Toronto mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi meets with the The Globe and Mail's editorial board Oct. 4, 2010.Moe Doiron/The Globe and Mail
Toronto mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi visited The Globe and Mail editorial board on Monday, Oct. 4. Following are some excerpts from that conversation:
There's been a lot of talk about lack of vision in the campaign and people being disappointed with that. And I'd say two things.
One is that actually, through the 80-odd debates that have already happened, and the various announcements, there's actually been a far broader number of issues addressed that have really been reported on.
But, to be fair, the real reason things have so focused, particularly on financial matters, is that in the last seven years, we've had an administration that's been long on vision and short on execution. Long on being able to quote Jane Jacobs, and not delivering so that people have confidence in where they're going.
And that lack of confidence has generated the single greatest poltiical legacy of Mr. Miller's administration, adn that is the popularity of Rob Ford. The issue is that on the financial front, we've had both Mr. Ford and Mr. Smitherman now weigh in in terms of plans, which I have significant issues with, and which I think are both paths to increasing chaos, not change for the better ...
There is a structural difficulty going forward. There have to be significant things, not a series of anecdotes of past waste, which is the sum total of Mr. Ford's plan. Mr. Smitherman's plan is better than Mr. Ford's plan, but it's a very low bar....
Having a plan, as [Smitherman is]suggesting, of four years' worth [of attrition] is I think reckless and a recipe for both labour unrest and significant pressure on services on one hand. On the other hand, by setting up a plan that calls for a freeze, and a reduction in the vehicle registration tax, he's in effect telling both the province and the unions that "I need you to help me fund a tax freeze and a tax cut." ...
I'm not calling for a tax freeze and I'm not calling for tax cuts in the initial phases, because I go through the numbers and I can't make the math add up ...
We need a move towards more reasonable wage increases and/or significant movement to manage competition and outsourcing to basically provide the leverage to make those settlements more in line with where the economy is.
But I'm starting from more of the moral high ground, by saying "I'm not asking you for this to fund a tax freeze or a tax cut." So everyone is going to put water in their wine on this. The property tax payer is going to continue to do their share (arguably, they've done more than their share over the last 7 years) ... you have to do your share. The mayor and council will do its share ...
You talk to ratepayers, and the other candidates are promising things -- they may be elusive -- but at least they offer some hope that the burden that individuals are facing, that there's some relief in sight. How does [your plan]address that?
I believe in the wisdom of people who know that there are candidates who are trying to bribe them with their own money, and that they don't have plans that actually add to be able to deliver it.
They've heard for a very long time, "read my lips, no new taxes", or tax cuts, and been repeatedly let down. I am not here to win by bribery. I am here to offer a rational alternative, to say "we are going to bring spending under control." ...
I was told early on by advisers that the only way to go up in the polls was to offer a tax freeze or a tax cut, and I've resisted it and will continue to resist it because that's not what I'm in politics to do.
I'm in politics to provide people with real solutions to real problems, because I love the city, because I've done reorganization work for very large organizations and very samll organizations, and I know what it takes to get things done ...