Toronto, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Toronto Mayor Rob Ford scored back-to-back victories Thursday on his first meeting with the city council. He got the council’s nod to declare the Toronto Transit Commission an essential service and the removal of the $60 vehicle registration tax.
On a 28-17 vote, the council agreed to ask Ontario to declare the TTC an essential service, which would make striking by transit workers illegal.
The vote result did not sit well with Bob Kinnear, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union of the TTC. Kinnear said the declaration would create more work-to-rules and more labor-management conflicts.
The council, on a 39-6 vote, also approved the removal of the car tax beginning January 2011. The councilors also voted 40-5 to cut their office budgets by 40 percent to $30,000 from $50,445.
Ford said he is happy with the council vote. He said by eliminating the auto fee, the council plowed back $64 million into the pockets of Toronto residents which they could use for personal spending, to create jobs, save or stimulate the city’s economy.
The only loss for Ford was a request for an apology from Maclean’s magazine which published an article on its Nov. 10 online edition that said some Toronto students are avoiding certain elite postsecondary schools because of perceptions that the educational institutions are too academically competitive that they leave the students little time for fun. The council voted 27-14 against seeking an apology.
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