Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Discount TTC Passes For Low-Income Torontonians debate sidetracked by expansion

TORONTO - A proposal to introduce discount TTC passes for low-income Torontonians was sidetracked Monday by the ongoing debate over funding for transit expansion.

Toronto's Board of Health raised concerns that there was no way to fund such an initiative when the city is already struggling to raise enough money to expand public transit.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has previously talked about the need for what she calls new revenue tools — road tolls or some other kind of tax — for transit improvements in the southern Ontario.

Coun. Gord Perks spoke against using tolls to generate funds and said he would not be "railroaded" into helping the provincial government get away with being "the worst in funding transit in Canada."

"The transit system we all ride now... was purchased using provincial income tax... This whole exercise that we're in now about revenue tools to pay for transit is the province saying 'no, we won't pay for transit as we always have,'" Perks said.

Coun. Joe Mihevc, however, said that tolls are the "right way to go" because tolls discourage cars and the money can be used to improve roads and not go to public transit alone.

In light of the ongoing transit debate, Toronto's chief medical officer of health, David McKeown, said that this was the right time to be considering the plight of low-income Torontonians.

"We're in the process of reshaping how we move around the GTA. Seems to me that this is the time to be thinking about not leaving out the part of the population that are most dependent on transit," he said.

A report released earlier by McKeown recommended that Toronto follow in the footsteps of other cities like Calgary and Guelph in providing discount transit passes and tickets for low-income earners.

The Board of Health voted to forward the issue to the Community Development and Recreation Committee with a recommendation to consult with the TTC.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.ca
Author: CP

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