Torontoist » budget

Newsstand: April 30, 2012

Morning. You'd be wise to escort yourself on a whirlwind tour of the city today, 'cause your April Metro Pass is about to expire. While you contemplate that, some news: Rob Ford is working on a three-year budget plan and looking, as he's wont to do, to the upcoming election; staff will explore bedbugs in a time of no-funding at today's Board of Health meeting; vendors and customers get riled up over the reassignment of long-time St. Lawrence Market manager; and Toronto's top doctor wants to take it slow.

In recent weeks, Mayor Rob Ford seems to have shifted his apparent mantra slightly, from the ever-popular “When in doubt, make noise about subways,” (that one was pretty cute), to “When in doubt, make noise about the upcoming 2014 election.” Similar, right? But subtle. It turns out he has been drafting a “budget guidance” letter [...]

Newsstand: April 27, 2012

Happy Friday to you all. And remember, there's nothing shameful about a nap, as long as it's capped at three hours. Okay: Mike Del Grande wants to put hefty city staff salaries on ice; the mushy middle turn mighty, and have a meeting; James Pasternak proposes a North York Relief Line; and Queensway sex store gets under some people's skin.

Toronto budget committee chair Mike Del Grande (Ward 39, Scarborough-Agincourt) may get some dirty looks at the proverbial water cooler today, though from who and how many, it’s hard to say. In the spirit of fat-trimming, Del Grande says that at today’s budget committee meeting he’ll propose freezing pay levels for all City staff earning [...]

Firefighters Are Not Gravy!

Toronto firefighters' union takes to YouTube to assert their necessity.

In anticipation of next year’s city budget negotiations, Toronto Professional Fire Fighters Local 3888 put up a YouTube video Tuesday to remind the public that their positions are essential. Backed by an urgent orchestral soundtrack reminiscent of a cinematic battle scene, the video presents a photo montage of Toronto Fire Services (TFS) crew members in [...]

Queen’s Park Watch: New Budget Woes, Coming Soon To a Provincial Program Near You

The ongoing world economic crisis means it sucks to be Ontario's finance minister. What can he do to keep the province from stalling out?

Poor Dwight Duncan. Only a couple of weeks into his reassignment as Ontario finance minister, and already the wheels are starting to come off. Remember last month when the Big Three political parties were fighting for the premier’s golden nameplate in an election that they would all eventually lose? When the campaign started, things were [...]

Toronto’s Budget Survey Deeply Flawed

Photo by Georgie_grrl from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. Since long before he was elected mayor, Rob Ford has championed the idea that Toronto was spending its way towards fiscal disaster. Believe that or not (and many don’t), Ford swept into office on a wave of anti-gravy promises, so it’s no surprise that he’s launched a [...]

Glad Hand 64: Suck Hunt

Glad Hand is Torontoist’s political cartoon, created by Brett Lamb and appearing here every Friday.

A Longer Walk to the Bus

Earlier this month, the TTC announced two main strategies to meet Mayor Rob Ford’s budget targets. The first, a ten-cent fare hike, was hastily averted with last-minute creative accounting. The second proposal, to cut back on routes in periods of lower ridership, remains on the table after being deferred to February’s Commission meeting. The public [...]

Glad Hand: Budget Weak

Glad Hand is Torontoist’s political cartoon, created by Brett Lamb and appearing here every Friday.

Glad Hand: Budget, Budget, Whatcha Gonna Do?

Glad Hand is Torontoist’s political cartoon, created by Brett Lamb and appearing here every Friday.

Shelley Carroll Doles Out Hard Truths

Shelley Carroll speaking at the Board of Trade. Photo by Hamutal Dotan/Torontoist. In a breakfast speech delivered at the Board of Trade this morning, budget chief, city councillor, and prospective mayoral candidate Shelley Carroll (Ward 33, Don Valley East) did not pull her punches. Her bottom-line message: there are no easy fixes for Toronto’s financial [...]

Two-Part Harmony

The Hon. Dwight Duncan, Minister of Finance, has just wrapped up Ontario’s 2009-2010 budget announcement at Queen’s Park. Surprising nobody, the theme of his speech was the need to address Ontario’s declining economy: Duncan began by saying that “our province is in the middle of a global economic and financial storm… we have seen a [...]

The Tax Man Cometh

Your tax dollars at work. Today is budget day at City Hall, and the mood is grim but determined. In the face of rising unemployment, swelling welfare rolls, and glum economic forecasts, the rock of weakening revenue and the hard place of increasing social service costs are squeezing the City hard. In a press conference [...]