Public Works chair Denzil Minnan-Wong testing the Sherbourne St. separated bike lanes (Toronto Sun file photo)
“The TTC has enough problems making the buses run on time and trying to run a capital program. They shouldn’t be buying new businesses that are just going to be sucking more money out of the system.”
- Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong on TTC chair Karen Stintz floating the idea of the transit authority riding to the rescue of the BIXI Toronto bike-share program (full story here).
“I know she’s in over her head.”
- Mayor Rob Ford talking about TTC chair Karen Stintz during his Newstalk 1010 radio show Sunday. Ford was fuming on the air Sunday over the push by Stintz and other councillors to debate what transit revenue tools to endorse at the next council meeting. Stintz called Ford’s leadership into question last week after his executive committee voted to put the debate over revenue tools off (story here).
But the mayor wasn’t the only one who was taking shots at Stintz Sunday:
“I don’t trust her as far as I can throw her.”
- Councillor Doug Ford on Stintz during Sunday’s Ford brothers’ radio show. Ford also complained about Stintz going to a New York Yankees game while she was on a taxpayer-funded trip to New York City last week.
“The mayor had an obligation to bring it to council for full debate. I don’t believe he showed leadership in this matter and I don’t believe he has a vision for transit and I don’t believe he has a vision for this city and I think that’s unfortunate.”
- TTC chair Karen Stintz reacting Wednesday to Mayor Rob Ford’s refusal to bring the transit revenue tools report to council ASAP (story here).
With language like that it sure sounds like she’s gearing up to run against Ford in 2014. So far, Stintz has been touted as a possible mayoral candidate but has yet to throw her hat in the ring.
But clearly the Fords – based on their language about Stintz in the recent past – are already expecting her to jump in the race (story here).
Stay tuned.
Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong took to Twitter Thursday to mark the one-year anniversary of the hiring of TTC CEO Andy Byford.
“Thanks to former Commissioners for making it happen!” Minnan-Wong tweeted. “Results show it was the best decision.”
What Minnan-Wong didn’t say was it is also the one-year anniversary of the sacking of former TTC Chief General Manager Gary Webster.
Webster was dumped by those loyal to Mayor Rob Ford on the TTC commission – led by Minnan-Wong. Byford emerged from the closed-door meeting as Webster’s replacement.
“It is just no way to run a railway,” TTC chair Karen Stintz said following the 5 to 4 vote. “We’ve just turned arguably what should be the least political board and commission into the most political board and commission. It’s really quite interesting to me.”
Sources told the Sun at the time the meeting where Webster was fired and Byford was promoted was chaotic – some councillors shouted and swore at times during the in camera debate.
In a classic case of every City Hall action has an equal and opposite reaction, Minnan-Wong and the commissioners that dumped Webster ended up losing their spots on the TTC.
A few weeks later, Stintz led a revolt at council sacking those TTC commissioners who dumped Webster and locking in her position as chair until 2014.
TTC chair Karen Stintz fired off a letter to TTC commissioners today in response to the ongoing controversy over the sole-source newsstand contract approved last week. Here’s Stintz’s letter:
Mayor Rob Ford and Councillor Doug Ford weren’t talking at all Sunday about two TTC buses dumping their riders to go pick up the Don Bosco Eagles – the high school football team the mayor coaches.
Both Fords were mum on the fact fare-paying TTC riders had to get off two buses Thursday so the vehicles could go pick up his high school football team at the request of Toronto Police (story here).
The TTC was talking. TTC officials issued a statement – just two hours after the Ford show ended – and released TTC CEO Andy Byford’s email to commissioners about the incident (blog post on that here).
As the Sun reported Friday, TTC commissioner and Councillor Peter Milczyn said he will be pushing police and the TTC for answers on why the order was given to ditch riders (story here).
The Fords could have come out on their Newstalk 1010 show in support of Milczyn’s call for answers. Mayor Ford could have made it clear whether or not he knew riders were losing their ride so his team could get a personal TTC bus back to their school and apologized to those who were inconvenienced. Mayor Ford could have also explained why he feels he needs to be at the field with his team instead of at City Hall.
But neither Mayor Ford or Councillor Ford addressed the issue Sunday.
Mayor Ford did acknowledge the undefeated Eagles have a playoff game this week against Senator O’Connor.
“Everyone and all the lefties try to give you hell but if you were going to a ballet class they wouldn’t mind it,” Councillor Ford said.
“People don’t realize how much you mentor these kids, how much you teach them, it is not about just the sport of football … it is about mentoring them, getting them involved in the community, getting them a great education and a secondary education in college.”
One caller, Mike from Toronto, did criticize Mayor Ford for leaving this week’s city council meeting to go to football.
“You say you’re fighting for transit yet you are missing the debate to coach a football game,” the caller told Ford.
Ford laughed off the call.
“Thank you very much, actually I didn’t miss the debate. I actually voted for subways and I made a passionate speech about subways,” he said. “But I do appreciate obviously, you get both sides of the coin.”
(Here’s the story on Ford’s speech at the end of the debate over the master agreement for Toronto’s four light rail lines)
The same caller also criticized the Fords for pushing ahead the removal of the Jarvis St. bike lanes.
Councillor Ford argued people that use Jarvis “overwhelmingly want the Jarvis bike lane gone.”
“It’s called listening to the taxpayers,” Mayor Ford added.
TTC CEO Andy Byford (Sun file photo)
The TTC issued a statement Sunday about Thursday’s incident where they ditched riders from two buses to go pick up Mayor Rob Ford’s football team (at the request of Toronto Police).
Here’s the TTC’s statement and below that TTC CEO Andy Byford’s email to commissioners sent Saturday:
TTC Statement
November 4, 2012
Last Thursday, November 1, the Toronto Transit Commission’s Transit Control Centre received a call from the Toronto Police Service requesting a shelter bus. The TTC took immediate action to accommodate the request, dispatching an in-service bus from the 36 Finch West bus route. The bus operator was having difficulty finding the location it was asked to attend. After further inquiries by police to the control centre about the whereabouts of the bus, staff dispatched a second bus, this one from the 46 Martin Grove route, also in service. Eventually, the 36 Finch West bus operator found the school and the 46 Martin Grove bus was returned to service.
At no time did TTC CEO Andy Byford order a second bus or give direction to TTC staff. And at no time were TTC frontline personnel aware of why a shelter bus was required, a request the TTC receives, on average twice a week, from police and Toronto Fire. Typically, the TTC tries to send shelter buses from a terminal location (subway station) or bus garage, minimizing the impact on customers. Given the urgency of the police request, operations personnel at the TTC made the decision to utilize buses from nearby routes to meet the request as quickly as possible.
Since this incident, a number of questions about the need for a shelter bus on this occasion have arisen, as well as the reasons why fare-paying customers were displaced from two in-service buses to accommodate the request.
Below is the text of an email sent by Mr. Byford to all TTC Commissioners on the morning of Nov. 3 in response to questions from them about this incident, including whether or not TTC policies and protocols should be changed and/or reviewed.
TTC staff will report to the Commission, and the public, once it determines whether its protocols need to change or if they require strengthening. The TTC will not be providing further comment on this matter until that time.
-30-
Commissioners,
I will dig out the policy and, if you would like, make a proposal to strengthen it.
(Legitimate) requests come in at any time, often at extreme times of the day. As such, operational staff are best placed to handle them. More senior (TTC staff) oversight/approval may be needed though.
The most unfortunate thing about this episode is the damage done to our reputation after more than a year of careful, painstaking steps to improve it. I am not happy about that and I am certainly not happy that fare paying customers were inconvenienced under these circumstances.
For the record: I had no idea that two buses were used nor that customers were inconvenienced.
Rest assured that I am following this up with TPS and the Mayor’s Office.
Regards
Andy
Andy Byford
Chief Executive Officer
TTC commissioners voted 4 to 3 Thursday to contract out more than 150 bus cleaning jobs (story here). The debate was fairly lengthy and emotionally charged – lots of people were throwing around the word “war.”
Here’s a sample of what was said during Thursday’s contracting out debate at the TTC meeting:
“We don’t outsource for the sake of it. We don’t. We outsource because we think we can get the same job done at a reduced cost and a higher quality.”
- TTC chair Karen Stintz speaking to her TTC colleagues before the vote.
“This is far from over. We may have lost the battle but we sure as hell won’t lose the war.”
- Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 president Bob Kinnear speaking to reporters after the vote.
“I will not turn my back on you. I will vote against this report.”
- TTC vice-chairman and Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker speaking to TTC workers before the vote.
“A lot of what has been said today is hyperbole.”
- TTC commissioner and Councillor John Parker before the vote.
“Who goes to bed and dreams up this Orwellian nightmare of Animal Farm where we eat each other in the barnyard where the weak are preyed on.”
- TTC commissioner and Councillor Maria Augimeri
“I ain’t on the gravy train people.”
- TTC cleaner Carmen Miller during her address to the TTC
“This is about making sure the TTC is as efficient as we can make it.”
- TTC commissioner and Councillor Peter Milczyn before the vote.
“Where’s the respect! Where’s the respect!”
- Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 workers as they left City Hall.
“You’re effectively declaring war on your own employees.”
- John Cartwright, president of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, speaking to the TTC before the vote.
Transit union president Bob Kinnear threatened Friday to launch a work-to-rule campaign over the TTC’s yet-to-be approved plans to contract out bus cleaning (story here).
If you listened hard enough Friday night I’m sure you could hear cheers of joy coming out of a weary mayor’s office.
Why?
Kinnear has just offered up an issue embattled Mayor Rob Ford, back from his Team Toronto trip to Chicago, can beat like a drum – just in time for his Sunday afternoon radio show.
Now this does assume Ford and his staff will have the good sense to take a whack at it.
Ford has a proven track record of talking tough when it comes to union leadership and – since the city is now locked into contracts with its outside workers, inside workers, cops and the transit union – it’s a file he hasn’t had a chance to weigh into in a while.
His promise of taking a hardline with the unions was a key plank of his 2010 campaign.
Kinnear’s threat of slowing TTC service to the bare minimum required by the contract is a softball pitch, sailing slowly this weekend right over home plate at a major league slugger. If Ford swings at this, he could knock it out of the park and once again be in the driver’s seat of his mayoralty rather than slinking from scandal to scandal and playing hide-and-go-seek with the media.
Whether or not he’ll swing remains to be seen.
He could spend his radio show continuing to take whacks at the media (I’m sure his brother, Councillor Doug Ford, would love to do that and likely will no matter what).
But if the mayor does step up to the plate (and the mic) he could stand up for TTC riders and urge the union to have its workers continue to offer the service they provide every day – and which they collect a taxpayer-funded cheque to do. Ford could also highlight the millions the city expects to save from contracting out cleaners – savings that will help keep fares low for riders, preserve service and reduce the transit subsidy burden on taxpayers. And Ford could challenge Kinnear. He could invite the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 president to sit down with the TTC leadership and find a way to offer the service cheaper in-house rather than find ways to make life harder for the transit riders the union (in their new ad campaign) claims to serve.
We’ll find out if Ford will step up to the plate Sunday at 1 p.m.
Hopefully, for the sake of his political career, he doesn’t strike out on this one.
Don Peat is the City Hall bureau chief for the Toronto Sun. He covers municipal affairs at Toronto City Hall, a beat that has him writing about everything from garbage to transit to taxes to multimillion-dollar spending scandals.
Follow @reporterdonpeat
