Rob Ford (open Rob Ford's policard) has mercifully disappeared back into the wilds of Etobicoke, but his legacy of fear and loathing lives on.

The most disturbing example is the transit debate; it was problematic before Ford was elected mayor in 2010, but by the time he was done, it was a disaster and now, a serious threat to the future prosperity of the city.

Not even the advent of John Tory (open John Tory's policard) has helped improve things. If anything, we’re locked into another series of promises and proposals whose ultimate justification will be political, not practical.

After Tory’s victory last October, he and Premier Kathleen Wynne had a unique opportunity to clear the slate and move beyond the craziness of Ford’s regime once and for all. But they failed to take advantage of the moment and have made a bad situation worse. The occasion for change and boldness has come and gone.

The Scarborough subway, dismissed by every transit expert this side of Atlantic — and a few on the other — is a prime example. For any number of reasons — high cost, low demand — the Scarborough scheme makes no sense. If constructed, it would be an act of civic folly so egregious it would make the Sheppard line look thoughtful. Already, the city and province have wasted too much time and money on a scheme utterly hare-brained and unworthy of attention.

But the past four years left politicians in these parts unable to think straight. Terrified of Ford Nation, they would rather continue the fantasy than do the right thing and kill a subway that will be a drain on the city for decades and decades to come.

As recently as last week, a new study revealed that Tory’s answer to the sheer enormity of the cost — tax increment financing, or borrowing against future increase in land values — doesn’t stand a chance in these low-density suburbs, where main streets are back-lotted wastelands and chances of redevelopment extremely limited.

Instead, he reduced taxes by keeping the increase below the rate of inflation. Political paranoia has so unnerved current leaders that they are unable to make the choices they must.

Already Tory has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid the wrath of Ford Nation. He picked up pretty much exactly where his predecessor left off, reappointing many of the same right-wing mouth-breathers who sat on Ford’s executive committee.

Last week, Tory even travelled to Austin, Texas, to take in the South by Southwest festival. It was a wholly uncharacteristic move that surely wouldn’t have happened had Ford not travelled there last year.

It’s time Tory put the spectre of Rob Ford behind him once and for all and started to act like a mayor who cares about Toronto, not one who’s scared of it.

It’s time, also, that Wynne’s Liberals started to think about more than getting votes. Wynne has the potential to be the best premier for urban Ontario since Bill Davis, but she can’t do that until she exorcises the ghost of Rob Ford.

Given Toronto’s refusal to deal with transit, the province must fill the leadership vacuum. That, too, strikes fear into the hearts of leaders, Wynne included.

Another aspect of Ford’s poisonous legacy is the unprecedented level of contempt for the public sector in all its forms. This is not Ford’s contribution alone, but certainly he did his bit to bring government into disrepute.

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These governments are their own worst enemies, but Ford turned self-doubt into self-hatred. All cities are divided, but Toronto has put politicians in a position where they’re damned if they do, damned if they don’t. In this city, winners are losers, and the losers are us.