jd 🔆19h ago
Michael Porter

ANALYSIS: Is Doug Ford waging a war on cars?
“Whether it’s EVs, bikes, or even just public transit, the story is the same: the Ford government has been inept if not hostile when it comes to anything other than getting drivers in cars. Perversely, this isn’t even good for drivers: every incremental car we add to the road makes the experience of driving worse for everyone.
…
Without meaning to, without understanding that he’s doing it, Doug Ford has spent eight years waging his own war on the car”

https://www.tvo.org/article/analysis-is-doug-ford-waging-a-war-on-cars

#ONpoli #NeverVoteConservative #DougFord #ActiveTransport #BikeTO #OttBike #Autowa #CarCulture

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Show threadPinchy63 🇨🇦19h ago
@MichaelPorter
My theory is he doesn’t know how to ride a bike. Walking isn’t his thing either. Isn’t he the dude who bought himself a luxury van for someone to drive him around in? Burning gas is more his style.
Show threadDavid Megginson18h ago

@Pinchy63 Honestly, I doubt Doug Ford cares whether he is or isn't making life easier for drivers. It's all performative.

What he does care about is being seen to address the pet peeves of commuters who spend hours driving into downtown Toronto every day from the 905 (the so-called "soccer moms" and "hockey dads").

He's not smart, but he's wily enough to know that voters in the suburban belt around Toronto are the ones who get him elected, not the kinds of the far-right nutjobs that Danielle Smith, Scott Moe, or Pierre Poilievre think they have to pander to.

@MichaelPorter

#ONpoli #CANpoli #cycling

Show threadRE 🇨🇦18h ago

@david_megginson @Pinchy63 @MichaelPorter

Ford's primary skill is being able to sound like he cares without actually caring.

Show threadDavid Megginson13h ago

@hewer_of_code wrote

Ford's primary skill is being able to sound like he cares without actually caring.

Exactly, very much like our previous Prime Minister (but it's easier to pull off as a premier than as a PM).

@Pinchy63 @MichaelPorter

Show threadjd 🔆18h ago
@MichaelPorter
I think Ford is among that class of politicians who grew up when car was king and he still adheres to that mind set, trapped forever in the 1960s. There are a lot of guys—politicians—around like that. Meanwhile, the world has totally changed.
Recall also that Ford cancelled wind turbine projects, including some that were partially built, at great expense, just as Trump is currently doing off the coast of Massachusetts. Trump serms to be doing that at the behest of BigOil, but I never understood why Ford thought that was a remotely good idea.
Show threadMichael Porter18h ago
@jd He strikes me as a very simple-minded person. No larger perspective, so he’s always making mistakes that he has to reverse down the road, at much greater cost.
Show threadBunNICKula🇨🇦18h ago

@MichaelPorter
You are very cruel.
To simple-minded people, that is.

@jd

Show threadMichael Porter18h ago
@intothewestaway @jd Cruel? I thought I was being charitable (to Ford, that is 😄).
Show threadBunNICKula🇨🇦18h ago
@MichaelPorter
Touché
@jd
Show threadHuman 350018h ago

@MichaelPorter
I think ford doesn't care about actual longer term costs. His plan is to replace pp.

He's not stupid - he is cagey and knows how to manipulate and exploit.

As it is he's costing us a fortune and making Ontario an embarrassment.
@jd

Show threadHuman 350018h ago
@MichaelPorter
And this gosh darn persona he plays is to make him seem less dangerous but he's lying and misleading as much as any other politician on the right
@jd
Show threadjd 🔆18h ago
@human3500 @MichaelPorter
Yes. A master at using the patois of the average Joe.
So much so that you’d never hear him using the word ‘patois’. 😊