Tag Archives: Rob Ford

Debriefing Toronto’s Municipal Election

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By James Cullingham (@JamesCullingham) Darkness has lifted over Toronto. While that might be temporary, it does not make that arrangement any less welcome. With the election of Mayor elect John Tory Toronto is no longer led by a man who is frequently described as addicted, angry, and insulting. To the best of our knowledge, John Tory carries no such labels. So…we have… Read more »

Cold Comfort: Firewood, Ice Storms, and Hypothermia in Canada

By Josh MacFadyen The following piece was recently originally posted on The Otter ~ La Loutre Many Canadians had a brush with homelessness, or at least heat-lessness, over the holidays. Over half a million customers across Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick spent Christmas in the cold and dark, and ten days after the 2013 ice storm homes were still coming… Read more »

Municipal Conflicts of Interest in Canada, Old and New

ActiveHistory.ca is on a two-week hiatus, but we’ll be back with new content in early September. During the hiatus, we’re featuring some of our favourite and most popular blog posts from this site over the past year. Thanks as always to our writers and readers! The following post was originally featured on December 4 2012. By Daniel Ross He was… Read more »

Municipal Conflicts of Interest in Canada, Old and New

By Daniel Ross He was a controversial mayor from the start. An unabashed populist, he rallied support during his campaigns by promising to cut taxes and reduce waste at city hall. As a result, he won an impressive share of the popular vote. He never denied having links to the city’s business and development community—he ran a successful business himself—and… Read more »

From Andrew Carnegie to Margaret Atwood: Toronto’s “Unelected” Champions of Public Libraries.

Toronto city councillor Doug Ford, brother of city mayor Rob Ford, recently ignited public controversy over potential cuts to the city’s public library services when he claimed not to know much about author Margaret Atwood, who had spoken out against possible cuts to services and closures of library branches. Councillor Ford’s insistence that Atwood “get democratically elected” so that she… Read more »

Looking Back on Pride

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By Mathieu Brûlé The relationship between the City of Toronto and the city’s queer communities has been a popular topic of discussion in Toronto over the past few weeks. Prompted by Mayor Rob Ford’s decision to forego Pride Week’s festivities in exchange for time at his family cottage, many, critics and supporters alike, have expressed disappointment in the mayor’s decision to… Read more »

The “War on the Car” has a long history

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Last week, newly-elected Toronto Mayor Rob Ford continued his campaign rhetoric by proclaiming that “the war on the car is over.” On the first day of his mayoralty, Ford announced he intends to halt construction of a light rail transit line on Sheppard Avenue.  The mayor says a subway under Sheppard Avenue should be built instead of the surface light… Read more »