Promise
Using Mark's 4-part Plan focused on reducing Traffic Congestion, increasing safety and productivity for riders on the TTC, cutting unnecessary Spending, and fostering Business Leadership, this is how he promises to Get Toronto Moving:
1.Traffic Congestion
Remove bike lanes on major downtown corridors.
- This means, for starters, bike lanes on Richmond Street, Adelaide Street and University Avenue will be removed. As well, to minimize the tightening effect on traffic now that Queen Street has been closed for an extended period of time between Bay Street and Victoria Street, the King Street Transit Priority Corridor will be scrapped.
(To understand why strategic bike-lane removal on major corridors makes sense,)see here.
To reduce highway traffic, implement an incentive-based system for those commuting to Toronto from the 905 region and beyond.
Remove redundant, unnecessary traffic lights.
Improve traffic-light synchronization. ('Smart' traffic signals are simply NOT working.)
Ensure a police presence focused on fine enforcement for drivers who "block the box" from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. each weekday at fourteen key downtown Toronto intersections.
A big-picture, coordinated approach to construction and its timing to minimize compound lane restrictions and road closures on geo-related corridors.
2.TTC (Safety, Cell, Wi-Fi)
Increase the police budget by $16 million for the purpose of hiring 225 additional police officers. Each additional hire ensures a police presence at all of the TTC’s 75 subway stations during operating hours.
Ensure Rogers Communications and all partner telecoms keep the pedal to the metal with a modified installation plan so the 5G network upgrade is completed within ONE YEAR. This way all subway riders will benefit from free Wi-Fi and across-the-board cell service by summer, 2024.
3.Spending
If there is one thing Mark can be accused of during his three-decades-long career in the private sector running his businesses, it’s that he ran a tight financial ship. Call it fiscally-prudent, fiscal-conservatism, or simply fiscally-responsible; call it what you will, the bottom line is Mark abhors wasteful spending and at every turn he will fight to tighten Toronto’s purse strings because he never takes spending lightly, especially when it’s other people’s money.
With Toronto facing fiscal pressure of almost $1 billion this year, more than $1 billion in 2024, and as much as $46 billion over the next decade, it doesn’t take a mathematician or U of T accounting graduate to calculate that’s a formula for hard times ahead. This is why now more than ever it is crucial we finally get Toronto moving again in the right financial direction. To do this we must cut wasteful spending and drive efficiencies, and that begins with:
Mark calling for a forensic audit of Toronto’s books during his first week in Office
Once the audit is evaluated, Mark is confident it will expose inefficiencies and waste that will allow for:
A tough but fair 2024 budget with an overall spend reduction of at least 3% (approximately $500 million)
What Will Mark’s Promises Cost?
The simple answer: Nothing. In fact, the result will be net revenue-positive. Here is Mark's 'Promise' Balance Sheet:
| Incentive-based system: | + $249 million* |
| Police presence on TTC: | - $16 million |
| Traffic congestion relief measures: | - $1 million |
| Spending cuts: | + $500 million |
| The Bottom Line: | + $732 million** |
*This figure factors in one-time developmental costs of $18 million and first-year operating costs of $33 million
**Toronto's budgetary deficit is reduced by this amount
4.Business Leadership
Mark doesn’t know about you, but his head is just spinning listening to all the other candidates promising to build thousands of houses here, supporting thousands of people there, spending countless millions on this and that and every other thing.
That’s all well and good, but Mark believes passionately accomplishment is life’s greatest high, and driven by this belief doesn’t it make the most sense to be fully committed to empowering people by giving them the intellectual tools to stand on their own two feet? Mark thinks so. When you do this, amazing things happen like boosting self-esteem, building confidence, and breeding personal and professional success.
Enter SmartStart, a leadership initiative whose goal is to foster financial independence through the entrepreneurial spirit. It is driven by two incontestable truths:
“If you teach people to fish, you feed them for a lifetime.”—AND—“You don’t need a Harvard degree to build a vibrant business.”
SmartStart will utilize the talents of a cohort of more than two dozen proven successful business leaders whose time will be given strictly on a volunteer basis. They will both teach in class as well as mentor individuals. Their instruction will be focused on what they do best: How to lead, and how to start and build a business.
The SmartStart initiative promises the following:
ACCESSIBILITY: Classes will be held in five regions across Toronto; Etobicoke, North York, Midtown, Downtown and Scarborough.
AGE RESTRICTION: None. It will be available to anyone whether they are 18 or 80.
PARTICIPANT COST: Zero.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS: None.
PROGRAM COSTS: Minimal (Facilities, Materials and Staff acquired from the business community via donations).
At the culmination of a participant’s tenure in SmartStart, they will have started a business and will have the leadership skills and practical know-how to succeed and grow.
Follow The Movement
Follow the movement to Get Toronto Moving and sign-up here for news and updates. (Mark promises to keep emails short and somewhat sweet.)
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