politics John Tory’s Verbose, Exasperated, and Nonsensical Stance on TTC Cuts

The mayor's confusing transit rhetoric continues.

John Tory rode a TTC “hot car” today, one of the 20 to 25 per cent of subway cars on the Bloor Line that do not have operating air conditioning.

He is angry that this problem persists and has put a lot of his political capital into transit, but he would also like the TTC to cut their budget by 2.6 per cent, which, when taking projected cost pressures into account, amounts to a 12.4 per cent reduction by one calculation. Okay then.

In the words of one-time political candidate Bob Terwilliger, is the mayor coming or going?

The Toronto Star‘s Ben Spurr tried to find out in a presser after today’s publicity event, and you can judge the results for yourself.



Just a month ago the mayor flatly stated that if the TTC refused to meet his 2.6 per cent budget cut without decreasing service, he would bring in outside consultants who would do it for them.

TTC management said they could not recommend cutting the full amount because doing so would adversely impact service. If the mayor would like to send in a task force to double-check, he was welcome to do so.

A few weeks later the mayor was quick to criticize the lack of air conditioning on subway cars, even as he pressures the TTC to provide cuts that they do not feel meet the City’s policy goals for transit.

So, how does he reconcile these two arguments? This transcript from the Star‘s transit reporter, Ben Spurr, provides the details.

Last month Tory threatened to bring in a task force to cut the TTC’s budget. Here’s what he said today. pic.twitter.com/fn1fPf1CTI — Ben Spurr (@BenSpurr) September 7, 2016

John Tory is clearly exasperated as he says, “I don’t know how many times I need to explain myself,” even though he seems to have softened his language since a month ago and doesn’t give a direct answer. His frustration should not lie with reporters reasonably asking for clarification but with his own lacklustre answer.

Beyond a desire to appease all stakeholders, it is difficult to discern any particular vision or priority in the mayor’s meandering response. He would like to lower the budget while improving service—the holy grail of management—but arbitrary edicts do not make it so. In fact, the goals are more difficult to achieve when taking a confrontational approach with the management best placed to deliver on his priorities, nebulous as they may be.

Is the mayor coming or going? The answer is yes.

In the meantime, transit riders can try to make sense of the mayor’s rhetoric.