OmiGawd, No Olympic Bid?!
It takes intestinal fortitude and a mature understanding of fiscal responsibility to decide as Toronto City Council has done, to eschew the opportunity to mount a bid to host the 2020 Olympic Summer Games.
This will not be a popular decision, although it should be. Given austerity forced upon the residents of Canada's largest, most dynamic and most ethnically diverse city, where the civic fundamentals are being scaled back, no one needs to contemplate funding and hosting a world-class sport party.
Not the Provincial government, although Dalton McGuinty would doubtless respond affirmatively that he is prepared to spend taxpayer money on helping Toronto's now-declined bid, nor the federal government which would doubtless feel obliged to curry favour with Toronto voters. Governments at all levels are in a fiscal bind, and need to carefully monitor what they're spending.
Toronto doesn't really need to beef up its image abroad, and advertise itself as an appealing venue for tourists. Toronto's international reputation is an enviable one, and long has been. It has more than enough attractions, permanent and otherwise, to ensure that no one will forget where it is. And there are enough colourful parades and events that this one won't be missed in eight years' time.
Perversely enough, bidding for the games would be a popular move as far as most Torontonians are concerned. A poll, conducted for Postmedia News indicates that 87% of Ontarians would be supportive of Toronto making a serious bid. So this will not represent a decision made lightly, one that would find favour with most voters.
Guess Mayor Rob Ford and his Council have decided they're not running a popularity contest. They're running a municipal government, and by all accounts, they're doing a pretty good job of it. Mayor Ford's sentiments expressed on the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima betrayed the kind of deep sensibilities that we need in a civic official.
He's hard-headed when he should be, and humanely responsible when it is called for.
As for Doug Ford, portrayed as a knobby-headed country yob with his recent spitting match with Margaret Atwood, perhaps he could offer to give Ms. Atwood some lessons in responsible civic management ... ? It isn't likely that she will protest this decision, but should she continue hissing, he could just repeat:
"We can't, the feds can't, the province can't. It's just not the time. Everyone would love it but financially no one is in the shape to take it" ... Doug Ford expressing his view that world-class sports events are no more inviolable than underused library branches where books and reading material no longer represent their primary function.
This will not be a popular decision, although it should be. Given austerity forced upon the residents of Canada's largest, most dynamic and most ethnically diverse city, where the civic fundamentals are being scaled back, no one needs to contemplate funding and hosting a world-class sport party.
Not the Provincial government, although Dalton McGuinty would doubtless respond affirmatively that he is prepared to spend taxpayer money on helping Toronto's now-declined bid, nor the federal government which would doubtless feel obliged to curry favour with Toronto voters. Governments at all levels are in a fiscal bind, and need to carefully monitor what they're spending.
Toronto doesn't really need to beef up its image abroad, and advertise itself as an appealing venue for tourists. Toronto's international reputation is an enviable one, and long has been. It has more than enough attractions, permanent and otherwise, to ensure that no one will forget where it is. And there are enough colourful parades and events that this one won't be missed in eight years' time.
Perversely enough, bidding for the games would be a popular move as far as most Torontonians are concerned. A poll, conducted for Postmedia News indicates that 87% of Ontarians would be supportive of Toronto making a serious bid. So this will not represent a decision made lightly, one that would find favour with most voters.
Guess Mayor Rob Ford and his Council have decided they're not running a popularity contest. They're running a municipal government, and by all accounts, they're doing a pretty good job of it. Mayor Ford's sentiments expressed on the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima betrayed the kind of deep sensibilities that we need in a civic official.
He's hard-headed when he should be, and humanely responsible when it is called for.
As for Doug Ford, portrayed as a knobby-headed country yob with his recent spitting match with Margaret Atwood, perhaps he could offer to give Ms. Atwood some lessons in responsible civic management ... ? It isn't likely that she will protest this decision, but should she continue hissing, he could just repeat:
"We can't, the feds can't, the province can't. It's just not the time. Everyone would love it but financially no one is in the shape to take it" ... Doug Ford expressing his view that world-class sports events are no more inviolable than underused library branches where books and reading material no longer represent their primary function.
Labels: Economy, Education, Life's Like That, Ontario
posted by Pieface | 6:47 PM
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