Vaughan Spa

Ford passed the legislation for ripping up the bike lanes TODAY!!

Anbarandy

Bitter House****
Apr 27, 2006
10,907
3,482
113
blah blah blah...no one cares what biased columnists have to say. They're trying to remain relevant as their paper teeters on the verge of bankruptcy.
Taxpayers are the ones that matter. And the ones that matter know DoFO and his government have been doing a great job.

Don't believe me?

How many majority governments has DoFo been elected to?

You think that happens because most voters don't agree with him?
You seem all bummed out there Skoob.

Read the following, it should cure what ails you:


Ford government’s Ontario Place redevelopment was ‘not fair, transparent or accountable,’ auditor general finds in scathing report
Additionally, Ford’s decision to close supervised drug consumption sites near schools and daycares was made “without proper planning,” the AG said.
Updated Dec. 6, 2024 at 12:00 p.m.


By Robert BenzieQueen’s Park Bureau Chief, Rob FergusonQueen’s Park Bureau, and Kristin RushowyQueen’s Park Bureau

Costs to taxpayers have soared because Premier Doug Ford‘s controversial Ontario Place redevelopment scheme was “not fair, transparent or accountable” — and his use of minister’s zoning orders is haphazard, the auditor general has found.

The Progressive Conservatives’ $2.237-billion revamp of the waterfront park — five to six times their original estimate — was “irregular” and not done using “best practices for large-scale, modern land-use development projects,” the auditor said Tuesday.

In a scathing 941-page annual report to the legislature, auditor Shelley Spence also found Ford’s decision to close 10 supervised drug consumption sites near schools and daycares was made “without proper planning.”

Nor was there anything done to mitigate an “increased risk of overdoses” likely to end up in hospital emergency rooms that are already overcrowded.

Against the backdrop of the $8.28-billion Greenbelt land swap scandal now under criminal investigation by the RCMP, Spence was withering about the Ontario Place project and Ford’s penchant for MZOs, a tool used to override local planning decisions.

Shuttered by the previous Liberal government in 2012, the lakeside icon will eventually be home to a Therme waterpark and spa, a relocated Ontario Science Centre and an expanded Live Nation concert venue as well as a parking garage that could cost between $280 million and $400 million.

“We found that the social and environmental benefits of redevelopment were not factored into the assessment framework or considered in the redevelopment, including in the lease negotiations with anchor tenants,” the auditor said, emphasizing “rules and guidelines ... were not followed.”

“We found that the (call for development) process and realty decisions were not fair, transparent or accountable to all participants,” the auditor said.

Spence, who succeeded long-time auditor Bonnie Lysyk in January, found Ontario Place redevelopment costs to the province have ballooned by a staggering $1.8 billion to an estimated $2.237 billion. At one point, the government anticipated it would cost as little as $335 million.

Her audit said that “contrary to the protocol” for negotiations involving developers, three unidentified suitors met privately with staff from the premier’s and minister’s offices in June and July 2019.

As well, some would-be bidders “had direct access to an Infrastructure Ontario (IO) executive,” who exchanged nine emails and had one phone call with Therme’s legal counsel after news broke about company’s plans.

Unusually, “minutes of meetings with participants were not kept” so it is not known whether everyone involved “had equal access to the information that was shared” at those closed-door confabs.

In a statement Tuesday, Therme said “the bid process was clear to us, and any questions we may have had were answered within the process prior to the close of the submissions deadline.”

“Therme Group followed IO’s process and fully complied with its requirements at every stage in our submission and negotiation,” the Austrian company said.

Deputy Premier Sylvia Jones pushed back at the auditor.

“We have not bypassed due process,” insisted Jones, defending the government’s actions on many fronts.

“It speaks to our interest and our motivation to get things done,” she said, in a nod to the Tories’ 2022 campaign slogan, Get It Done.

But NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the report exposes a “government that’s off the rails.”

“They do whatever they want at an enormous cost to the people of Ontario,” said Stiles.

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie decried “Doug Ford’s shady backroom deals.”

“This report lays bare the results of that choice,” said Crombie.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said the audit “seems like a big problem,” but has nothing to do with the city since Ontario Place falls within the “provincial mandate.”

Ontario Place for All, a community group opposed to the project, urged the government to “end the lease now” with Therme.

On MZOs, there appeared to be no rhyme or reason to the rezoning orders, which have fallen out of favour at Queen’s Park since the Mounties began probing the Greenbelt debacle 14 months ago.

“The ministry does not consistently provide the minister with timely and complete information relating to the projects proposed for an MZO,” wrote Spence, who said the orders to allow housing or industrial development on agricultural land increases its value by an average of 46 per cent.

“We also found there was no protocol and no apparent rationale for prioritizing some MZO requests over others,” the auditor said, pointing out the minister’s office “often selected which of the MZO requests to work on.”

The auditor examined all 114 zoning orders issued between 2019 and 2023 “and found none of them contained an assessment as to whether the MZO was necessary.”

She said MZO use has skyrocketed under Ford — between 1946 and 1998 there were an average of six such orders annually. From 1999 to 2018 that plunged to one MZO per year. But from 2019 through 2023 there were an average of 23 MZOs a year.

Municipal Affairs Minister Paul Calandra said the government is already rectifying the MZO process to weed out land speculators.

“Any MZO that we approve has to be followed up with a shovel in the ground. If it’s not, then I won’t hesitate to revoke it,” said Calandra.

Green Leader Mike Schreiner blasted the Tories’ “total lack of due diligence when reviewing MZOs that could pave over our farmland and wetlands without any consultation whatsoever.”

The annual audit was an indictment of the government’s opioid strategy, which passed into law Monday night.
Spence said closing 10 of 17 supervised consumption sites in favour of 19 HART Hubs (Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment) would leave a deadly service gap — something advocates have been feared since the plan was announced in August.

Opening next spring, the hubs will provide 375 supportive housing units and addiction recovery and treatment beds but no supervised drug consumption, safe supply of narcotics or needle exchanges.
Ford has called consumption sites a “failed policy” that are being restricted over concerns about community safety — including the killing of mother-of-two Karolina Huebner-Makurat by a stray bullet outside a Leslieville site last summer.

Spence, however, predicted community outrage could linger if drug users are overdosing on streets and discarding needles.

She went on to slam the province for taking too long to investigate potential fraud under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program. In about 20 per cent of cases where misrepresentation was found, the applicant had already received permanent residency from the federal government.

Despite spending $100 million over the last decade to digitize services such as health card and driver’s licence renewals, more than half of service options still aren’t available online — and for those that are, customer satisfaction is low, she added.

Concerns were also raised about cybersecurity at ServiceOntario outlets — 70 per cent are privately operated and the rest are public — with the auditor saying some locations “lacked proper controls to safeguard Ontarians’ personal data from unauthorized access” by staff.

Finally, Spence’s audit looked at government advertising, which tripled in one year to $103.5 million in 2023-24 from $33.7 million in 2022-23.

That’s “the most the government has ever spent on advertising in a year” and includes commercials promoting Ontario that aired during the Super Bowl and in NHL games.

The spending boost comes as Ford is considering a spring election, one year ahead of the scheduled June 2026 vote.
 

Skoob

Well-known member
Jun 1, 2022
6,719
3,886
113
Do you think Millicent from Milton, Ridley from Richmond Hill and Prickly Pete from Peterborough lives a 100 minute walk from wherever they need to go?
Do you think most drivers are fat, lazy and have atrophied muscles from doing nothing but standing still in congestion and gridlock?
How about the 85,000 single occupant rideshare drivers driving around and around like zombies waiting to earn their $5/hr? Should they be delivering 150 pound sacks of shit in their car?
Do you think motorists on the Gardiner, QEW, DVP and 427 are all just stuck in the mess of congestion and gridlock of their own making? You know .... the millions of motor vehicles and their single occupants that you don't think exist?

These are all very important questions that need thoughful response, Jimmy Olsen.
Do you think everyone wants to depend (i.e. be forced) on public transit to get in & out of the city?
Do you think you have the right to force people to not drive by themselves if they want to?
Do you think the public will benefit from having less transportation choices like rideshare or will it just make people want to drive their cars even more?
Do you expect people to just walk where they need to go so that your UberEATS biker can get you your tacos faster?
Do you want to control people's choices to drive their cars because you think riding your bike takes precedence over anyone else's transportation choices comrade?


Vehicles s aren't going away or declining in use just because downtowners think no one else exists. Say that over and over to yourself comrade or you'll continue e to be disappointed when your ideology crumbles around you like it is now.

ps tell us your not a downtown elitist without telling us you're a downtown elitist.
 
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Skoob

Well-known member
Jun 1, 2022
6,719
3,886
113
You seem all bummed out there Skoob.

Read the following, it should cure what ails you:


Ford government’s Ontario Place redevelopment was ‘not fair, transparent or accountable,’ auditor general finds in scathing report
Additionally, Ford’s decision to close supervised drug consumption sites near schools and daycares was made “without proper planning,” the AG said.
Updated Dec. 6, 2024 at 12:00 p.m.


By Robert BenzieQueen’s Park Bureau Chief, Rob FergusonQueen’s Park Bureau, and Kristin RushowyQueen’s Park Bureau

Costs to taxpayers have soared because Premier Doug Ford‘s controversial Ontario Place redevelopment scheme was “not fair, transparent or accountable” — and his use of minister’s zoning orders is haphazard, the auditor general has found.

The Progressive Conservatives’ $2.237-billion revamp of the waterfront park — five to six times their original estimate — was “irregular” and not done using “best practices for large-scale, modern land-use development projects,” the auditor said Tuesday.

In a scathing 941-page annual report to the legislature, auditor Shelley Spence also found Ford’s decision to close 10 supervised drug consumption sites near schools and daycares was made “without proper planning.”

Nor was there anything done to mitigate an “increased risk of overdoses” likely to end up in hospital emergency rooms that are already overcrowded.

Against the backdrop of the $8.28-billion Greenbelt land swap scandal now under criminal investigation by the RCMP, Spence was withering about the Ontario Place project and Ford’s penchant for MZOs, a tool used to override local planning decisions.

Shuttered by the previous Liberal government in 2012, the lakeside icon will eventually be home to a Therme waterpark and spa, a relocated Ontario Science Centre and an expanded Live Nation concert venue as well as a parking garage that could cost between $280 million and $400 million.

“We found that the social and environmental benefits of redevelopment were not factored into the assessment framework or considered in the redevelopment, including in the lease negotiations with anchor tenants,” the auditor said, emphasizing “rules and guidelines ... were not followed.”

“We found that the (call for development) process and realty decisions were not fair, transparent or accountable to all participants,” the auditor said.

Spence, who succeeded long-time auditor Bonnie Lysyk in January, found Ontario Place redevelopment costs to the province have ballooned by a staggering $1.8 billion to an estimated $2.237 billion. At one point, the government anticipated it would cost as little as $335 million.

Her audit said that “contrary to the protocol” for negotiations involving developers, three unidentified suitors met privately with staff from the premier’s and minister’s offices in June and July 2019.

As well, some would-be bidders “had direct access to an Infrastructure Ontario (IO) executive,” who exchanged nine emails and had one phone call with Therme’s legal counsel after news broke about company’s plans.

Unusually, “minutes of meetings with participants were not kept” so it is not known whether everyone involved “had equal access to the information that was shared” at those closed-door confabs.

In a statement Tuesday, Therme said “the bid process was clear to us, and any questions we may have had were answered within the process prior to the close of the submissions deadline.”

“Therme Group followed IO’s process and fully complied with its requirements at every stage in our submission and negotiation,” the Austrian company said.

Deputy Premier Sylvia Jones pushed back at the auditor.

“We have not bypassed due process,” insisted Jones, defending the government’s actions on many fronts.

“It speaks to our interest and our motivation to get things done,” she said, in a nod to the Tories’ 2022 campaign slogan, Get It Done.

But NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the report exposes a “government that’s off the rails.”

“They do whatever they want at an enormous cost to the people of Ontario,” said Stiles.

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie decried “Doug Ford’s shady backroom deals.”

“This report lays bare the results of that choice,” said Crombie.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said the audit “seems like a big problem,” but has nothing to do with the city since Ontario Place falls within the “provincial mandate.”

Ontario Place for All, a community group opposed to the project, urged the government to “end the lease now” with Therme.

On MZOs, there appeared to be no rhyme or reason to the rezoning orders, which have fallen out of favour at Queen’s Park since the Mounties began probing the Greenbelt debacle 14 months ago.

“The ministry does not consistently provide the minister with timely and complete information relating to the projects proposed for an MZO,” wrote Spence, who said the orders to allow housing or industrial development on agricultural land increases its value by an average of 46 per cent.

“We also found there was no protocol and no apparent rationale for prioritizing some MZO requests over others,” the auditor said, pointing out the minister’s office “often selected which of the MZO requests to work on.”

The auditor examined all 114 zoning orders issued between 2019 and 2023 “and found none of them contained an assessment as to whether the MZO was necessary.”

She said MZO use has skyrocketed under Ford — between 1946 and 1998 there were an average of six such orders annually. From 1999 to 2018 that plunged to one MZO per year. But from 2019 through 2023 there were an average of 23 MZOs a year.

Municipal Affairs Minister Paul Calandra said the government is already rectifying the MZO process to weed out land speculators.

“Any MZO that we approve has to be followed up with a shovel in the ground. If it’s not, then I won’t hesitate to revoke it,” said Calandra.

Green Leader Mike Schreiner blasted the Tories’ “total lack of due diligence when reviewing MZOs that could pave over our farmland and wetlands without any consultation whatsoever.”

The annual audit was an indictment of the government’s opioid strategy, which passed into law Monday night.
Spence said closing 10 of 17 supervised consumption sites in favour of 19 HART Hubs (Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment) would leave a deadly service gap — something advocates have been feared since the plan was announced in August.

Opening next spring, the hubs will provide 375 supportive housing units and addiction recovery and treatment beds but no supervised drug consumption, safe supply of narcotics or needle exchanges.
Ford has called consumption sites a “failed policy” that are being restricted over concerns about community safety — including the killing of mother-of-two Karolina Huebner-Makurat by a stray bullet outside a Leslieville site last summer.

Spence, however, predicted community outrage could linger if drug users are overdosing on streets and discarding needles.

She went on to slam the province for taking too long to investigate potential fraud under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program. In about 20 per cent of cases where misrepresentation was found, the applicant had already received permanent residency from the federal government.

Despite spending $100 million over the last decade to digitize services such as health card and driver’s licence renewals, more than half of service options still aren’t available online — and for those that are, customer satisfaction is low, she added.

Concerns were also raised about cybersecurity at ServiceOntario outlets — 70 per cent are privately operated and the rest are public — with the auditor saying some locations “lacked proper controls to safeguard Ontarians’ personal data from unauthorized access” by staff.

Finally, Spence’s audit looked at government advertising, which tripled in one year to $103.5 million in 2023-24 from $33.7 million in 2022-23.

That’s “the most the government has ever spent on advertising in a year” and includes commercials promoting Ontario that aired during the Super Bowl and in NHL games.

The spending boost comes as Ford is considering a spring election, one year ahead of the scheduled June 2026 vote.
Sorry, I don't accept homework from strangers on the internet.
You seem disturbed and actually think cutting/pasting huge articles makes you look smart.
Newsflash...it doesn't.

ps can't wait for another DoFo majority government...how about you?
 
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GameBoy27

Well-known member
Nov 23, 2004
12,770
2,690
113
Do you think Millicent from Milton, Ridley from Richmond Hill and Prickly Pete from Peterborough lives a 100 minute walk from wherever they need to go?
Do you think most drivers are fat, lazy and have atrophied muscles from doing nothing but standing still in congestion and gridlock?
How about the 85,000 single occupant rideshare drivers driving around and around like zombies waiting to earn their $5/hr? Should they be delivering 150 pound sacks of shit in their car?
Do you think motorists on the Gardiner, QEW, DVP and 427 are all just stuck in the mess of congestion and gridlock of their own making? You know .... the millions of motor vehicles and their single occupants that you don't think exist?

These are all very important questions that need thoughful response, Jimmy Olsen.
A large percentage of people in this Province drive (read single occupant vehicles) because it's still faster than walking, cycling or taking public transit. All you have to do is open Google Maps, punch in random directions, other than one close to the Go Train or one of the few subway lines and you'll see it's still way faster to drive to most places, any time of day or night. Especially if you live in or traveling to a residential area that's poorly serviced by public transit, which many are.

The added bonus of driving, is you get to sit in the comfort of your car, listen to music, turn on the heat or A/C and enjoy the ride. You don't have to worry about walking in the rain or snow, having to stand waiting for transit, then not guaranteed a seat when it arrives. You can also easily make a detour to pickup something and have a place to put it if need be. Sure it's more expensive, but how much is your time and piece of mind worth?

So the question remains, why can't you get that through your thick head?
 
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Anbarandy

Bitter House****
Apr 27, 2006
10,907
3,482
113
A large percentage of people in this Province drive (read single occupant vehicles) because it's still faster than walking, cycling or taking public transit. All you have to do is open Google Maps, punch in random directions, other than one close to the Go Train or one of the few subway lines and you'll see it's still way faster to drive to most places, any time of day or night. Especially if you live in or traveling to a residential area that's poorly serviced by public transit, which many are.

The added bonus of driving, is you get to sit in the comfort of your car, listen to music, turn on the heat or A/C and enjoy the ride. You don't have to worry about walking in the rain or snow, having to stand waiting for transit, then not guaranteed a seat when it arrives. You can also easily make a detour to pickup something and have a place to put it if need be. Sure it's more expensive, but how much is your time and piece of mind worth?

So the question remains, why can't you get that through your thick head?
What does any of the above have to do with a few kms of local, neighborhood bike lanes in Toronto's inner core?

Zero, nothing, nada, nil zilch.

I commute by motor vehicle to work, but also cycle and take transit for errands, shopping, appointments in addition to cycling for pleasure, physical exertion and for discovery. Plus, I don't need or use bike lanes to bike or feel safe. All those nitty gritty, motor vehicle congested, gridlocked, scofflaw ridden and polluted city streets I bike.
 

Anbarandy

Bitter House****
Apr 27, 2006
10,907
3,482
113
Do you think everyone wants to depend (i.e. be forced) on public transit to get in & out of the city?
Do you think you have the right to force people to not drive by themselves if they want to?
Do you think the public will benefit from having less transportation choices like rideshare or will it just make people want to drive their cars even more?
Do you expect people to just walk where they need to go so that your UberEATS biker can get you your tacos faster?
Do you want to control people's choices to drive their cars because you think riding your bike takes precedence over anyone else's transportation choices comrade?


Vehicles s aren't going away or declining in use just because downtowners think no one else exists. Say that over and over to yourself comrade or you'll continue e to be disappointed when your ideology crumbles around you like it is now.

ps tell us your not a downtown elitist without telling us you're a downtown elitist.
No one is forcing anyone to depend on public transit to get in and out of the city, except in your mind machinations.
No is forcing people to not drive by themselves if they want to, except once again in your mindless delusionary thought processes.
No is trying to force people from having less transportation choices, except Doug Fraud and people like you.
No is forcing people to just walk where they need to go, except in your halluciantions.
No is trying to control people choices of transportation, except your Dear Leader and lil rubes like yourself.

Once again what do a few kms of local, neighborhood bike lanes in Toronto's inner core have anything to do at all with GTA-wide, motor vehicle caused congestion, crawl and gridlock?
 
Ashley Madison
Toronto Escorts