I am wondering whose “lived experience” Mark McQueen is talking about when he claims Mayor Olivia Chow is “disconnected.”
uncertain
Chow → wonder → experience
Here’s a different take on “a glimpse of her priorities”
asserted
take → ’ → priorities
: she has put more emergency service and crisis workers on the street; under her leadership, most homeless encampments have been removed from parks; Chow has reduced wait-times for 911 call responses by 90 per cent; she has doubled funding to prevent basement flooding; she launched and expanded the Air Conditioner Assistance Program for renters; she has cracked down on slumlords and helped tenants via the RentSafe program; she is overseeing the creation of 15,000 new affordable homes; she has fought for and secured record investments from other levels of government; and Toronto’s credit rating is going up for the first time in decades.
asserted
rating → put → decades
I believe in Chow’s positive priorities.
asserted
I → believe → priorities
Valerie Endicott, Toronto
Chow has our city headed in the right direction.
asserted
city → have → direction
Three years ago, Torontonians voted for her knowing a rise in taxes was coming and understanding that it would follow years of keeping tax increases below the rate of inflation.
asserted
it → vote → inflation
We had to catch up.
asserted
We → have → ?
We still have a tax rate lower than most of the GTA.
asserted
We → have → GTA
Under former mayor John Tory, programs and services suffered for lack of funds.
asserted
programs → suffer → funds
Chow has used increased revenues to improve city services, including public transit.
asserted
Chow → use → transit
She has taken the initiative on affordable housing, school nutrition and public libraries, not to mention youth and family supports.
asserted
She → take → housing
Families that are just getting by need these programs, and young people need a path away from guns and gangs.
asserted
people → get → guns
More police officers could never achieve what these programs will.
uncertain
programs → achieve → what
You get what you pay for — and I want to pay for the services our city needs.
asserted
city → get → services
We need a mayor who will invest in Toronto’s quality of life.
asserted
who → need → life
Doing so will pay off in increased safety for everyone.
asserted
Doing → do → everyone
The recent mayoral race in Mississauga, Ont., resulted in one victory speech and two concession speeches.
asserted
race → result → speech
Crombie was gracious and generous in her comments and congratulated the winner, Alvin Tedjo.
asserted
Crombie → congratulate → winner
Parrish, however, was unforgiving in her assessment of the public’s choice and appeared to blame her loss on the voters’ inability to understand all the good things she had accomplished as mayor.
asserted
she → appear → mayor
Parrish should put more trust in the public’s judgment.
asserted
Parrish → put → judgment
The same public that elected her four years ago was also entitled to choose someone else this election.
asserted
that → elect → someone
One reads of the “anger and malaise shared by disadvantaged high schoolers” and wonders if this sort of protest could happen here.
uncertain
sort → read → protest
Cuts to OSAP, schools in a state of disrepair, a lack of resources, crowded classroom, violence against staff — are these harbingers of things to come?
asserted
Cuts → come → things
The Progressive Conservatives’ lack of funding to education, from kindergartens to universities and colleges, will only increase students’ frustration and despair, limiting their chances of attaining higher education and adequate employment.
asserted
lack → increase → education
What’s happening in France — especially state violence perpetrated against teenagers — is disturbing and tragic.
asserted
happening → happen → teenagers
Helping students succeed should be a government priority.
asserted
students → help → ?
As the author says, if we want a better city, we will have to pay for it.
asserted
we → say → it
Yet I believe that covers only half of the story.
asserted
that → believe → story
Everything the author writes about Toronto’s limited financial resources is true, from a totally Toronto-centric perspective.
asserted
author → write → perspective
But when we broaden our view and search for government waste and mismanagement at the federal level, we see a gold mine of tax savings that could be reallocated to municipalities.
uncertain
that → broaden → municipalities
I used to work for the federal government, and I saw lots of waste, duplication and self-serving management.
asserted
I → use → waste
I would wager that many departmental budgets could be cut in half — yet we would suffer no decline in public services.
uncertain
we → wager → services
The savings resulting from such budget cuts could be given to our cities, which need more financial resources.
uncertain
which → result → resources
There is a lot of government waste in Canada at the federal level, and we do have the resources to build a better country if we look beyond our limited municipal funds.
asserted
we → be → funds
As Althia Raj points out, if Bill C-39 passes, it will give the Carney government the authority to bypass procedures that protect both the environment and labour rights, all without further debate in Parliament.
asserted
that → point → Parliament
That Ottawa feels it needs to attack our democracy in this way has sinister implications.
asserted
it → feel → implications
Is Parliament going to become a rubber stamp approving pet projects?
asserted
Parliament → go → projects
Are Liberal MPs too afraid to speak up?
asserted
MPs → speak → ?
Voters in the United States need to read between the lines when they go to the polls in November’s midterm elections.
asserted
they → need → elections
U.S. President Donald Trump recently removed some tariffs that were negatively affecting citizens of Maine, in an obvious attempt to save Republican senator Susan Collins’s seat.
asserted
that → remove → seat
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
