5 ways Mayor Tory should have stepped up his game Monday
On Monday morning, Mayor John Tory was interviewed by Matt Galloway on CBC’s Metro Morning. We transcribed the interview and highlighted how Mayor Tory could have stepped up for us…but didn’t.
This isn’t about John Tory, it’s about his position as mayor. With Doug Ford as Premier, a homelessness crisis on our hands, the potential takeover of the TTC, and an impending casino on our waterfront, we need our mayor to stand up for our city.
Difficult times call for true leadership and we’re calling on Mayor Tory to be the leader Toronto needs. Unfortunately, on Monday he failed to do that.
See our round-up below.
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Here are the 5 ways Mayor Tory let us down Monday morning.
1. Mayor Tory refused to declare a State of Emergency on homelessness, which would unlock federal and provincial funding and support. Read more on what he said here and click here to take action on this now.
2. Mayor Tory said he doesn’t believe Toronto property tax payers should shoulder more of the costs of homelessness in our city. Read more
3. Mayor Tory expressed an openness to Ford taking over the TTC, despite city council’s opposition. Read more
4. Mayor Tory said he trusts Doug Ford’s word....do you? Read more
5. Mayor Tory isn’t fighting to ensure public input shapes the future of Ontario Place. Read more
1. Mayor Tory refused to declare a state of emergency on homelessness, which would unlock federal and provincial funding and support.
Send an email to the mayor and your councillor to ask them to declare a state of emergency on homelessness and housing in Toronto. Click here to take action now.
Councillor Wong-Tam and Councillor Perks, alongside advocates including Street Nurse Cathy Crowe, are asking the mayor and city councillors to declare a State of Emergency on homelessness and housing in our city.
Email the mayor and your councillor to demand they vote to declare a State of Emergency on homelessness: https://www.progresstoronto.ca/take-action-to-declare-homelessness-a-crisis
As we can see from the city’s own street needs assessment, almost 9,000 people are homeless or precariously housed. From the city’s daily shelter stats, we know that this weekend, 7,945 people were in our shelters, respite centres, and warming centres. Those centres are operating at 100% capacity, and some are even over capacity. Many people remain on the streets, with some having built makeshift homes under the Gardiner Expressway being served eviction notices from the City. Four homeless people have died this January and from January 1, 2017 to January 30, 2018 there were 145 deaths of people experiencing homelessness. You can see the daily shelter stats from the city here.
In the mayor’s interview on CBC, Matt Galloway presses Mayor Tory on whether or not he thinks we have a crisis on our hands and if he would declare a State of Emergency. Mayor Tory repeatedly said that while this was an urgent situation, he would not call it a crisis.
Calling the situation a crisis and saying we are in a State of Emergency can unlock additional funds from other levels of government, so that the city can help to make sure people have shelter. In fact, the Government of Canada’s Emergency Management Act requires a request for assistance and the declaration of an emergency in order for their own emergency protocols to be implemented.
The mayor said he would be asking the provincial government for help, but at the same time refused to declare the situation a crisis now. Instead, Mayor Tory spoke to a report on his Executive Committee agenda this week, that says he will be building thousands of units of affordable housing. While this is a welcome measure, it will take time, and we need him to deal with the crisis before us today, before more people die on the streets. The City already failed to meet its commitment to open 1,000 new shelter beds in 2018. Simply put, we can’t wait any longer and we need the mayor to act now.
Read about the second way Mayor Tory let us down on Monday. Scroll down.
From the interview:
Matt Galloway: This is kind of a yes or no question. Is the city facing a crisis when it comes to homelessness?Mayor John Tory: Y-y-y-you’ll always designate questions as yes or no. I have said before that the mental health situation is a crisis and if you address that properly – and I am going to be increasingly outspoken in my advocacy on that because it is not a job for the city to do by itself – the answer I’ve said on mental health is yes. Is the situation with respect to shelters and homelessness generally an urgent situation? Yes it is.Matt Galloway: But you know the value of calling something a crisis and those [Matt Galloway is interrupted by Mayor John Tory]Mayor John Tory: No! Actually, I don’t in a way, Matt. Because I mean, w-what – my calling something a crisis – I have advocated consistently, say on mental health for example, and I have advocated consistently on affordable housing and now we’re taking action, but I’m not sure my saying that it is a crisis, say with respect to affordable housing, is gonna move ahead the initiatives we are taking forward this week to the executive committee…[see full transcript at end of post]Matt Galloway: Advocates will come to that Executive Committee meeting this week and they will ask that you declare a state of emergency when it comes to the homeless situation in the city. That state of emergency declaration would unlock funding from federal and provincial governments. Will you do that?Mayor John Tory: If I believed that it would actually do something to alleviate the situation that..uh..people find themselves in with respect to being homeless and being displaced, I would consider it, but I mean, my own examination of what that request, to declare a state of emergency..uh..would do is that it would simply perhaps spark a discussion about whether that’s a viable tool or not but wouldn't actually help…. [full transcript at end of post]2. Mayor Tory said he doesn’t believe Toronto property tax payers should shoulder more of the costs of homelessness in our city.
In the interview, Matt Galloway presses Mayor Tory on calling homelessness in our city a crisis and declaring a State of Emergency. In response, Tory says the situation is urgent, but that “property tax payers” should not be shouldering this responsibility. He says mental health is a major part of the crisis and that the provincial government needs to step in since this is a health care cost.
If Ford isn’t stepping up on our homelessness crisis in Toronto, Torontonians must step up. This is precisely the moment we need brave leadership to save lives in the face of a Ford government. At the same time, if Tory declared a State of Emergency, then we would be more likely to get the support we need from other levels of government to deal with the crisis.
We’re left confused. What is clear, is a lack of leadership and a lack of decisive action by Mayor Tory on a homelessness and housing crisis in our city.
From the interview (see full transcript below):
Matt Galloway: Just a last point on that before we go to other matters. Just...If people are setting up encampments in the city because the shelters are full, because respite centres are full, is that not the definition of a crisis?Mayor John Tory: Well Matt again I’m saying it’s a very urgent situation but you’re also assuming that the reason that they’re setting up those encampments is because the shelters are full. I’ve talked to them and so have your uh.. journalists, and perhaps yourself, and in fact in some cases that is the problem but in many other cases they don’t want to go to the shelters because they think they’re not the appropriate places for them if they have issues and you know what? They’re right. The shelters are not right for people who have mental illness. That’s the point I’m trying to make over and over again - is we just don’t have the option...and I believe by the way the city itself, by itself, and property tax payers, do not have and should not have the responsibility. It’s part of the healthcare system… [see full transcript at end of post]3. Mayor Tory expressed an openness to Ford taking over the TTC, despite city council’s opposition.
In December 2018, city council and the mayor voted to oppose the upload of the TTC. Thousands of Torontonians took action through Progress Toronto and TTCrider’s websites to ask that their councillors and the mayor oppose Ford’s proposed subway upload. Council voted and committed “its support for keeping ownership of the Toronto Transit Commission in the City of Toronto.” See the full decision from city council here.
Yet, on the interview with CBC this morning, the Mayor sounded very open to what he called “good” arguments for an upload.
Mayor Tory is at the table with the Ford now. Is he defending our city and or is he negotiating with Ford for an upload?
Thanks to Metrolinx (the provincial transit agency that oversees GO Transit and Presto), we know that provincially run transit means less public input, less accountability, and less transparency. The system would be taken out of the hands of riders and placed in the hands of an unelected board. Ford has also made it clear that once he has his hands on the TTC, he will turn to privatization of the subway. While that might line the pockets of private interests, it certainly has not been proven to be responsive to riders or make transit expansion any more efficient (take the current construction on Eglinton for example).
So which is it Mayor Tory? Are you opposed to Ford’s upload of the subway? Or are you open it it? “It’s complicated” is not how you voted at council in December.
From the interview (see full transcript below):
Matt Galloway: The Mayor’s with me in studio. We’re talking about a number of things. Let me just talk about transit for a few moments. This report that came out on Friday, a TTC report, says it’ll take 33 billion dollars to keep transit running as it exists today, as well as meet the increase in ridership over the next 15 years. Is that a good argument for uploading the subway, do you think? Mayor John Tory: Well it’s certainly something that’s going to come up in those discussions uh...and you know, my assessment of what’s a good argument for uploading will come when we’ve heard all the arguments and seen all the facts and figures uh and i’ve said that...and you know that we don't know what uploading means at the moment. Uh so we’ll hear what the offer is, as it were, as to how much of that, for example, would be looked after if you upload it and then what the downside to that is and that’s exactly the discussion that’s going on right now. Matt Galloway: Do you know what uploading means?Mayor John Tory: No!Matt Galloway: This is a question that we’ve been asking Jeff Yurek, the Minister of Transportation. He’s been on here a couple of times. I’ve asked him that question. Do you know what it means? Mayor John Tory: I’ve listened to each of the answers in response to the questions that you’ve asked and I hope you keep asking them. But look, I’m not being cynical about it. At the end of the day, the purpose of the discussions and the reason why I said as mayor, you know..backed up by the council, that we would go to the table and have those discussions, is that so we know what uploading means. What does it mean relative to this 33 billion? what does it mean vis-a-vis new construction of transit? And so forth and so on. And so...those discussions have….are underway. I will say they’re very constructive. I mean in the sense they’re business like and we’ll have an answer to that question, uh… you know, sometime down the road. Matt Galloway: Council voted overwhelmingly to keep control of the entire TTC…[Mayor John Tory says “Yup” while Galloway speaks] including the subways, does that matter?Mayor John Tory: Well sure it matters, but at the end of the day, I guess council will also have in front of it, at some point and time, exactly what we just talked about…[see full transcript at end of post]4. Mayor Tory said he trusts Doug Ford’s word....do you?
In the CBC interview, Matt Galloway asked Mayor Tory about Doug Ford’s plans for Ontario Place and what he thinks should happen. Mayor Tory replied by saying he has been assured by Premier Ford — “I’ve been assured by the Premier personally..” — that the city will be included in the decision about the TTC upload and the sale of Ontario Place.
Meanwhile, Doug Ford is decided that there will be an upload of Toronto’s subway and has already decided that Ontario Place will be sold. In fact, the Province issued a request for expressions of interest to seek proposals from the development community, not the public, on Ontario Place.
Most Torontonians had any trust in the Ford Government ripped away when he abruptly slashed city council in half, in the middle of an election and without any opportunity for public consultation. He even by-passed the provincial government’s committee and hearing process to rush his plans for Toronto through. Why does Mayor Tory suddenly trust Premier Ford and why isn’t he standing strong for our city?
From the interview (see full transcript below):
Matt Galloway: I guess people are concerned in part about this because they saw what happened when it came to the cuts for city council. Um..that the..you know that...council might have protested but the province did what the province did. We see this here. We now see it, it seems like, unfolding with Ontario Place, where there is great concern in this city about what’s going to happen with Ontario Place and the province puts out a note saying “we’re open for suggestions..” and some of the things that people hold near and dear...the pods at Ontario Place, the Cinesphere...which is just redeveloped and renovated and is now showing movies, could be up for..uh..demolition, and..uh..and, re-imagining. What should happen at Ontario Place? Mayor John Tory: Well, I wrote a whole report on it..Matt Galloway: I know! Mayor John Tory: ...as a private citizen..a volunteer. I volunteered to do it for the previous provincial government and I think it should focus on being a place of...I call it...I call it...Ontario and Toronto’s backyard..which means, a lot of park, a lot of recreational, cultural activities, and so on. I would like to see the present architecture preserved. I mean, I’m not absolutely religious on that, in the sense that they say..look it’s actually to the point...you know, sometimes, something is beyond repair as it were, uh, you know and I don’t know the facts on that. But I will say this..uhm and I know there will be people out there who will say, you know “be on your guard” and I am - in a certain sense..I’ve been assured by the premier personally, I have seen the processes that are unfolding with respect to both transit and with respect to Ontario Place, which seem to have a place for us to be involved umm...in.. in.. in in..in making sure the city’s point of view is represented...I do not think… you know...there should be a casino there under any circumstances.. 5. Mayor Tory isn’t fighting to ensure public input shapes the future of Ontario Place.
When pressed on the city putting forward ideas for Ontario Place, Mayor Tory said he wouldn’t mind because he has some of his own ideas for the site. What he failed to do, was to outline a process for public input. Thankfully, the local community council voted to strike a committee to help provide a place to hear from the public and experts. It doesn’t replace a public consultation, but it’s something.
The Ford government has made it clear they want to hear first from developers, before community, as they have already issued their expression of interest for the site. The province is moving forward on their plans. It’s time our mayor stood up for the waterfront and fought for a public voice in the future of Ontario Place.
From the interview (see full transcript below):
Matt Galloway: Will the city...just finally...will the city put forward any ideas saying “This is what we want and we’re gonna f-f..” [Mayor Tory interrupted Matt Galloway]Mayor John Tory: You’ve seen me say that I, I wouldn’t be averse to doing that, because I have some ideas in mind, uh...that...myself, and I’m sure there are other people on the council and even on the city staff who have some ideas and so I think we should take the opportunity just in case the ideas we have or uh..you know the one that I have...I can’t...who could I blame except myself if I have an idea and I don’t put it forward for their considerations, so the answer is probably..uh...yes.Matt Galloway: It’s gonna be a big fight. Let’s see where it goes.Mayor John Tory: Well...uh...hold...you know what? It may be a big fight. It may also be just a big project that we do together. That is my hope - that we can do these things in a spirit of partnership and have people further ahead at the end of it and not have a big fight...but you might be right. We’ll see. Matt Galloway: We’ll leave it there.Mayor John Tory: We don’t need anymore fights.Matt Galloway: Well, we don’t. No. Mayor Tory thank you. John Tory is the Mayor of Toronto. Thoughts on what you’ve heard, we’d be happy to hear from you...Full Transcript of Mayor Tory’s CBC Interview
A full transcript of Mayor John Tory’s interview with Matt Galloway of CBC’s Metro Morning — January 21, 2019. The interview covers homelessness, the province’s subway takeover, and Ontario Place. You can listen to it yourself here.
Matt Galloway: It is a very cold morning and with that in mind there is a lot to talk to the Mayor about. We’re going to speak about the cold, we’re going to speak as well about transit. Over the next fifteen years running the TTC is expected to cost something like 33 billion dollars according to a report coming out one Friday. Of course this comes at a time when the province is saying that it’s going to upload subways to...uh..the province, take them out of the hands of the TTC. What exactly would that mean? How are we going to pay for the things we need to pay for? The Mayor of Toronto is with me in studio now. Good morning.Mayor John Tory: Morning.Matt Galloway: Let’s start with what’s top of mind and that’s the weather. Extreme cold weather alert in effect. Minus 21, minus 34 with the wind chill. There are something like 7 or 8 thousand people in the city, who every night find themselves either homeless or in a situation where they are in a precarious state in terms of trying to find homes. When you think about them, on a night like we had last night, what goes through your mind?Mayor John Tory: Well, I didn’t have to think about them. I was out visiting two shelters last night – one about to open today, a new one for women on Davenport and one that’s historically been open for a long time on Dundas street. And...uh...you know...I come to realize the same things and we are working, so that people know Matt, every day on this, at the root of it, for many of the people that I sat and I talked to last night, ...uh...it is about mental health and it is about affordable housing. And if we can get at those two things – the first one of...the second one of which, affordable housing – we are making a major step forward on this week, then we are going to be able to relieve the pressure on the shelters together with some better solutions than we have today on refugees - asylum claimants. So I – I, m-my-m-my thoughts about them uhm y-know buttressed by my conversations last night are of immense sensitivity to the fact that these are people with significant issues in their lives, significant dislocation in their lives but my main concern has been to make sure there’s a place for them to go while we work on mental health and affordable housing and refugee uh settlement. Matt Galloway: I spoke with Nina Gorka who is the shelter coordinator for the YWCA. They are running that new women’s shelter on Davenport that..uh.. is set to open. I spoke with her last week. Have a listen on how she described the situation here in the city. Recording of Nina Gorka: “I think it’s tougher than ever – I don’t know if we’ve ever seen our shelters run at this type of capacity. We all know that the homeless list right now, the recent release that the street needs assessment that the city came out with, demonstrated almost 9 thousand people who are homeless or precariously housed. It’s..it’s a real crisis. Our city’s seeing a crisis when it comes to homelessness right now. Matt Galloway: This is kind of a yes or no question. Is the city facing a crisis when it comes to homelessness? Mayor John Tory: Y-y-y-you’ll always designate questions as yes or no. I have said before that the mental health situation is a crisis and if you address that properly – and I am going to be increasingly outspoken in my advocacy on that because it is not a job for the city to do by itself – the answer I’ve said on mental health is yes. Is the situation with respect to shelters and homelessness generally an urgent situation? Yes it is. Matt Galloway: But you know the value of calling something a crisis and those [Matt Galloway is interrupted by Mayor John Tory] Mayor John Tory: No! Actually, I don’t in a way, Matt. Because I mean, w-what – my calling something a crisis – I have advocated consistently, say on mental health for example, and I have advocated consistently on affordable housing and now we’re taking action, but I’m not sure my saying that it is a crisis, say with respect to affordable housing, is gonna move ahead the initiatives we are taking forward this week to the executive committee – the first act of the new administration – 3300 affordable housing units – by the way, people will say that it’s not enough, and I agree with them. It’s more than anybody else has done in one fell swoop in a long-long time – like we are talking decades here, and so I am determined to move forward with this and this-this project that is being brought forward to the executive committee is proof-positive of that and I’m determined to get more...uh..assistance and more partnership from the other governments because that is the one that is a crisis – where, last night I am telling you, I sat with person after person after person and I’d be exaggerating if I said everyone but close to every one of them said to me when I said “How do did you end up here, how can we help you?” They talked about mental health issues they have.Matt Galloway: Advocates will come to that Executive Committee meeting this week and they will ask that you declare a state of emergency when it comes to the homeless situation in the city. That state of emergency declaration would unlock funding from federal and provincial governments. Will you do that?Mayor John Tory: If I believed that it would actually do something to alleviate the situation that..uh..people find themselves in with respect to being homeless and being displaced, I would consider it, but I mean, my own examination of what that request, to declare a state of emergency..uh..would do is that it would simply perhaps spark a discussion about whether that’s a viable tool or not but wouldn't actually help. I think my time and my efforts are better spent on on strong advocacy to the other governments on supportive housing for mental health and on affordable housing and on getting on with doing things at the Executive Committee which they're coming to speak about like the housing first initiative that is going to provide thousands of new affordable housing units for the first time in a long time and instead of selling off our land, we are gonna use it for affordable housing so I think that’s how my time and effort are best devoted to this. Matt Galloway: Last week, the city handed out eviction notices - if I could put it that way - to people who are living in tents, makeshift camps, under the Gardiner Expressway. The concern from..uh..homeless advocates is that those people, if they’re moved from those areas, will head further underground. They’re not going to go into shelters, which are already full. They’re not going to go to respite centres which are at or above capacity. Where are those people going to go? Mayor John Tory: Well actually the history - this, first of all is a historic city council policy that existed before I was mayor - that in a humane way, what we do in the City of Toronto because we can’t just have encampments set up everywhere, is to go and give people notice - but the notice period isn’t meant to say “don’t worry in two weeks we’re coming take away your encampment,” it is to work with them during the two week period - city staff and others, to find housing for them, and one of the reasons why we don't hear about, on CBC, the encampments that are taken down, small ones even, even a single tent at a time is because there is no headline because you go and work with the people and you find a place for them to go which oftentimes is not shelter, it is some other kind of affordable housing [Matt Galloway interrupted with question]Matt Galloway: But we’ve been down to-to speak with the people who are in that encampment and talk to them about the situation that they’re in, why they’re there, the community that they’ve established, but also what they’re afraid of, in terms of going to somewhere like Seaton House. W-where are they going to go? If they’re, if they’re moved from that space?Mayor John Tory: Well they end up - uh - many of the people in pa- I’m talking about the past now...uh..in-in many uh different housing options, and I understand because I too have been out on the street with the Streets to Homes people listening to people who stay on the street and...and asking them a question - I’ve asked myself to them, “is there any place we can have you go that you’re going to feel comfortable and going in off the street?” because you don’t want them on days like today to be out on the street...and the answer is a variety of people go to a variety of different housing circumstances and if you said to me, “is it all entirely satisfactory because by definition some of it is temporary shelter housing as opposed to...uh..permanent housing?” - that’s why we’re doing the affordable housing because in the end, if we don't do thousands upon thousands of units way beyond - I mean the Housing First thing is just a first salvo in what is going to be a determined effort on my part to make sure we’ve done more than ever before so there is an answer and let’s face it some of those people too are people suffering from mental health and addiction problems and if we can have the kind of support on supportive housing from the province and the federal government, uh then there’d be a better place for them to go as well. But we can’t just let encampments..uh...sprout up all over the the city that’s that’s not uh an appropriate way to deal with this either. Matt Galloway: Just a last point on that before we go to other matters. Just...If people are setting up encampments in the city because the shelters are full, because respite centres are full, is that not the definition of a crisis? Mayor John Tory: Well Matt again I’m saying it’s a very urgent situation but you’re also assuming that the reason that they’re setting up those encampments is because the shelters are full. I’ve talked to them and so have your uh.. journalists, and perhaps yourself, and in fact in some cases that is the problem but in many other cases they don’t want to go to the shelters because they think they’re not the appropriate places for them if they have issues and you know what? They’re right. The shelters are not right for people who have mental illness. That’s the point I’m trying to make over and over again - is we just don’t have the option...and I believe by the way the city itself, by itself, and property tax payers, do not have and should not have the responsibility. It’s part of the healthcare system. It is wholly inadequately dealt with and that is a crisis and, and I’m going to be pressing very hard especially in election year to get commitments from the federal parties, because we have the opportunity now but it has to be joined by the provincial government, which runs the healthcare system, to say we have to do much better at this, much better. Matt Galloway: The Mayor’s with me in studio. We’re talking about a number of things. Let me just talk about transit for a few moments. This report that came out on Friday, a TTC report, says it’ll take 33 billion dollars to keep transit running as it exists today, as well as meet the increase in ridership over the next 15 years. Is that a good argument for uploading the subway, do you think? Mayor John Tory: Well it’s certainly something that’s going to come up in those discussions uh...and you know, my assessment of what’s a good argument for uploading will come when we’ve heard all the arguments and seen all the facts and figures uh and i’ve said that...and you know that we don't know what uploading means at the moment. Uh so we’ll hear what the offer is, as it were, as to how much of that, for example, would be looked after if you upload it and then what the downside to that is and that’s exactly the discussion that’s going on right now. Matt Galloway: Do you know what uploading means?Mayor John Tory: No!Matt Galloway: This is a question that we’ve been asking Jeff Yurek, the Minister of Transportation. He’s been on here a couple of times. I’ve asked him that question. Do you know what it means? Mayor John Tory: I’ve listened to each of the answers in response to the questions that you’ve asked and I hope you keep asking them. But look, I’m not being cynical about it. At the end of the day, the purpose of the discussions and the reason why I said as mayor, you know..backed up by the council, that we would go to the table and have those discussions, is that so we know what uploading means. What does it mean relative to this 33 billion? what does it mean vis-a-vis new construction of transit? And so forth and so on. And so...those discussions have….are underway. I will say they’re very constructive. I mean in the sense they’re business like and we’ll have an answer to that question, uh… you know, sometime down the road. Matt Galloway: Council voted overwhelmingly to keep control of the entire TTC…[Mayor John Tory says “Yup” while Galloway speaks] including the subways, does that matter?Mayor John Tory: Well sure it matters, but at the end of the day, I guess council will also have in front of it, at some point and time, exactly what we just talked about, which is to say, if you veered away from it being totally in the control of the city, on what terms would you, you know be proposed to do so and then council will have a decision to make about whether they think in fact, it’s possible that that deal is better for ultimately transit riders, transit employees, and taxpayers than the previous arrangement...the current arrangement. Matt Galloway: Aside from the definition, what is the key question that you want answered about uploading?Mayor John Tory: Well I think it’s really financial, in the sense that while it’s not all about money, in the end, the ability that you have to build transit, the ability that you have to..uh..maintain transit, the ability you have to expand transit, and to run transit properly, comes down to the availability of funds. And so, I think that’s gonna be key. But I think as well you have to look at what the impact is gonna be..and it’s a...it's a less calculable..uh thing...on the employees, on the riders, and so on..of it being owned somewhere else. So...so, it’s also very important to me that you have an integrated transit system that sort of runs...and people will make arguments now, of course, that we have a lot of problems, which we do with the transit, but I think it runs fairly well on a day-to-day basis and you want to make sure that’s gonna be maintained as well.Matt Galloway: Do you think that Toronto should be compensated? I mean people, tax payers...to use your phrase, umm..paid for the subway here, paid for the operation not just the building, but the operation of it. Should the city be compensated if, if the province is going to say “great, the subway is ours now”?Mayor John Tory: Well I th--...look, we were just talking about it before I came in here, I mean I think that we should be going back to the old days for all municipalities including Toronto where the province, or the other governments pick up a share of the operating expenses of the TTC regardless of who owns it...or operates it. I mean the fact is, that to rely on the fare box, and then some city taxpayer funding, which is all we have at the moment, um, is not a satisfactory arrangement - never was. I mean, Mr. Harris, you know, presented that to the city a number of years ago, and we’ve struggled a bit since. We have, during MY time as mayor, invested a record amount..each year and and I..I..I’m sure that’s gonna be the case next year..there’ll be..for this current year, the budget that’s coming in a week or so, uh we’ll be investing more in TTC and improved service but the bottom line is we need the help of those other governments to run the TTC. Matt Galloway: I guess people are concerned in part about this because they saw what happened when it came to the cuts for city council. Um..that the..you know that...council might have protested but the province did what the province did. We see this here. We now see it, it seems like, unfolding with Ontario Place, where there is great concern in this city about what’s going to happen with Ontario Place and the province puts out a note saying “we’re open for suggestions..” and some of the things that people hold near and dear...the pods at Ontario Place, the Cinesphere...which is just redeveloped and renovated and is now showing movies, could be up for..uh..demolition, and..uh..and, re-imagining. What should happen at Ontario Place? Mayor John Tory: Well, I wrote a whole report on it..Matt Galloway: I know! Mayor John Tory: ...as a private citizen..a volunteer. I volunteered to do it for the previous provincial government and I think it should focus on being a place of...I call it...I call it...Ontario and Toronto’s backyard..which means, a lot of park, a lot of recreational, cultural activities, and so on. I would like to see the present architecture preserved. I mean, I’m not absolutely religious on that, in the sense that they say..look it’s actually to the point...you know, sometimes, something is beyond repair as it were, uh, you know and I don’t know the facts on that. But I will say this..uhm and I know there will be people out there who will say, you know “be on your guard” and I am - in a certain sense..I’ve been assured by the premier personally, I have seen the processes that are unfolding with respect to both transit and with respect to Ontario Place, which seem to have a place for us to be involved umm...in.. in.. in in..in making sure the city’s point of view is represented...I do not think… you know...there should be a casino there under any circumstances.. Matt Galloway: Do you think there should be a mall down there?Mayor John Tory: No..A mall? No...a shopping mall?Matt Galloway: They’ve talked about retail...possibility for retail...Mayor John Tory: Well look..if it’s retail in the sense..that, you know in the days gone by of Ontario Place, that...that somebody my age would remember, there were little boutiques there. You could buy things and lots of restaurants. I’m not averse to that..because I think people have to eat and what-not, but if you said a mall in the sense that...that’s why I reacted with surprise, I hadn’t read that, but no...I don’t think it’s a proper place for a mall..Matt Galloway: Will the city...just finally...will the city put forward any ideas saying “This is what we want and we’re gonna f-f..” [Mayor Tory interrupted Matt Galloway]Mayor John Tory: You’ve seen me say that I, I wouldn’t be averse to doing that, because I have some ideas in mind, uh...that...myself, and I’m sure there are other people on the council and even on the city staff who have some ideas and so I think we should take the opportunity just in case the ideas we have or uh..you know the one that I have...I can’t...who could I blame except myself if I have an idea and I don’t put it forward for their considerations, so the answer is probably..uh...yes.Matt Galloway: It’s gonna be a big fight. Let’s see where it goes.Mayor John Tory: Well...uh...hold...you know what? It may be a big fight. It may also be just a big project that we do together. That is my hope - that we can do these things in a spirit of partnership and have people further ahead at the end of it and not have a big fight...but you might be right. We’ll see. Matt Galloway: We’ll leave it there.Mayor John Tory: We don’t need anymore fights.Matt Galloway: Well, we don’t. No. Mayor Tory thank you. John Tory is the Mayor of Toronto. Thoughts on what you’ve heard, we’d be happy to hear from you...