Results tagged “davidmiller”

On Monday, Torontoist spent the day at the Toronto Innovation Showcase at City Hall, learning about data sets, queues, and civic engagement. At the top of the agenda was the unveiling of toronto.ca/open, Toronto’s new open catalogue of city data, ranging from—as Mayor Miller explained in a press release on Monday morning—"apartment inspection data to child care availability to dozens of GIS mapping data that will enable a broad range of location-based applications. And yes," he added, "our initial data offering also includes the TTC’s scheduling data."

Creative Place and Spaces is an occasional conference (it was held once in 2003, once in 2005, and is being held again right now) that brings together an assortment of thinkers to discuss how creativity can help shape and improve our cities. In case you couldn't manage to make it out yourself, we thought we'd give you a bit of a play-by-play.

David Miller's announcement on September 25 that he would not seek re-election took many by surprise—including, no doubt, those at Toronto Life. With the big expanse of time between the time articles for the magazine are finalized and the time the completed publication is actually distributed (a delay typical of monthly magazines), the November issue is only now beginning to land in the mailboxes of subscribers. Somewhat awkwardly, it features a full-page look at how Miller stacks up against six possible competitors in the mayoralty race he took himself out of three weeks ago, complete with each one's odds of winning against Miller. And we quote: "A lot of people think David Miller stinks, and not just because of the 39-day garbage strike. But do any of the other likely candidates have what it takes to knock out Toronto's top dog?" The answer: yes, all of them. But only because he knocked himself out first.

One of the many interesting things about Twitter is its democratizing power. Everyone with an account has an identical ability to get in touch with any other user of the service. The amount of high-profile types using Twitter makes this flat communication structure an especially liberating thing. Wil Wheaton can talk to Levar Burton, but so can we, if we want to (though Mr. La Forge/Reading Rainbow might be more inclined to tweet back to his Enterprise crewmate than to Torontoist). But there's one particular thing that Twitter doesn't do very well, and this minor weakness has resulted, somewhat bizarrely, in the tangential involvement, in Toronto municipal politics, of a conservative family man from Utah.

While we here at Torontoist appreciate a bad pun as much as the next conglomerate of web writers collectively writing in the first person plural, said pun was unfortunately the high point of this weekend's internet commentary on David Miller's announcement that he would not run for a third term as mayor.

Among the progressive members of City Council, TTC Chair (and occasional Torontoist Rocket Talk contributor) Adam Giambrone is one of those most frequently cited as a potential mayoral successor to David Miller. In the aftermath of Miller's announcement this morning that he will not be running for re-election, we spoke with Giambrone about the mayor's statement, and about the speculation that has already begun to swirl about his own so-far hypothetical candidacy.

Politics stops for no man, and no retirement.

Earlier today, Torontoist co-hosted a live discussion with Globe columnist Marcus Gee. The topic? Mayor David Miller's announcement this morning that he will not be running for re-election. You can replay the discussion below.

It was, and it wasn't, a surprise.

David Miller will be issuing some kind of announcement about the 2010 municipal election at 10 a.m. this morning (Friday). Word that he would be doing so started to spread a few hours ago, though no official press release has yet been issued by City Hall.

Polls, it is important to remember, do not measure reality but perceptions thereof. The best we can hope to learn from a poll is what people think is going on, not what actually is. Last week, jaws dropped around the city as an Ipsos Reid poll, commissioned by Global TV, revealed that David Miller's approval rating had fallen to a new low of 29%. What this tells us is that our mayor is failing to impress, not that he is failing.

John Barber has been observing and commenting on City Hall for the Globe and Mail for thirteen years. Those with an interest in our municipal government will have noticed his recent absence from the paper's political pages, most acutely during the rather juicy, comment-worthy last few weeks.

Mesh, as "Canada’s web conference," is naturally tricked out with tech goodies—Microsoft made an appearance with the new Surface, for example. You’ll find podcasts and video streaming and Twitter feeds for the two-day conference, so that even if you didn’t attend you’d still have a good idea of what went on. Through live-blogs and Twitter, this year’s talks and panels were boiled down into a jambalaya of Coles Notes, quips, and talking points. With as many as four sessions going on simultaneously, participants could use the tech to catch up on the ones they missed. (We got into the fun by live-tweeting mesh, which you can check out here.) Mesh, started only in 2006, often catches the zeitgeist of the web scene, as one person noted. This year it became very clear that whether you Twitter or Facebook or instant message or blog, ich bin ein Computerfreak.

View Torontoist's 2010 Toronto map (1.9 MB .PDF)

According to the Globe, David Miller is about to launch a song contest with a $5,000 prize to find a track that can "pay homage to Toronto's amazing spirit and its unparalleled diversity," a song that "people here, across Canada and around the globe will recognize as Toronto's musical signature as we all move forward into the 21st century." And though the Globe says that it "sounds like that song might suck," before listing a few of the existing songs that could well be Toronto anthems (from "Spadina Bus" to "Ambulance Blues" to "I Get On (The TTC)"), and though we can't seem to find any mention of it on the city's website yet, darned if we don't think that it's a pretty great idea.

["TO in 6 Words" is pretty much exactly what it sounds like—Torontonians describing their city, in brief. Put together by Spotlight Toronto's Suresh Doss and Torontoist's own Jaime Woo, the video (above) features locals such as David Miller and Jamie Kennedy first introducing themselves, then naming their favourite part of the city, and then doing their best to sum up a city both too complex and too multiple to ever be summed up. Torontoist is very happy to debut the video here; Jaime's description of the project and its genesis follows below.—DAVID TOPPING]

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 this morning, Mayor David Miller and Budget Committee Chair Shelley Carroll reassured the public that no major service cuts were on the table and that many planned improvements (such as the Tower Renewal program, various environmental initiatives, and TTC upgrades) were going ahead as planned. Miller made a point of contextualizing the pressures the City faces, lambasting the federal government for failing to expand EI eligibility requirements, and reminding us that the hangover of Mike Harris's welfare offloading is being felt to this day.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty released the government's budget plan today, entitled "Canada's Economic Action Plan" (a.k.a. "Money Can't Buy Me Happiness, But Maybe Massive Deficits Will"). While the broad strokes of the budget were all leaked ahead of time—tax cuts, massive infrastructure spending, support for the unemployed, increased regulation of the financial industry, and an $85 billion deficit over five years—a few details from Flaherty's speech are of interest to Toronto. Specifically, the federal government plans to pump cash into the revitalization of Union Station and augment the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal rail corridor in order to reduce travel time between Toronto and Montreal by thirty minutes. There was, however, no mention of funding for the TTC's Transit City plan. Maybe this snub will finally lead to the cage match between Jim Flaherty and David Miller we've all been waiting for. Two GTA politicians enter, only one leaves!

David Miller is breaking the hearts of Toronto’s progressives. He genuinely appears to care as they do and to want what they do, yet at every turn he seems to let the measures they hope for slip between his fingers. This frustration was evident last night as Miller drew lukewarm reactions from a thousand person–strong crowd at Convocation Hall, there to attend a public lecture on the state of progressive urban politics.

Photo by Tom Podolec from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

This is the third in a three-part series exploring the effects of the global economic downturn on Toronto. Two weeks ago, economist Walid Hejazi gave an overview of what we're in for as the slowdown worsens. Last week, community activist John Campey explained how Toronto's most vulnerable residents might fare in the crisis. Today, the view from City Hall.

     

When TTC spokesperson (and esteemed Torontoist commenter) Brad Ross contacted YouTube superstars Syrus and Randal, they figured they were about to be hit with a cease and desist for their parody music video "I Get On (the TTC)." Turns out he just wanted to invite the pair to today's public TTC meeting at City Hall to honour them and give them free January metropasses.

Photo of Mayor David Miller by Sarah Marantz/Daily Dose.

Currently wrapping up: day one of a fascinating two-day conference at City Hall on Web 2.0 and the internet’s potential to revolutionize civic engagement. The entire thing is being streamed, and anyone interested in the issues should really just start watching. The summit features a broad array of speakers and panellists, ranging from directors of various city departments to prominent web developers and activists to councillors and citizens relaying their day-to-day experiences to the city's existing sites and interfaces.

In a 23-22 vote City Council just defeated a motion that would have declared the TTC an essential service. Essential service designation would have, if approved by the province, prevented TTC members from striking legally. The declaration was originally considered and rejected at a meeting of the Executive Committee under the leadership of Mayor Miller despite widespread public support for the measure. Councillors Jenkins, Palacio, and Thompson have been spearheading a campaign to overturn that decision, collecting signatures and publishing editorials to build support. The major argument in favour: the impact of a TTC strike is economically and socially unsustainable and outweighs the union's reasonable right to strike. The major argument against: declaring the TTC essential is cost-prohibitive (contracts for essential service employees tend to be higher than others); moreover, wildcat strikes and work-to-rule actions would still be possible and have occurred in other jurisdictions where transit services have been declared essential, rendering the designation substantially ineffectual. Both TTC management and the union leadership opposed the declaration, as did Councillors Giambrone and Mihevc, chair and vice-chair of the TTC, respectively. Council did pass motions asking that the province designate the Wheel-Trans division of the TTC essential, and require that the union give 48 hours notice of any strike action.

THEATRE: Back by popular demand, Monty Python's Spamalot is having a month-long return engagement at the Canon Theatre. The Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Spamalot follows King Arthur (played by the hilarious Gary Beach) and his knights on their quest for the Holy Grail. The show is a must-see for Monty Python fans, but will still be lots of fun for everyone else, even if they don't grasp the multitude of subtle Python references. Canon Theatre (244 Victoria Street), 8 p.m., $69–$175.

David Miller and David Cronenberg will be present today for the opening of Filmport, the new high-end film production facility that's ready to go just as Toronto's film industry collapses under the weight of a high-value loonie. On the bright side, if nobody wants to use Filmport, it can hold millions and millions of sport coats.

The federal government announced that it's going to give Ontario's 1,000 remaining tobacco farmers $300 million so the farmers can stop growing tobacco. The farmers are all very excited about being paid money to not farm tobacco, and plan to grow marijuana instead.

Photo by calix.

On Monday morning, Astral Media unveiled prototypes of its new line of "street furniture" at City Hall. On Wednesday, we took a look at the garbage bins. On Thursday, we looked at the advertising pillars. This morning, the transit shelters. (Be sure also to read Christopher Hume's review, which makes our less-than-kind assessments look like raves.)