Candidates get on the electric train debate

LISA RAINFORD

May 6, 2010

Electric trains were top of mind at the first mayoral candidates debate held in the Bloor West neighbourhood, Wednesday evening, May 5.

Five mayoral candidates fielded questions from the audience in the packed basement auditorium of Runnymede United Church.

"Would you vote for electric trains or diesel," asked Green 13's Sarah Doucette, referring to Metorlinx's plan to run more than 450 diesel trains through west Toronto despite requests from such high-profile organizations as the Clean Train Coalition, the Toronto District School Board and the Medical Officer of Health - not to mention the thousands of concerned citizens, who are pushing for the electrification of the corridor before any expansion of rail traffic is allowed.

George Smitherman said he was "working to do what he can" to move towards electrification and not the use of 30- to 40-year-old technology while Rocco Rossi said, "we should build trains the cleanest way, which is electrification, not diesel."

Every city in the world has gone electric, pointed out Joe Pantalone.

"It has to be electrification. It's so logical," he said.

Giorgio Mammoliti supports the idea of electrification yet certain studies need to be done and numbers need to be crunched.

"Whatever works for the taxpayer should be brought forward," he said.

Rob Ford said he would like to do a cost analysis.

"This will have to be studied," he said. "Whatever is more cost-effective to our taxpayer. The research has to be done before I commit to an answer."

Sarah Thomson called diesel trains "archaic."

"I love the clean train idea. Yes, they're more expensive, but they last longer," she said.

Another Green 13 member, Carol Trainer, pressed the candidates for a more definitive answer.

"We have electric all over the world. 'Moving towards electrification' is not good enough," she said. "With the Pan Am Games coming, it's a good reason to go electric. We should be able to do something now. This is our time."

Ford said he would love to say, "This is a done deal, I support it."

However, the cost is unknown.

He continued, "You are the federal government; you are the provincial government; you are the municipal government. You pay for it. I'd love to say it'll happen, but we don't have the money. We're $3 billion in debt. There's no way I'm saying this will happen. I'm being as straight up as possible."

Local resident Katherine Landon was curious to know how each of the top contenders for the mayor's seat would stay healthy if elected, citing David Miller's weight loss and running habit as an example.

"I'm wondering what you'll do to manage stress," she asked. "I don't want a mayor who's going to drop dead half-way through their term."

Pantalone, an Italian immigrant, said he is "of good peasant stock." He finds peace in his garden.

"I like gardening when I want to settle down. It gives me pleasure," said Pantalone.

Also Italian, Mammoliti said he loves to eat.

"As an Italian-Canadian, I realize we have to take care of ourselves. I work out at 8 a.m. every day. It's important to my schedule." He loves to garden too, but he said, "Frankly, I'm not stressed out."

It's no secret, said Ford, "I'm a little burly."

"I love to swim," he said. "I'm a football coach so I'm in the weight room with the kids. The kids keep me active. That's the way I relieve stress."

Thomson turns to her two young kids when she needs a distraction.

"We crawl under the dining room table and pretend we're in the woods," said Thomson, whose hobby is restoring houses.

She also skis and does pilates.

Tennis is Smitherman's passion. Walking, he said, is his freedom.

He and his partner are adoptive parents to a 17-month-old boy. "Last year, I stopped eating animals. This past spring, I ran the Sporting Life 10K," he said.

To coincide with the Pan Am Games, Smitherman said he would like to launch a 'recreation renaissance,' an important part of his campaign.

As a one-time CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Rossi said he was inspired to keep a strict diet.

"My gym time starts at 5:30 a.m.," he said. An endurance athlete, Rossi once kayaked solo from Toronto to Ottawa.

"What would your first move be when you take the mayor's seat?" asked one audience member.

Smitherman said he would get the city's fiscal house in order.

"I think we can do better with the resources we have," he said.

The budget committee process needs to be a transparent one.

Rossi called the city's year-to-year budgeting 'ridiculous,' especially when dealing with a number as high as $9.2 billion.

"We need a multi-year plan," he said.

Rossi said he would confront the rising cost of staff salaries, which are increasing at a rate of 6.5 per cent.

"It's morally unethical," he said.

The first thing Pantalone said he would not do is sell Toronto Hydro. What he said he would do is look at Transit City. The city loses $5 million a year because of gridlock, he said.

"It's absurd. We can't wait two years, five years. Transit City has to be built quickly," said Pantalone.

Partnerships between the public and private sector is where the city is headed, according to Mammoliti.

"We need to deliver services more quickly," he said. "We need to give BIAs (Business Improvement Areas) more money. We need to get tough on gang members."

Ford vowed to abolish the $60 vehicle registration tax and eliminate the land transfer tax.

Thomson said being mayor is about bringing consensus.

"We can't keep fighting each other," she said. "We have to get our fiscal house in order."