Baird to Toronto: Fuck off
I’m not in the habit of putting profanities on this blog, but I couldn’t resist after reading what the Minister of Transport, John Baird, had to say about Toronto’s application for infrastructure stimulus funding.
What he had to say, apparently, of Toronto’s request for assistance in its proposed purchase of $1.2 billion of streetcars from Bombardier, was that the city is “bitching at us” and “should fuck off,” according to the Toronto Star.
It reminds me of the famous New York News headline from the 1970s when President Ford rejected the city’s request for financial aid:
FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD
Baird, after making his remark during an unguarded moment at the mayors’ conference in Whister, B.C., phoned Toronto Mayor David Miller to apologize. Miller said he accepted the apology.
I’m not a big fan of the idea of adding yet more streetcars that will further clog traffic on Toronto’s streets. I’d rather see this money put into developing a fleet of electric trolley buses.
Trolley buses would not stop in the middle of the street, blocking traffic, while they disgorge and take on passengers. Other cities make it work, why not Toronto?
But these kinds of arrogant comments are troubling. Coming the same day as Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt is defending her remarks (caught on an aide’s tape) about the isotope shortage, it’s not a confidence builder for the Harper government.
Ms. Raitt is being knocked for her insensitivity in referring to the crisis at Chalk River as a career builder that will win her credit for solving it. So far, she’s not done a thing to indicate she even understands the dimension of the problem, let alone has a strategy to solve it.
Her comment that she’s ready to “roll the dice” is disturbingly reminiscent of Brian Mulroney’s famous throw-away line about Meech Lake.
