Rob Ford’s political death wish

Adam Giambrone, NOW:

Uncompromising mayor is guaranteeing his own irrelevance as council revolts on transit and CUPE gets kudos

Could this be the week the city actually rolls back the last 16 months of minority rule and returns to the broad Toronto consensus of the last 40 years?

Events of the last couple of weeks, and this one in particular – council’s transit rebellion and the triumph of CUPE 416 in the court of public opinion – have made it clear that the majority of residents are looking for responsible and progressive government, not a right-wing revolution.

What seems to be reasserting itself is that characteristic Toronto mix of fiscal conservatism and social progressivism. In this model, the one we know best, budgets are balanced and, slowly, progressive changes are enacted. At the same time, taxes are kept low, the lowest in the GTA, and debt levels remain below those of most mid-sized and large Canadian and U.S. cities.

Fast-forward to this week. Media observers seem to assume the settlement with CUPE 416 is a Rob Ford victory. It is certainly not a loss. But CUPE 416 and its president, Mark Ferguson, can clearly be credited with an excellent strategy that insures they will remain critical players in city decisions and grassroots politics.

While we don’t know all the terms yet, some job security for employees appears to have been negotiated, and despite all the mayor’s team’s invective about overpaid workers, CUPE members, according to reports, appear to have achieved yearly increases of around 1.5 per cent a year and more or less maintained their benefits.

While the mayor attempted to destroy the local public service unions, at most he was able to wrest minor concessions. But CUPE was savvy, at once fighting to protect the decent quality of life of its thousands of members and their families and reassuring the public that it is committed to controlling costs.

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