ArchiveJune 2013

By: Matt Elliott Metro, Metro Published on Thu Jun 27 2013 After I published a post last week imploring Toronto real estate agents to get over their obsession with the city's five-year-old land transfer tax, I heard from a bunch of people who agreed. Some of them even work in real estate. They get that cutting $340 million out of the city budget necessarily means negative consequences...

By: Matt Elliott Metro, Metro Canada Published on Wed Jun 26 2013 Pop quiz. Which of these statements more accurately describes the state of Toronto's finances? 1. The City of Toronto boasts a bloated budget, rife with lingering mismanagement and piles of waste. Toronto residents are overtaxed to prop up a bureaucracy that could be run far more efficiently. 2. The City of Toronto struggles...

By: Metro Toronto Published on Mon Jun 24 2013 TTC CEO Andy Byford came forward with a big, radical idea last week. And Toronto, I’ve decided, is a city that needs big, radical ideas. In this town, we need to at least be open to trying stuff. Byford’s plan — also endorsed by TTC chair Karen Stintz — is to explore improving travel times on the transit agency’s busiest surface route by closing...

By: Matt Elliott Metro, Metro Published on Tue Jun 18 2013 Last Friday, Mayor Rob Ford paid a visit to the Toronto Real Estate Board. There to rattle off a speech that included his standard budget talking points, the beleaguered mayor received a standing ovation after promising — once again — to work on eliminating Toronto's municipal land transfer tax. That's all it takes...

By: Matt Elliott Metro, Metro Published on Fri Jun 14 2013 Let's compare and contrast. On Friday, May 31, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford called reporters to a press conference. He was (and is) dealing with a serious scandal regarding allegations of drug use, so reporters doggedly followed, hoping the embattled mayor would maybe answer some questions on that subject. He didn't, though —...