The mayor of Toronto is an international embarrassment

No, his first name does not begin with “R” and his last name is not the same as a major American automobile manufacturer. And he does not smoke crack. It is Toronto’s new mayor, John Tory who was elected last November. On Friday, the 2015 Pan Am Games (or as its critics fondly refer to it, the “Pan Scam” Games) began in Toronto, a city whose elite like to refer to as “world class.”

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Ticket sales have not gone well. A few days before the opening ceremonies, only about 800,000 tickets out of 1.4 million had been sold, even though they had been deeply discounted, especially on July 1, Canada Day. There is very little interest in these games. Since Tory is one of these people who thinks the universe or at least the city revolves around him, he lashed out at the unwashed masses who simply were not interested in the games. He criticized his lowly subjects by telling CBC what a bunch of whiners Torontonians are. Tory said, “I think the only game we're not playing at the Pan Am Games is moaning and groaning and Toronto on a regular basis would be qualifying for a gold medal in that.” On a positive note, at least the mayor who lied during the campaign about such things as privatizing garbage in the east end of the city, was being honest and said what he really feels about the inferior residents of the city he was elected to lead. Tory’s statements were duly reported by the New York Times that, love it or hate it, is still considered to be the newspaper of record in the United States. In a column written by Ian Austen and published on Thursday, the writer points out some but not all the reasons why a lot of Toronto residents are less than enthusiastic about the games. The provincial Liberal government, in office since 2003, is known for wasting the taxpayers’ money on such things as relocating two gas plants to save a couple of party seats in an election and its uncontrolled spending and increases in among other things, taxes and hydro rates. They have no regard for lower income people who have a choice paying for food or hydro. So it was no surprise the event came in way over budget. The cost of the games, originally estimated to be $1.4 billion is now expected to be at least $2.5 billion. These costs include $10.6 million paid to other countries to finance their athletes travel to Toronto.

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If going over budget wasn’t bad enough, the officials of the games, mostly Liberal Party insiders, were paid tremendous salaries plus bonuses before the games even started. What angered people more was the fact some of them expensed everything including times costing less than a dollar as well as downed scrumptious meals and drank liquor all at the expense of the taxpayers Tory looks down on. Another thing that angered the mayor’s moaners and groaners are the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes in and around the city. Put into force a week before the Pan Am Games was scheduled to start, permanent HOV lanes were extended and eligibility to drive legally in those lanes was increased from two to three persons. Of course, Pan Scam athletes and officials can also use these lanes. Toronto and especially the province outside the city, were quick to deploy police to catch offenders driving illegally in the HOV lanes. Local TV stations were flooded with images of OPP officers that have been bought and paid for by the governing Liberals assisting their friendly premier in what was nothing more than a cash grab. Those convicted of misusing the HOV lanes will not only be fined $110 but it will cost them three demerit points that will affect their insurance rates. The province and the city have been lecturing residents about how they should car pool or take public transit that is efficient except when the subway breaks down. People have legitimate rights to be angry, especially at the tone of these “lectures.” A humorous statement made by Austen in his column was that Tory is a Conservative. The word was capitalized and so is technically correct but if the mayor was any closer to the Liberal premier he would have to self-identify as a lesbian. The left in Toronto has a war on the car and it is only a matter of time before the idea of extending these new HOV lanes permanently is floated. Wynne will go for it while Tory will complain about gridlock. A likely scenario is that Wynne will want a three-people minimum for these new lanes, Tory will get her agree with two or more people in the car and then will assemble his loving media to a press conference where he will say what a good boy he is for allowing vehicles with only two persons to use these lanes. Gridlock, especially during the summer months, is bad enough with construction, major road closures for marathons, other events and ethnic festivals and with parts of the subway system closed for maintenance without the added inconvenience of a third class sporting event making getting around much worse. Taxpayers have a right to complain about how they are treated without the arrogant mayor writing their legitimate complaints off as “moaning and groaning.” The reason former mayor Rob Ford gained international notoriety can be summed up in two words—substance abuse. But Tory is a nasty little man who could not care less about the problems encountered by his constituents. It was nice a publication such as the New York Times noticed.

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