Rob Ford weighs in on transit. Ottawa's transit.

 Toronto's new mayor is fond of pointing out that he was elected Oct. 25 with a strong mandate. The Rob Ford juggernaut shows no signs of slowing, what with his triple-play at council last week -- car registration tax scrapped, councillors' budgets cut and TTC essential service requested. Bam! indeed.

But can mere city boundaries contain Ford's bulging political biceps? Maybe not. The Ottawa Sun called Toronto's mayor and asked if the capital should ask the province to make OC Transpo an essential service. It's not a bad question, given that most Torontonians would have trouble recalling the last transit strike while Ottawans only too-well remember their 53-day transit strike two years ago.

When asked if the City of Ottawa should follow his lead, Mayor Ford said: “They should do the same thing. It’s definitely an issue. We had 13 strikes in Toronto and it cost us $50 million a day.”

The real test of Ford's political powers? Let's see if bus-dominated OC Transpo starts talking subways.

 

Comments

[Rob]

The Province does not regulate labour relations at OC Transpo because it operates in Ontario and Quebec.

[Mark Kahansky]

C'mon Rob. What math are you using to calculate the economic value of a work stoppage. Did a work stoppage twenty years ago have the same impact as two years ago? Stop the hyperbole. Get your facts straight or stop making outlandish comments that only serve to incite a lemming-like reaction among those foolish enough to vote for you. Let's hope the good citizens in Ottawa look beyond the bluster and react using cold, hard logic before taking the leap into the unknown.

[Voter]

Yeah Rob - it probably cost way more than $50 million a day in lost productivity but the lefties have no idea what it takes for business and industry to earn profit. They just think the world revolves around the unionized contracts which are gold plated while the rest of us sweat and toil to pay the taxes to honour their contracts. Go Rob Go!