Archive for the ‘Scarborough’ Category
Will Paul Ainslie Run for City Council in Ward 44?
Today was the first day for municipal candidates to make it official and file their intention to seek public office as a Mayoral, Council or School Trustee candidate. So far no candidates have filed to run in my home ward, Ward 43.
Councillor Ainslie currently ‘represents’ (a term I am using lightly here based on his record) Ward 43 – a community he does not live in. He was elected with an underwhelming 39% of the vote in November 2006, meaning 61% of voters had the right idea last time around.
This isn’t the first ward Paul Ainslie has represented and not lived in. You see in January 2006 Paul Ainslie was appointed to Toronto City Council in a 5-4 vote of Scarborough Community Council (that resulted in an investigation by the integrity commissioner into his former boss and one of his five votes – David Soknacki) to represent Ward 41 – another community Paul Ainslie doesn’t live in.
When his nomination went to City Hall for approval, Paul Ainslie gave a speech. After promising to be ‘fair and honest’ he went on to say:
“In the last month I’ve made a number of different commitments if appointed to this position, I will not run in Ward 41 or any other ward in the city.”
If by different he meant ‘bald faced lie’ as Eye Weekly described it he was correct.
In true Paul Ainslie tradition he went on to lie about the lie when I called him on it through the media. He claimed he promised not to run against incumbents, or that he wouldn’t run in Ward 41 – this was after saying he didn’t say anything to this effect at all.
Here is a video showing what he says. After watching him lie repeatedly for six weeks, I went to City Hall, bought the video of that day at Council and a very talented member of the campaign team put the following together for distribution to the media. His response to the video was he was nervous and didn’t mean to say it – but he’s reading.
If you’re going to run for public office, know yourself better than your opponents – and generally speaking lying never works and is wrong, so don’t do it. In fact when Councillor Ainslie wrote provable lies to me in a private email six weeks ago, I offered him this very advice. I told him that making statements that are provably untrue hurts his credibility and therefore the ability of him to represent my community as people can’t trust him if he can’t stick to the truth.
His term as Ward 41’s representative saw him fight to have the pictures of the former Scarborough Mayors placed in the former City Council chamber, trying to get a bi-law regarding aged or tattered Canadian flags. His most bizarre vote was against a pay increase that passed 23-20, then only to change his vote in favour, making the vote 24-19, which was promptly followed by his former boss David Soknacki changing his vote in favour to against, making it 23-20 again.
Currently Paul Ainslie holds the office of Ward 43 – as I previously stated a community he does not and has not lived in at all during the 2006 election or the term. He does not represent the views of residents, or their best interest and continues to lie about his involvement or lack there of – to paper over his failings.
Paul Ainslie lives in Ward 44 – where he has for years and is raising his family. Considering he is about as attached to Ward 43 as he was to Ward 41 – it only seems reasonable that the failed ‘representative’ would once again find a new community to play City Councillor in – as nominations open.
I will tell you this much – his chances are far better where he lives, than in Ward 43 or Ward 41 as I imagine with these residents and Paul Ainslie the old saying ‘fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me’ is in full play and many residents are lined up and ready to fight to ensure this so-called Councillor, elected on a lie, and publishing lies in hopes of being re-elected doesn’t get that chance again. Maybe that’s why he flipped from Ward 41 in the first place.
He already has lawn signs that say ‘return’ a phrase he chose instead of ‘elect’ like everyone else who ran and had never been elected before and he wisely did not put a ward number on them – making them fully re-useable this time around in his home Ward.
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My Letter Regarding Scarborough’s Place in Toronto Published by Eye Weekly
Whenever downtown heavy publications write about Scarborough I have to say I often read anticipating unfair commentary based on outdated, generalizations about Scarborough. When Eye Weekly published a piece ‘Toronto’s Eastern Skyline’ they were surprisingly kind, but being as proud to be from Scarborough as I am, I felt the need to write a letter to the editor to share why Scarborough is still the great hope of Toronto, which they published on the 22nd of December.
SCARBOROUGH FARE
Re “Toronto’s Eastern Skyline,” Psychogeography, Dec. 10: Much of the hope for Toronto still comes out of Scarborough’s success. Scarborough has led all of the city’s new waste-diversion initiatives, from the original blue boxes to the new garbage bins. We have the highest rate of waste diversion in the city. The urban planners that drew up Scarborough left more parkland per capita for residents, including many forested areas, than anywhere else in Toronto. Library-book circulation per capita is highest in Scarborough as well.
Amalgamation has changed Scarborough, but the memories and pride of what was once a city unto itself live on in the hearts and memories of many residents. The promise of Scarborough is alive in the hearts of her passionate residents who are ready to do their part to make our city the best part of Toronto. »
JOHN LAFORET
4 Comments »Groundbreaking on Sheppard East LRT a Good Day for Scarborough
I have to say – I really like the Transit City proposal. I am hopeful the City, Province and Federal Government will come up with a way to fund it because it will have a profoundly positive impact on my community – and especially a number of low income communities that will be serviced with fast and frequent public transit.
The Scarborough Malvern and Sheppard East lines present a real opportunity to revitalize hurting communities that will see better transit service and easier access to Toronto employment zones. As someone who lives just west of Morningside and is currently working along Sheppard Avenue East I can tell you this morning during my one hour commute – taking the 116 Morningside to Sheppard, and the 85 Sheppard to Don Mills Subway and then the Sheppard Subway to my stop – having the Scarborough Malvern Line running up Morningside to Sheppard and the Sheppard Line to Don Mills would significantly cut this trip down.
Many lower income communities rely on service from the bus lines that will be replaced by these two LRTs and the ability to access employment in a more timely manner is someone no one should forget when determining the value of these projects. What’s more – public transit infrastructure encourages intensification along the new lines. This serves two purposes which are in the interest of everyone. 1) Higher density developments near transit lines encourage public transit use, which takes cars off the road. That leads to less congestion which is good for the environment and the economy. With how close Sheppard is to the 401 and considering they run mostly parallel – this is particularly good news considering the LRT will make connecting to downtown from the North and East parts of Scarborough easier.
I am happy to see the Sheppard East LRT is set to open in 2013 and look forward to the Scarborough Malvern line opening in 2015. My support for the Scarborough Malvern Line may be the only reason I bite my tongue on the total waste that is the 2015 Pan Am Games as my community will see an immense benefit from this infrastructure announcement, over the opposition of our local Councillor, who thankfully is being ignored by his colleagues in his bizarre opposition to this project.
While I strongly advocated for a Scarborough Subway as did many residents in 2006 when the idea had the support of all City Councillors in Scarborough and our five MPPs – seeing the proposed routes of the LRT lines I am confident that while a Subway would be a form of symbolic equity with the rest of the City, Scarborough will be best served by LRTs which meet the anticipated capacity requirements for Scarborough’s population better. It also has a price tag that may actually prove affordable.
I look forward to the day I can transfer trains at Kennedy Station to come home, instead of hopping on the 116 Morningside bus. Today that came closer to reality with a shovel going into the ground, committing the TTC to building Transit City – something all residents and politicians in Toronto need to get behind. Our next Council, to be elected this coming October will need to continue to find funding for these lines – something I sincerely hope they do and residents across Toronto pressure them to.
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