had a "transit plan...rammed down his throat." He notes,

"[Ford] ignored the host of transit experts who called his vision nonsense. He refused to take his plans to city council, bypassing the city's supreme democratic body. He spurned the [Toronto Transit Commission] manager and TTC chair who dared to question him. But on Wednesday, council struck back, handing the mayor his worst defeat and rubbishing his transit blueprint.

More than $8-billion in funding was at stake. The shape of Toronto transit for decades to come was on the line. It is one of the biggest files on any mayor's desk, and Mr. Ford is no longer in control of it...Transit City, the light-rail network that Mr. Ford declared dead, is suddenly alive and breathing again, having emerged like Lazarus from its underground tomb."

TTC Chair Karen Stintz, who led the revolt, is now being touted as a mayoral contender for 2014.

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Ford pays price of obstinacy in council’s rebuke of his transit vision

Published on Thursday, February 9, 2012 in Globe and Mail