The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast - 358. Drugs, Homelessness, and Shady Metro Dealings

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00:00:57.420 Today I'm speaking with Canadian journalist, broadcaster, and most importantly, perhaps now potential mayor of Toronto, Anthony Fury.

00:01:16.000 We're going to discuss the need for urban renewal in Toronto, the effects of ramped up homelessness, the demoralization of the police, urban as well as academic decay, a new vision on the artistic front for the city, and those pesky bike lanes, a bigger issue than one might first think.

00:01:35.060 Mr. Fury, thank you very much for agreeing to talk to me today. Let's start with this.

00:01:39.460 You were doing perfectly well as a journalist. I presume you kind of had your own life, and that was spinning out quite nicely.

00:01:47.040 Why in the world did you decide to, you know, make a move into the political realm and run for mayor? What impelled you to do that?

00:01:57.020 Yeah, Dr. Peterson, it's great to be here. Thank you so much.

00:01:59.300 And I get asked that question a lot because, yeah, it's a big undertaking to run for mayor of a major city.

00:02:06.440 And the main reason I'm doing it is the issues are so acute right now in terms of the challenges that Toronto faces, the concerns that people have.

00:02:16.320 And as you know, I've been a newspaper columnist, broadcaster for well over a decade, interacting with people all walks of life across the city on the issues.

00:02:23.460 And it really just seemed like the status quo people who have caused these problems, the city councillors, the political class, you know, they're not the ones to fix it.

00:02:32.300 The people who broke it are not the ones to put it back together again.

00:02:35.600 And I feel like the centre has shifted in recent years such that people are much more interested in those positions that I've been steadfast on for the number of years.

00:02:46.720 You know, there's politicians who say, I'll go to you, I'll focus group, I'll poll, and I'll create an issue.

00:02:52.560 And I think people see that they're phonies.

00:02:54.620 Whereas the things that I've been talking about for the past number of years, the things that you've been talking about for the past number of years,

00:03:00.480 I think people say, I want to see more of that now and more of just regular folks, the political centre, the apolitical people, they want to talk about those things now.

00:03:09.640 And that's what I'm putting forward right now.

00:03:11.180 That's what I'm going to be fighting for.

00:03:12.340 I mean, as you know well, Toronto is a city worth fighting for.

00:03:15.660 And that's what I'm doing right now.

00:03:18.540 So what do you think, two questions then.

00:03:21.060 What do you think are the issues that you just described that need to be addressed by, say, someone other than a member of the standard political class?

00:03:30.460 What do you think those issues are?

00:03:31.540 And also, one of the reasons I decided to do this podcast today, despite the fact that it's a local election in some sense, I mean, Toronto's a major urban centre, obviously,

00:03:42.560 is that I do have the feeling that the problems that are besetting Toronto are similar in nature to the problems that are besetting cities, say, all across North America,

00:03:52.120 and probably broadly across the Western and even the rest of the entire world.

00:03:55.700 And so what do you think, what are the specific issues that you have been concentrating on as a journalist over the last few years that you particularly think need to be addressed in the course of this mayoralty campaign,

00:04:09.520 and then in your tenure as mayor, if that turns out?

00:04:13.860 Yeah, and now that I've become a politician, I'm going to be really good at flipping the question around and moving to the generality, even though you asked for the specific.

00:04:19.900 But the overarching generality is that they are the issues that it takes someone to be able to take the criticism of the mob to move forward on.

00:04:30.520 Because I think so many of the issues that have led to the urban decay that a lot of our cities are facing right now are because there have been politicians who,

00:04:38.820 because 10 or 20 people show up at City Hall kicking and screaming and call them bad names and say mean words to them, they cave on those issues.

00:04:46.500 And what are those issues? They are obviously crime issues, law and order issues.

00:04:51.620 And I think the general sense that politicians and cities have started focusing on things that are frills,

00:04:59.520 things that only speak to these niche special interests that don't represent the interests of the regular folks,

00:05:05.220 and that the core services that we rely on in our daily lives are not being tended to anymore.

00:05:12.000 And that is the crisis of municipal government, local government, all across the Western world right now.

00:05:18.000 We feel that in Toronto when it comes to transportation. You just can't get around law and order.

00:05:22.880 There's so much decay on our streets, violence on the subways, things that we have not seen in decades.

00:05:28.940 And we talk about Vancouver, Seattle, L.A., San Francisco, things happening on those streets.

00:05:34.900 They are coming to Toronto, and a lot of people are really concerned.

00:05:38.020 And again, a lot of apolitical, regular folks are concerned.

00:05:41.580 And again, the center is shifting for the solutions people want to see in regards to that.

00:05:45.820 The content I've created over the past year represents some of my best to date,

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00:06:43.420 And thank you for watching and listening.

00:06:44.880 So, let's talk as well about what the different domains of government are, in fact, responsible for.

00:07:05.300 So, we have responsibilities parsed out in Canada at the municipal level and the provincial level and the federal level.

00:07:12.500 And my sense, most fundamentally, is the level of government most crucial to people's day-to-day lives is the municipal level.

00:07:22.040 It's also the level that is most difficult to get people interested in and involved in unless they're radicals, as you pointed out.

00:07:29.120 And that gives them a disproportionate sway.

00:07:31.640 So, do you want to outline for people what the responsibilities of the municipality are

00:07:37.080 and how the choice of mayor, let's say, is going to affect, well, the realities of their day-to-day lives?

00:07:44.460 Yeah, and there's a saying that goes, all politics are local.

00:07:48.560 Because the things that do affect our daily lives are mostly at the local level.

00:07:52.460 So, garbage collection being done, for instance, being able to move from point A to point B,

00:07:58.800 transportation, whether that's on the roads, the sidewalks, or the streetcars, the subways, the public buses.

00:08:04.580 All of those things are our day-to-day lives.

00:08:06.440 Policing, feeling like the streets are clean, both in a sense of there being garbage or litter or injection needles lying around on the streets,

00:08:13.680 or just in terms of knowing that there's a police officer there to deal with any disorder.

00:08:17.880 And, you know, when I was reflecting on this very question, what is municipal government?

00:08:22.560 What is local politics?

00:08:23.640 As I was going into this race, I remembered back to my philosophy studies.

00:08:27.540 And when you look at Plato and Aristotle, those guys didn't really know much about countries.

00:08:31.960 Countries weren't much of a thing then.

00:08:33.260 It was the city-state and all of the original thinking about how do we live together as a society, as a community,

00:08:40.340 what is politics?

00:08:41.680 The original questions around that all are actually about cities.

00:08:45.360 That was the beginning.

00:08:46.520 That's where it all started.

00:08:47.880 Yeah, well, in Toronto, let's go through these garbage, transportation, crime, and policing.

00:08:53.260 One of the things I've observed, let's say, on the garbage collection front,

00:08:57.500 is that it's switched from being a service provided by the city so that people can quickly and efficiently get rid of the things that are no longer necessary,

00:09:06.620 and so the city can remain orderly and productive, to a moral play where every act of garbage disposal, let's say,

00:09:17.760 is freighted with the entire weight of saving the planet.

00:09:20.520 And it's become extremely expensive and time-consuming.

00:09:23.140 And, you know, that would perhaps also be fine if there was some evidence, for example, that recycling plastics, which has been a big deal in Toronto,

00:09:31.760 has actually worked in that they are recycled and done more good than harm, which, by all evidence, it hasn't.

00:09:39.100 And then on the transportation front, I started to notice probably 10 years ago that there was something weird going on in Toronto with regard to automobiles,

00:09:49.880 because the city seemed to be going out of its way to make driving in Toronto as annoying as possible.

00:09:56.160 And for a long time, I thought that was just stupidity and the consequence of falling sway to the radicals in the, you know,

00:10:03.460 I bike, therefore I'm saving the world crowd.

00:10:06.380 But I started to understand, I'd like your thoughts on this,

00:10:09.120 I started to understand more recently that there is a consortium of municipalities worldwide,

00:10:16.780 I think they're called C40, if I've got the acronym right,

00:10:19.480 that do, in fact, have as a long-term goal the radical reduction of private transportation,

00:10:26.220 especially in anything that's powered by fossil fuels, which is like everyone's car.

00:10:31.660 And so the war on automobiles and the continual multiplication of these bike lanes is driven by a very anti-development agenda.

00:10:42.080 And I think it's particularly pathological in Toronto,

00:10:44.760 because, of course, it's an uninhabitable city on the climate front,

00:10:48.500 because it's so bloody cold for five months of the year.

00:10:51.440 And the only people that can use bike lanes regularly are like fit 20 to 25-year-old men

00:10:58.760 who actually don't have anything better to do.

00:11:02.280 And that's not a very good group of, what would you call, constituents to design an entire city around.

00:11:10.140 So let's talk about, let's talk a little bit about bike lanes and garbage collection,

00:11:15.100 and then maybe move to the catastrophe on the public transportation front

00:11:19.520 that's been unfolding for 20 years, for example, on Eglinton.

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00:12:58.480 Yeah, and you know what, going back to my saying that all politics is local,

00:13:04.880 I've also found that the things that can cause you the most controversy on the issues you discuss are surprisingly local.

00:13:09.960 The comments you just made on bike lanes might prove to be the most controversial comments you've ever made,

00:13:13.700 because that really gets people so irate.

00:13:16.580 And I've found that the bike lane discussion in Toronto is so polarizing,

00:13:20.440 because that small constituency of people who are really fixated on the bike lanes,

00:13:25.860 oh boy, they hold it passionately.

00:13:28.480 But the majority of people in Toronto say what you're saying,

00:13:31.880 that we've had enough with this obsession with putting bike lanes on every major road.

00:13:36.620 And I came out with a press conference announcement the other week saying,

00:13:39.880 no more bike lanes on major roads.

00:13:42.060 Look, I like biking.

00:13:42.940 I go out with my kids.

00:13:43.760 We do it on non-arterial roads.

00:13:46.140 So there's different side roads or roads that are adjacent to major roads where you could put a painted bike lane.

00:13:51.400 But right now in Toronto, all of the bike lanes have these concrete block dividers,

00:13:56.300 where there's such rigidity, this sort of free-flowing flexibility.

00:13:59.680 Oh, and they're beautiful, too.

00:14:01.140 They're absolutely beautiful.

00:14:02.740 They've really done a great job on the aesthetics of the city to put up these bloody barriers

00:14:08.000 that are totalitarian in their hideousness.

00:14:11.320 And also those plastic tubes that obviously have a shelf life of about six months.

00:14:17.640 They're as hideous as anything could possibly be.

00:14:19.920 And everyone listening who isn't from Toronto,

00:14:22.700 one of the things you need to know about Toronto is that the city's laid out on a grid.

00:14:26.620 And so there are roads everywhere, like there are in Manhattan.

00:14:30.300 It's a grid.

00:14:31.380 And there's absolutely no reason whatsoever, ever, to put bike lanes on a major thoroughfare

00:14:35.720 because there are adjacent roads that are much underused,

00:14:39.000 that are actually safer to bike on, that wouldn't interfere with traffic.

00:14:42.500 Particularly because in Toronto, the traffic is routed already away from residential areas

00:14:50.180 to centralized feeder streets that feed the whole city.

00:14:54.380 And many of them now have bike lanes on them, which all that seems to do,

00:14:58.660 especially in the winter when there are no bikes whatsoever in the lanes,

00:15:02.640 all it seems to do is snarl up traffic.

00:15:04.700 And, you know, unfortunately, that's a feature and not a bug

00:15:08.420 because the point is to make people so frustrated with their vehicles

00:15:12.080 that they decide to abandon them.

00:15:13.980 And that's an absolutely pathological, what would you say, demonstration of policy

00:15:21.740 that the way you change people's behavior is by inconveniencing them

00:15:25.640 and irritating them unnecessarily while interfering with their economic productivity

00:15:29.800 and driving polarization, you know, it's...

00:15:33.000 No, and that's the push.

00:15:33.720 It couldn't be a worse set of policies.

00:15:35.440 That's absolutely the approach here, of course.

00:15:37.760 People are very vocal about the idea that we want to limit people's choice.

00:15:41.220 But there are videos that have gone viral on social media

00:15:44.000 where you see when you have those concrete blocked bike lanes,

00:15:46.600 means you only have two vehicle lanes.

00:15:48.180 So there's nowhere for the vehicles to go when an ambulance passes by.

00:15:50.940 So lots of videos of an ambulance trying to get through.

00:15:53.840 And then how do you make space for the ambulance

00:15:55.760 if you've made those bike lanes so rigid?

00:15:57.960 So I've announced that on some of the streets,

00:16:00.120 we're going to have to tear up those posts you talk about

00:16:02.480 to make room for vehicles to divert in any other situation.

00:16:07.160 And some streets, we're just going to have to get rid of them entirely

00:16:09.360 and put them on non-arterial roads.

00:16:10.820 Look, we're all reasonable people, moderate folks.

00:16:12.840 I mean, there's options for all this sort of stuff.

00:16:14.640 But the idea you have to sort of jam it all into one thoroughfare there,

00:16:18.140 take away the vehicular lanes.

00:16:19.580 We're building a new subway line.

00:16:21.000 And I announced the other week that on those streets where we've got a major street,

00:16:24.840 Queen Street, that's being shut down.

00:16:26.280 And then there are other roads where obviously the traffic's going to spill over onto.

00:16:29.860 And we have an entire lane taken up of a bike lane.

00:16:33.200 We should open that up to vehicular traffic

00:16:35.040 because then you can get transportation moving.

00:16:37.480 For the five years construction of this subway line,

00:16:40.540 which to your point, January, February, March,

00:16:43.020 which we pay many millions of dollars to actually clear the bike lanes in the winter

00:16:47.440 when the ridership numbers are not zero,

00:16:50.060 but they're pretty darn close to zero.

00:16:51.520 They're a rounding error.

00:16:52.240 Yeah, yeah.

00:16:54.400 Well, let's talk about this polarization issue too,

00:16:57.480 because with regard to the bike lanes,

00:16:59.400 because I think it is emblematic of something that's going on on a broader scale.

00:17:03.720 It's like, this is something like the equation.

00:17:06.260 It's something like,

00:17:07.700 well, carbon dioxide is destroying the planet

00:17:10.920 and cars emit carbon dioxide.

00:17:14.120 And so people who own cars are destroying the planet.

00:17:17.200 And so if I ride a bike, then I'm saving the planet.

00:17:19.720 And if you oppose me riding a bike,

00:17:22.560 then you're opposing saving the planet.

00:17:25.660 And anybody who opposes saving the planet

00:17:28.320 is obviously akin to an agent of Satan.

00:17:30.700 And so now you have the polarization.

00:17:33.400 And the thing that irritates me about that,

00:17:35.640 or one of the many things that irritates me about that,

00:17:37.780 is that that has transformed the simple act of riding a bike,

00:17:41.800 which should be just something you do with your family,

00:17:43.840 or you do because you can, in fact, use it to get from point A to B.

00:17:47.960 It's turned it into a kind of messianic moral crusade.

00:17:52.400 And I should point out to all of you who are riding bikes

00:17:56.080 and who think you're saving the planet,

00:17:57.980 you are not saving the planet by riding a bike.

00:17:59.980 You're just riding a bike.

00:18:02.400 And so you should pull the morality out of that argument

00:18:05.460 and put it back into the religious domain where it belongs.

00:18:08.460 And we could actually have a sensible discussion

00:18:10.680 about how we could integrate the multiple forms of transportation

00:18:13.440 that now exist, including scooters, electric scooters,

00:18:16.180 and that sort of thing, with cars so that we could all get around,

00:18:19.160 so that our ambulances could work,

00:18:21.040 and so that we didn't make every damn city street

00:18:23.600 as hideous as possible in this counterproductive way,

00:18:26.620 expensively, while doing absolutely no good.

00:18:29.820 And to your point as well,

00:18:32.280 one of the things that we've seen happening in the West in recent years

00:18:36.060 is that very vocal minorities are holding disproportionate sway

00:18:40.620 over public policy.

00:18:41.620 And that is definitely the case in the biking situation,

00:18:45.220 particularly in Toronto,

00:18:46.300 because it is a very small minority of people who are pushing this.

00:18:48.920 Why do you think, Anthony, that if you...

00:18:52.380 Why do you think that you'll be immune to this sort of pressure

00:18:56.440 that you've seen so many people fall prey to?

00:18:58.680 Like, it's no joke to be mobbed.

00:19:01.240 And, you know, it's very, very hard on people.

00:19:03.620 And the radicals are extremely good at weaponizing that mob attack.

00:19:07.560 So why do you think that you'll be able to withstand that?

00:19:11.960 And have you, in some ways, been able to withstand that already?

00:19:15.360 Yeah, I mean, I've been a newspaper columnist, radio show host for about a decade,

00:19:19.060 and I'm used to it.

00:19:20.360 You know, you say something,

00:19:21.800 and, you know, to your point,

00:19:23.340 it's something that you feel is a totally reasonable position.

00:19:25.720 And people in person come up to you on the street,

00:19:27.800 and they say,

00:19:28.260 hey, I saw what you said.

00:19:29.180 I read your piece.

00:19:29.880 It was pretty reasonable.

00:19:30.700 Thank you for that.

00:19:31.420 Or people send you a lovely email.

00:19:33.380 But in the anonymity of social media,

00:19:35.400 people are saying these awful, dreadful things to you.

00:19:38.160 You go, oh, man, you know,

00:19:39.220 I got these 50 awful things said to me.

00:19:41.140 You go, oh, okay, 50 people in a city of well over 2 million.

00:19:45.240 It's actually not that big of a deal.

00:19:46.680 And I think just remembering that people's rudeness,

00:19:50.960 people's acting out says more about them than it does about you.

00:19:54.640 I also think there's something to be said about just not coveting the approval of people

00:19:59.780 who are not going to like you in the first place

00:20:01.580 and not coveting a certain sort of social approval

00:20:09.440 that sees you kind of moderately liked by everyone.

00:20:12.180 The outgoing mayor of Toronto, he resigned the other month.

00:20:15.340 It's what triggered this election.

00:20:16.980 A lot of people have said to me who were friends of that mayor,

00:20:19.900 they said, you know what, we really liked him.

00:20:21.700 He was a nice guy, but he just wanted to be liked so much

00:20:24.980 that he couldn't make a single tough decision

00:20:26.980 because he didn't want 50 people to say mean things about him.

00:20:30.660 And that is ultimately what I think stopped so many leaders from leading.

00:20:35.600 You know, I have a friend who was a minister in the Mike Harris government,

00:20:39.740 which for people who aren't in Toronto, aren't in Ontario,

00:20:42.660 they should know that was a conservative government that made some tough choices.

00:20:45.940 So it got a lot of people out yelling at them in the 90s.

00:20:48.560 And my friend said, look, if they're not out burning you in effigy in the first three months,

00:20:52.700 not the regular folks, but sort of the niche interests,

00:20:54.940 if they're not out yelling and screaming about you,

00:20:57.260 what on earth are you doing?

00:20:58.760 Why are you out there?

00:20:59.860 Because it means you're not actually making any sort of meaningful decisions.

00:21:03.080 So you just got to be willing to take the heat.

00:21:05.100 And I'm willing for the mob to come for me.

00:21:08.500 That's a good inversion of the fear is that,

00:21:11.900 so your claim fundamentally is that

00:21:13.840 if you're not annoying irritable ideologues,

00:21:17.420 you're not doing your job.

00:21:19.040 Yeah, I think there's really something to be said for that.

00:21:23.460 So I'm going to go in two directions now.

00:21:28.100 The first is, what makes you think that you're qualified for this job?

00:21:34.800 Like, what does it take to be qualified for the job of mayor?

00:21:38.100 What makes you think you're qualified in an absolute sense?

00:21:41.820 But then also, what makes you think that you're qualified

00:21:44.340 in comparison to your opponents, who we should also discuss?

00:21:48.780 And to lay out the, what would you say,

00:21:52.300 the entire situation on the mayoralty race front.

00:21:55.400 So why are you qualified to be mayor in an absolute sense to begin with?

00:22:00.360 Or why do you think you are?

00:22:01.880 Being in the media for the past 10, 15 years in this city,

00:22:05.600 doing the columns, doing the radio work,

00:22:07.500 when it comes to municipal issues,

00:22:08.880 it puts you in touch with people from all walks of life,

00:22:12.560 all spectrums of society, all across the city.

00:22:15.000 You hear about their concerns, and then as you're writing about,

00:22:18.160 studying, interviewing, meeting with people about these issues,

00:22:20.860 you're meeting with the top decision makers.

00:22:22.960 And I don't think politics should be about kidding yourself

00:22:25.660 that you're the smartest guy in the room.

00:22:27.360 I think it's about acknowledging that you have the ability

00:22:30.460 to get the smartest gal or guy into the room,

00:22:34.400 to say, okay, we're dealing with this or that.

00:22:36.340 I got to have the humility and good sense to say,

00:22:39.040 get me that guy as a principal tenant of leadership.

00:22:42.040 And as I've been devising these policies,

00:22:44.060 I mean, I'm not pulling them out of thin air.

00:22:45.720 I'm saying, get this guy on the phone,

00:22:47.020 get this person on the phone,

00:22:48.840 and we're going to figure this out.

00:22:50.220 You know, bring the best here.

00:22:52.440 And throughout the past decade,

00:22:54.100 I mean, I've been getting in touch with the best

00:22:56.500 as I navigate these issues.

00:22:57.960 And it's never been me myself.

00:23:00.320 It's been me navigating it with these people's guidance.

00:23:03.380 And you bring them to City Hall.

00:23:04.680 Because I think part of the problem

00:23:05.860 is that the status quo politicians

00:23:08.040 only bring on those special interest niche activists

00:23:12.620 and just elevate their voices.

00:23:14.440 I want to elevate the voices

00:23:15.740 that are actually able to get things done.

00:23:18.260 I'm meeting with so many people in the business community,

00:23:20.080 and they all say,

00:23:21.360 why aren't we bringing business best practices

00:23:23.780 to City Hall?

00:23:25.240 And whatever you want to call it,

00:23:26.560 there's all these zero-based budgeting,

00:23:29.280 Lean Six Sigma.

00:23:30.200 There's all these different terms they have

00:23:31.580 about bringing managerial practices

00:23:33.820 to the public sector.

00:23:34.980 Why is none of this being done?

00:23:36.560 And I say to them, that's an excellent point.

00:23:38.660 I will bring that.

00:23:39.800 I will elevate those voices.

00:23:41.580 I'll bring you guys to the table.

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00:24:50.180 Right, so you feel that you've been in a position

00:24:55.640 to aggregate the concerns of Torontonians

00:24:58.460 serving as a journalist,

00:24:59.740 but also that you've made contact with people

00:25:02.340 who have genuine competence in a variety of areas,

00:25:05.180 and you would be willing to consult with them

00:25:08.400 to find the best solutions going forward.

00:25:10.860 I mean, I've met with leaders all over the world

00:25:13.340 and tried to generate, what would you say,

00:25:16.180 a theory of competent leadership.

00:25:18.940 And I've seen, I think you actually hit the nail

00:25:22.420 on the head, hit two nails on the head

00:25:24.580 with your description,

00:25:25.380 because the first thing I've seen

00:25:26.920 that characterizes people who are genuine leaders,

00:25:30.100 it's sort of independent of whether they're nominally

00:25:32.320 on the left or the right,

00:25:33.480 is that they actually go out and listen to people.

00:25:36.840 So one of the things that, the word lobbyist,

00:25:40.140 you know, the word lobbyist is derived

00:25:41.740 from this old practice in England

00:25:43.300 where you could meet your member of parliament

00:25:45.900 in the lobby, which was the central building

00:25:47.940 in the House of Parliament,

00:25:48.920 and you could call on them at any time

00:25:51.080 so that you could discuss your concerns with them.

00:25:53.360 So being a lobbyist actually,

00:25:55.040 well, the lobby was where the politicians

00:25:56.820 actually met the people.

00:25:58.060 And the great leaders that I've seen

00:25:59.520 really listened to their constituents.

00:26:03.880 So Preston Manning, for example,

00:26:05.780 when he built the Reform Party,

00:26:08.560 which was quite an act of leadership,

00:26:09.900 he told me at one point that the part of the campaign

00:26:14.420 to build that party that he enjoyed the most

00:26:17.760 was the Q&As after the speeches he gave in arenas

00:26:21.620 and so forth across Alberta,

00:26:22.920 because by listening, you know,

00:26:24.800 in 150 different locations

00:26:26.580 to what people were concerned about,

00:26:28.540 he could find out what their problems actually were

00:26:30.780 and then start to generate policies

00:26:33.140 that were focused on people's actual problems.

00:26:36.220 Then the next point you brought up was that,

00:26:38.380 you know, if you're,

00:26:40.940 this is another characteristic of great leaders

00:26:44.020 that I've seen in a variety of realms

00:26:45.980 is that they're perfectly willing

00:26:47.220 to surround themselves with people

00:26:48.700 who are more informed and smarter than them

00:26:51.420 on any number of issues.

00:26:54.040 You know, they don't have the kind of ego

00:26:56.400 that demands that they're the smartest person

00:26:58.360 in the room all the time.

00:26:59.520 And so they can call on people who are true experts

00:27:02.960 without, what would you say,

00:27:05.000 sacrificing the responsibility of the decision-making

00:27:07.840 to those experts?

00:27:08.800 Because that's also another danger,

00:27:10.140 as we saw with COVID.

00:27:11.440 And so, okay, so you think you've managed

00:27:14.560 to talk to a lot of people

00:27:16.440 and you know what the real concerns are in Toronto

00:27:18.600 and that you've been in a position

00:27:21.720 that enabled you to do that over like a decade

00:27:24.240 and also that you do have the ability

00:27:26.480 to identify people that are competent

00:27:28.200 and the willingness to listen to them.

00:27:30.720 And that, do you have any qualms on that front?

00:27:33.080 Like if you were looking at your weaknesses procedurally

00:27:36.880 with regard to your team,

00:27:38.760 what do you think they might be?

00:27:40.440 What do you need to have bolstered as you go forward?

00:27:43.680 Well, you just want to bring everybody to the table.

00:27:46.420 More voices and you want to get out there

00:27:48.000 and you want to meet as many people as possible,

00:27:50.120 identify as many people as possible,

00:27:51.880 whether it's the small business people

00:27:55.520 who I've been meeting with over the years

00:27:56.860 or whether it's the influential people.

00:27:59.100 I mean, it's finding that sort of perfect combination

00:28:03.480 of bringing everyone to the table.

00:28:05.260 When it comes to lobbyists, the big corporations,

00:28:07.580 they are able to pay to have someone come

00:28:09.500 and book a time to meet you at City Hall

00:28:11.220 and talk about their grievances.

00:28:13.540 But I found the smaller businesses,

00:28:15.180 the medium businesses,

00:28:16.380 the ones still run by the families,

00:28:18.340 I mean, they're just not able to do that.

00:28:19.540 They can't afford that, obviously, to hire a lobbyist.

00:28:22.020 And they have to fight a lot more aggressively

00:28:24.960 to just get the airtime for politicians.

00:28:26.980 So you want to go to them.

00:28:28.000 I've said I'm going to convene a mayor's round table

00:28:29.960 of small businesses and restauranteurs,

00:28:32.600 which is an industry that's just been

00:28:34.060 totally messed with and decimated.

00:28:36.100 And of course, restaurants are one of the things

00:28:38.060 that people say.

00:28:38.920 People don't say I'm going to Paris or Rome or Toronto

00:28:41.200 because I want to try the McDonald's at this intersection.

00:28:43.560 I want to go to that unique restaurant

00:28:45.420 I've heard so much about.

00:28:46.760 Yeah, we've totally gutted that industry during COVID.

00:28:49.560 So giving them a voice too, including those voices.

00:28:52.580 You know, I was in Romania here the other day

00:28:55.340 and I talked to one of the ministers

00:28:56.660 in the government there and they've put together a system

00:28:59.440 they call ION, I-O-N,

00:29:01.540 and it uses a chat GPT-like artificial intelligence system

00:29:05.900 to aggregate public concerns

00:29:07.700 and to bring them to the attention

00:29:09.140 of their political leadership.

00:29:11.520 So, you know, you said one of the weaknesses,

00:29:13.780 perhaps, in your operation

00:29:15.220 is that you see the necessity

00:29:18.000 of making contact with groups of people

00:29:20.600 who don't have a lobbyist,

00:29:22.580 a paid lobbyist voice,

00:29:23.640 and that's a constant challenge.

00:29:25.480 Back to the issue of competence and leadership.

00:29:28.140 You know, you want a leader,

00:29:29.320 you want someone who's intelligent

00:29:31.200 on the general cognitive ability front.

00:29:34.120 You want someone who's conscientious and dedicated.

00:29:36.520 And then you want someone

00:29:37.480 who has a very wide social network

00:29:39.320 because that's one of the multipliers of competence, right?

00:29:41.840 If you know people who know how to get things done,

00:29:44.640 well, A, you don't have to know,

00:29:46.420 you just have to call on them

00:29:47.660 and then you have to get the hell out of their way

00:29:49.860 if you have any sense.

00:29:51.360 So you're telling everyone who's listening

00:29:54.480 that, you know, one of the challenges you face

00:29:56.520 is trying to figure out

00:29:57.440 how to expand that social network

00:29:59.060 so that you're aggregating the concerns of people

00:30:01.660 who don't necessarily know

00:30:02.780 how to make their voice heard.

00:30:04.960 I think the restaurant example is a really good one

00:30:07.120 because, as you said,

00:30:08.340 that that's crucial to the kind of culture in a city

00:30:12.920 that might bring in tourists, for example,

00:30:14.860 and attract, well, and that's a major,

00:30:18.580 what would you say?

00:30:19.420 That's a major, an increasingly major economic force

00:30:21.800 and something that Toronto would like to pride itself

00:30:23.680 in being a cultural center.

00:30:25.700 So, all right.

00:30:27.980 So let's talk a little bit about your vision for the city.

00:30:32.120 If Toronto was what it could be

00:30:34.920 five years down the road or 10 years down the road

00:30:37.280 and you had a hand in determining that,

00:30:39.680 how would the city change direction

00:30:42.160 and what might you see happening down the road

00:30:45.700 on the city development side?

00:30:48.560 I mean, we have the whole waterfront

00:30:49.760 that's quite the catastrophic mess,

00:30:51.620 although that seems to be improving.

00:30:54.360 And there's lots of things about Toronto that work well.

00:30:56.760 What would you like to see improved

00:30:57.960 and what would the city look like

00:30:59.340 if it was really thriving?

00:31:01.020 Yeah, and you got to start from the premise

00:31:02.460 that you just love this city,

00:31:03.880 you love everyone in it,

00:31:05.100 it's a city worth fighting for

00:31:06.500 and you're going to throw your passions in it

00:31:08.020 100% to it.

00:31:09.540 And the frustrations right now,

00:31:11.440 the concerns, oh, we're slipping towards

00:31:13.080 being like Seattle, San Francisco,

00:31:15.260 awful videos of things happening in Vancouver,

00:31:17.240 where you have a downtown

00:31:18.300 that is increasingly in decay,

00:31:20.940 it's being hollowed out.

00:31:22.440 And the people who have taken over the streets

00:31:24.220 are people who are just not doing well

00:31:26.480 and they need help.

00:31:27.920 And some of them need incarceration,

00:31:29.980 depending on what they're getting up to.

00:31:31.300 And we really want to develop those places

00:31:34.280 that are primed for beautification.

00:31:35.800 You're right, talking about the waterfront areas

00:31:37.540 where other cities have totally beautified them.

00:31:39.800 And at the same time,

00:31:40.660 you want to deal with those decay aspects.

00:31:42.820 One thing that has been front and center

00:31:44.680 to what I've been campaigning on

00:31:46.400 is we have a lot of random attacks

00:31:48.540 going on the streets of Toronto

00:31:49.660 on public transit.

00:31:50.940 And that's why everybody is saying

00:31:52.220 public safety is such a concern.

00:31:53.980 They're nervous.

00:31:55.120 People say,

00:31:55.980 and it doesn't matter whether I'm meeting

00:31:56.920 with the small shopkeeper

00:31:57.880 or the executive,

00:31:58.620 they say,

00:31:59.200 my 13-year-old used to take the subway alone.

00:32:01.360 I'm not letting it happen anymore.

00:32:03.100 The subways are dirty, literally.

00:32:05.180 There's people sleeping in them,

00:32:06.460 camping on them.

00:32:07.460 They smell of piss.

00:32:08.660 People are just so unhappy

00:32:09.840 that it never used to be that way.

00:32:11.120 I had a carefree childhood,

00:32:12.260 teenage years growing up in Toronto.

00:32:14.360 And I was gallivanting all around town

00:32:16.160 and it was just great.

00:32:17.960 So much of what's going on

00:32:19.580 relates to the drug crisis.

00:32:21.440 So you'll have a news story

00:32:22.460 about a random stabbing.

00:32:23.640 And a couple of days later,

00:32:24.420 a cop will text me and say,

00:32:25.900 drugs, obviously.

00:32:27.480 And we have this growing number

00:32:29.400 of drug injection sites

00:32:31.020 that is really enabling this.

00:32:33.340 A compassionate society

00:32:34.420 doesn't keep people on drugs.

00:32:35.700 It helps get them off of it.

00:32:37.180 And I have found alarming stories

00:32:39.020 about attempts by the city

00:32:40.500 to create new injection sites

00:32:42.100 called another name.

00:32:43.940 I went to a public hearing

00:32:45.220 where there's a senior center

00:32:46.900 in North York

00:32:47.640 and they have some green space in front

00:32:49.200 to do their Tai Chi and so on.

00:32:51.000 And that green space,

00:32:52.100 they're putting what they call

00:32:52.880 modular housing

00:32:54.040 for chronically homeless men.

00:32:55.920 And you go,

00:32:56.460 okay, what does that mean?

00:32:57.440 And then they add,

00:32:58.020 and there will be harm reduction on site.

00:33:00.420 Oh, okay.

00:33:01.020 You've actually explained what this is.

00:33:02.700 You're going to create

00:33:03.280 a drug injection site

00:33:04.460 on the front lawn

00:33:05.500 of a senior's complex.

00:33:07.140 They're only green space.

00:33:08.480 Drug dealers are pretty smart people.

00:33:10.020 They go to where the customers are.

00:33:11.300 So obviously they're going to go to this site.

00:33:12.880 It's going to be total decay.

00:33:14.280 And that's why I have said

00:33:15.280 as mayor of Toronto,

00:33:16.500 no more new drug injection sites.

00:33:19.620 We're going to take

00:33:20.260 the allocated resources.

00:33:21.700 We're going to flip them

00:33:22.340 into treatment centers

00:33:23.520 to get these folks off of drugs.

00:33:25.680 The goal should be

00:33:26.300 to put these injection sites

00:33:27.540 out of business

00:33:28.540 to phase them out.

00:33:30.260 And we're helping these people

00:33:31.220 reclaim their lives

00:33:32.260 because I've been speaking

00:33:33.140 to parents who are so worried

00:33:34.560 about their kids on the street

00:33:35.800 who are just in violence.

00:33:37.160 They're being arrested.

00:33:38.100 They're hurting themselves.

00:33:39.160 They're hurting other people.

00:33:40.160 They want them off of it.

00:33:41.680 And if we can help these people,

00:33:43.280 we help clean up

00:33:44.500 the streets in general.

00:33:45.640 And we make our family safer.

00:33:48.160 We bring back trust in the city.

00:33:49.900 And then we can say,

00:33:51.120 all right,

00:33:51.300 we will invest

00:33:52.200 in building beautiful buildings.

00:33:53.640 We will invest

00:33:54.300 in bringing jobs

00:33:55.040 back to downtown.

00:33:55.720 And that's what lets

00:33:56.560 things flourish again.

00:33:58.900 Yeah, well,

00:33:59.400 it doesn't look like

00:34:00.400 turning over municipal spaces

00:34:02.240 to drug-addled homeless people

00:34:05.360 and their dealers

00:34:06.080 constitutes a move forward

00:34:07.940 for anyone.

00:34:09.100 I mean,

00:34:09.660 the countries in Europe,

00:34:10.640 like Portugal,

00:34:11.360 that have liberalized

00:34:12.360 their drug laws

00:34:13.080 with some degree of success

00:34:14.440 have actually paired them.

00:34:16.340 This is something

00:34:16.860 that people in Vancouver,

00:34:18.080 in particular,

00:34:18.640 the politicians in Vancouver,

00:34:20.200 haven't seemed to clue

00:34:21.120 into one bit,

00:34:22.200 is that Portugal,

00:34:23.980 for example,

00:34:24.440 didn't just decriminalize

00:34:26.120 drug use.

00:34:26.720 It also set up

00:34:27.460 very stringent rules

00:34:29.180 surrounding acceptable

00:34:31.340 public behavior

00:34:32.380 on the drug use front.

00:34:34.280 And so the policy

00:34:35.320 is something like,

00:34:36.560 well,

00:34:36.800 it isn't obvious

00:34:37.540 that criminalization

00:34:38.580 of drugs

00:34:39.240 has proved to be

00:34:40.480 a particularly successful

00:34:42.220 social policy.

00:34:43.620 But that doesn't mean

00:34:44.700 that you get to,

00:34:45.660 you know,

00:34:46.180 scream in a meth-induced rage

00:34:48.040 and run toothless

00:34:49.620 and naked down the street,

00:34:51.100 right?

00:34:51.360 Those aren't the same

00:34:52.400 necessary policy.

00:34:53.980 And what I have seen

00:34:55.320 in Ontario,

00:34:57.040 in particular,

00:34:57.700 this ominous tendency

00:34:59.240 to presume that

00:35:00.440 homeless people,

00:35:02.280 so to speak,

00:35:03.460 have a right

00:35:04.840 to municipal territory

00:35:06.600 by right of their,

00:35:08.880 I don't know what,

00:35:09.920 catastrophic disarray.

00:35:11.700 And that it's incumbent

00:35:13.660 on everyone

00:35:14.300 to turn over

00:35:15.000 our green spaces

00:35:15.900 to people who are homeless,

00:35:17.380 which is a preposterous notion

00:35:19.240 because it means that

00:35:20.280 your misery

00:35:22.080 now entitles you

00:35:23.140 to real estate

00:35:24.640 and to public real estate

00:35:25.940 and to highly valuable

00:35:27.040 public real estate

00:35:27.900 at the expense

00:35:28.860 of other people.

00:35:30.000 And there's nothing

00:35:31.020 in that policy

00:35:31.820 that's the least bit sensible.

00:35:33.120 There's certainly nothing

00:35:33.820 in it that's compassionate

00:35:34.800 as well because

00:35:35.560 from a psychological perspective,

00:35:37.340 that looks a lot

00:35:38.080 like enabling to me.

00:35:39.580 If you make it easy

00:35:40.400 for people to continue

00:35:41.400 to destroy themselves,

00:35:42.860 you're not doing them

00:35:43.740 a favor

00:35:44.200 and you're certainly

00:35:45.020 not some kind of hero.

00:35:46.660 You're just,

00:35:47.380 putting forward

00:35:48.080 bad policy

00:35:49.000 because you're ignorant

00:35:49.840 because you want

00:35:50.400 to feel good about yourself.

00:35:51.840 And if you're doing that

00:35:52.620 at the expense

00:35:53.260 of municipal property

00:35:54.680 that's valuable,

00:35:55.380 the green spaces,

00:35:56.200 for example,

00:35:57.400 and making them unsafe,

00:35:59.540 there isn't anything

00:36:00.420 good in that for anyone.

00:36:02.260 Absolutely.

00:36:02.960 And one of the challenges

00:36:03.740 we have in Toronto,

00:36:04.920 affordability crisis,

00:36:06.020 people can't afford

00:36:06.700 homes anymore,

00:36:07.720 so more and more

00:36:08.300 young families

00:36:09.080 are living in downtown

00:36:10.540 with their children

00:36:11.440 and they take condo spaces

00:36:13.120 and there are not

00:36:14.260 that many parks.

00:36:15.540 I mean,

00:36:15.900 Toronto has a shorthand

00:36:16.820 known as a city

00:36:17.780 within a park

00:36:18.400 because there is

00:36:19.000 so much green space

00:36:20.360 and trees,

00:36:20.900 which is great,

00:36:21.460 but actual parks

00:36:22.360 where you can go out

00:36:23.480 and have a great picnic

00:36:24.620 and a great time downtown,

00:36:25.740 there's not that many of them

00:36:26.940 and past couple years

00:36:27.920 they have been taken over

00:36:29.300 by encampments,

00:36:30.160 which is why I'm saying

00:36:31.020 as Mayor of Toronto,

00:36:32.680 no,

00:36:33.140 the public space

00:36:34.160 must be available

00:36:35.520 to people

00:36:36.360 and to families

00:36:37.780 to enjoy

00:36:38.720 and are we compassionate

00:36:39.860 about these people

00:36:40.680 having their troubles?

00:36:41.680 You bet we are,

00:36:42.640 but they can't take

00:36:43.920 over the parks

00:36:44.780 and the tent encampments

00:36:45.900 must go down

00:36:47.620 so the public space

00:36:48.820 can be reclaimed

00:36:49.860 by the people.

00:36:50.560 It's just getting warm

00:36:51.420 again in Toronto.

00:36:52.500 We've got to be able

00:36:53.260 to enjoy a summer

00:36:54.320 without these tensions

00:36:55.260 happening again

00:36:55.900 where kids can go down

00:36:57.160 a slide without the parents

00:36:58.360 having to go,

00:36:59.000 oh, are there needles

00:36:59.780 on this slide?

00:37:00.560 I've had that very experience.

00:37:01.960 We now live

00:37:02.420 in the East End of Toronto.

00:37:03.900 We live downtown

00:37:04.560 in condoland

00:37:05.160 and I have had to say,

00:37:06.460 sorry, son,

00:37:07.220 you cannot go down

00:37:08.240 this slide

00:37:08.740 because, well,

00:37:09.380 there's the needle

00:37:09.840 right there

00:37:10.340 and I'm not picking it up

00:37:11.280 because, you know,

00:37:12.460 I don't have the right material

00:37:13.820 to deal with this stuff

00:37:15.260 so we've got to move on.

00:37:16.420 I mean, that's just awful.

00:37:18.000 Yeah, so, okay,

00:37:19.900 let's talk about the,

00:37:21.640 let's get down

00:37:22.160 to the brass tacks

00:37:22.940 on that front.

00:37:23.740 I mean,

00:37:24.220 when you say something like,

00:37:28.020 well, we need to,

00:37:28.960 we need to take the parks

00:37:31.480 back from the encampments,

00:37:33.920 how the hell

00:37:34.860 are you going to do that?

00:37:35.840 I mean, I'm imagining that.

00:37:37.720 I think, well,

00:37:38.720 if you want the woke mob

00:37:40.300 to attack you

00:37:41.160 in a very successful way,

00:37:42.740 it seems to me

00:37:43.600 that a media campaign

00:37:44.720 showing the brutal hand

00:37:46.100 of Anthony Fury

00:37:47.080 oppressing the homeless

00:37:48.680 in parks in Canada,

00:37:51.040 that's a,

00:37:51.460 that's a hell of a fine story

00:37:52.820 and I'm sure

00:37:53.500 there's no shortage

00:37:54.280 of narcissistic journalists

00:37:55.660 that would go to town

00:37:56.500 on that.

00:37:57.120 It's like,

00:37:58.100 let's,

00:37:58.660 in the,

00:37:59.380 we can take the example

00:38:00.600 of a single park.

00:38:01.560 How would you envision

00:38:02.600 actually going about that?

00:38:04.220 What,

00:38:05.140 once this camp,

00:38:06.160 the camps are established,

00:38:07.340 like,

00:38:07.780 what do you do

00:38:08.400 with the homeless people

00:38:09.360 that are there

00:38:09.980 and how do you actually

00:38:10.820 take action

00:38:11.520 without it being

00:38:12.240 an ethical catastrophe?

00:38:14.160 Well,

00:38:14.320 the police go in

00:38:15.060 at the right time

00:38:15.880 and they get rid

00:38:17.080 of the tents

00:38:17.620 and they take the people out

00:38:18.820 and they move them

00:38:19.400 to another location.

00:38:20.440 That's how it's done.

00:38:21.540 It's the only way

00:38:22.480 it can be done

00:38:23.100 and I will make sure

00:38:24.220 we do it.

00:38:24.980 One of the reasons

00:38:25.660 it hasn't been done before,

00:38:26.940 two big reasons.

00:38:28.080 One,

00:38:28.400 the politicians are afraid

00:38:29.680 of encouraging that policy

00:38:31.140 because they don't want

00:38:32.020 the headlines saying,

00:38:33.080 oh,

00:38:33.240 look what this guy did.

00:38:34.520 I know the silent majority

00:38:35.680 is on my side though

00:38:36.660 that we just can't have

00:38:37.860 this compassion,

00:38:38.780 yes,

00:38:39.180 but you can't take over

00:38:40.120 the parks.

00:38:40.900 Number two,

00:38:41.640 one unfortunate thing

00:38:42.740 that's happened

00:38:43.340 with the anti-police movement

00:38:45.120 in recent years

00:38:45.960 is the police feel demoralized.

00:38:48.300 So,

00:38:48.580 so many officers tell me,

00:38:50.260 what is the point

00:38:51.180 of doing my job?

00:38:52.300 If I do my job,

00:38:53.280 follow protocols,

00:38:54.040 and I'm not talking

00:38:54.600 about the ones

00:38:55.120 that don't follow protocols

00:38:56.360 and do awful things,

00:38:57.460 they have to obviously

00:38:58.700 follow all the consequences

00:39:00.400 of being bad cops,

00:39:01.540 but the good cops

00:39:02.760 who are just trying

00:39:03.480 to do their job

00:39:04.240 and then they're thrown

00:39:05.280 under the bus

00:39:06.100 by the politicians

00:39:07.300 and their own chiefs.

00:39:08.780 We have a chief of police

00:39:10.080 also running for mayor here

00:39:11.200 who demoralized his force.

00:39:12.660 He threw the force

00:39:13.900 under the bus.

00:39:15.140 If you allow that to happen,

00:39:16.700 if you demoralize

00:39:17.620 your police force,

00:39:18.400 obviously they're going

00:39:19.060 to stop doing the job

00:39:20.300 and they don't feel like

00:39:21.700 there's any reason to do it

00:39:23.180 because they're just going

00:39:23.700 to be punished for doing it.

00:39:24.860 So,

00:39:25.280 one,

00:39:25.620 you say,

00:39:26.040 go in and do this,

00:39:26.800 clear the parks,

00:39:27.420 and number two,

00:39:28.740 when the headlines

00:39:29.480 start coming for me,

00:39:30.660 I'm not going to go,

00:39:31.360 oh,

00:39:31.660 I can't handle this,

00:39:32.680 so I'm going to

00:39:33.380 blame the cops.

00:39:34.020 I'm going to throw them

00:39:34.660 under the bus

00:39:35.200 for something that

00:39:35.960 I initially encouraged

00:39:37.020 them to do.

00:39:37.580 No,

00:39:38.120 we're going to bring

00:39:38.880 back law and order

00:39:39.680 and I'm going to have

00:39:41.000 the backs of the officers.

00:39:42.560 I'm going to support

00:39:43.840 the police.

00:39:44.800 So,

00:39:45.360 how are the police

00:39:47.680 reacting to your campaign?

00:39:49.100 Do you have any sense

00:39:49.860 of whether the rank

00:39:50.900 and file officers

00:39:51.740 are in support

00:39:53.100 of the sorts of things

00:39:53.980 that you've been

00:39:54.620 putting forward?

00:39:55.380 They are,

00:39:56.120 and I'm having

00:39:56.520 a lot of meetings

00:39:57.160 with officers

00:39:57.740 both officially

00:39:58.520 and unofficially

00:39:59.420 to hear what's

00:40:01.000 really going on

00:40:02.020 and to say,

00:40:03.420 I support you guys

00:40:04.460 and to get the sense

00:40:06.180 of what's going on

00:40:06.900 on the ground,

00:40:07.580 to speak to the beat cop.

00:40:08.840 Although,

00:40:09.440 to clarify that phrase,

00:40:10.860 beat cop there,

00:40:11.540 one of the things

00:40:12.440 that they identify

00:40:13.640 as a problem

00:40:14.100 is there aren't

00:40:14.800 beat cops anymore.

00:40:16.040 You walk around

00:40:16.660 the streets of Toronto,

00:40:17.740 you're not going to see

00:40:18.700 any police officer

00:40:19.880 just walking the streets.

00:40:21.720 And that was

00:40:22.260 a normal thing

00:40:23.000 for decades.

00:40:23.900 That was how policing

00:40:24.780 used to work.

00:40:26.080 Right now,

00:40:26.840 people walking

00:40:27.460 downtown Toronto

00:40:28.260 go,

00:40:28.800 the next person

00:40:29.520 who turns that corner

00:40:30.560 could be a person

00:40:31.780 in a drug-induced psychosis

00:40:33.200 who's going to attack me.

00:40:34.420 I'm nervous about that.

00:40:35.700 I want to get us

00:40:36.320 to a situation

00:40:37.080 where people go,

00:40:38.300 the next person

00:40:39.000 who turns that corner

00:40:39.780 could be a cop.

00:40:41.340 So,

00:40:41.600 both the people

00:40:42.200 feel a sense of assurance

00:40:43.320 and anyone who's thinking

00:40:44.420 of causing trouble

00:40:45.240 knows,

00:40:45.780 well,

00:40:46.060 okay,

00:40:46.320 I better be careful

00:40:47.060 because the next guy

00:40:47.800 around the corner

00:40:48.340 could be a cop

00:40:49.280 who stops me

00:40:49.980 from making that trouble.

00:40:51.720 So,

00:40:52.500 why were the police

00:40:53.320 taken off the walking beat?

00:40:55.860 Do you know?

00:40:56.300 Do you know how

00:40:56.700 that came about?

00:40:57.640 Because we increasingly

00:40:59.120 put our investments,

00:41:01.340 our tax dollars,

00:41:02.360 and our political capital

00:41:03.800 into these shiny new baubles,

00:41:06.440 these distractions,

00:41:07.540 these fringe projects,

00:41:08.640 and we let the core services

00:41:10.080 be ignored.

00:41:10.840 So,

00:41:11.020 it's a funding problem.

00:41:12.220 I mean,

00:41:12.500 we have defunded the police

00:41:14.080 in Toronto,

00:41:14.820 without a doubt.

00:41:15.700 We have fewer police officers

00:41:17.280 in Toronto now

00:41:18.480 than we did 10 years ago

00:41:19.980 despite the fact

00:41:20.960 the population has grown.

00:41:22.360 Where did all this crime

00:41:23.420 come from?

00:41:24.000 Where's all this disorder?

00:41:25.180 Well,

00:41:25.440 obviously,

00:41:26.400 cause,

00:41:26.980 effect.

00:41:27.440 That's what's going on

00:41:28.220 right now.

00:41:28.700 And we've got to turn it around.

00:41:29.860 We have to invest again

00:41:31.200 in the basics,

00:41:31.800 whether it's public transit,

00:41:32.920 which I'm going to do,

00:41:33.940 or in policing.

00:41:35.240 And we've just got to do it.

00:41:36.980 We have to reprioritize.

00:41:39.600 Okay,

00:41:39.940 so let's talk about

00:41:40.860 public transportation.

00:41:42.780 We could talk about,

00:41:45.040 well,

00:41:45.620 while the war on automobiles

00:41:47.660 has been raging

00:41:48.560 in Toronto,

00:41:49.160 there's also been

00:41:50.060 a tremendous amount

00:41:50.940 of noise

00:41:51.480 about improving

00:41:52.840 the transportation system,

00:41:54.920 the public transportation system.

00:41:56.460 And most of that's been noise,

00:41:58.540 and I think that Eglinton

00:41:59.760 is a very good example of that.

00:42:01.860 So the LRT system,

00:42:03.840 light rail transit system,

00:42:05.620 there have been plans

00:42:06.380 to make that functional

00:42:08.600 along the Eglinton route.

00:42:09.800 And that whole

00:42:12.060 major business thoroughfare

00:42:15.120 has been a quagmire

00:42:16.380 and nightmare

00:42:17.060 for, what,

00:42:18.020 20 years?

00:42:18.780 Something like that?

00:42:19.980 And with no real progress

00:42:22.440 of any sort,

00:42:23.620 evident,

00:42:24.600 on the transportation front.

00:42:27.080 And yet we hear stories

00:42:28.240 constantly coming

00:42:29.160 from, say, China,

00:42:30.520 which I'm not holding up

00:42:31.560 as a shining example,

00:42:32.540 by the way,

00:42:33.440 of the ability

00:42:35.300 to lay, like,

00:42:36.300 literally hundreds of miles

00:42:37.400 of subway down

00:42:38.240 within, you know,

00:42:39.180 a two or three year span.

00:42:40.900 So, like,

00:42:42.260 the subway system

00:42:44.120 in Toronto

00:42:44.580 for a city

00:42:45.180 of its size

00:42:45.940 and wealth

00:42:46.640 is pretty damn shoddy.

00:42:48.480 It's insufficient.

00:42:50.620 I've lived in Toronto

00:42:51.580 for 20 years.

00:42:52.880 The development plans

00:42:53.880 on the subway side

00:42:54.700 have been appalling,

00:42:55.800 to say the least.

00:42:56.620 Very little has got done.

00:42:57.600 It's unbelievably expensive.

00:42:59.000 It's caused

00:42:59.380 endless disruption.

00:43:00.780 Now, apparently,

00:43:01.800 the plan is

00:43:02.360 to shut down Queen Street.

00:43:04.280 So what,

00:43:04.640 is it going to turn

00:43:05.260 into another Eglinton?

00:43:06.160 That doesn't seem

00:43:07.460 like a very good plan

00:43:08.320 given how essential

00:43:09.200 Queen is to the entire

00:43:10.280 culture of Toronto.

00:43:11.960 So, like,

00:43:12.860 what's going on

00:43:13.580 on the public

00:43:14.480 transportation front?

00:43:15.620 And why put more money

00:43:16.940 into a system like that

00:43:18.060 if it's already

00:43:19.460 been demonstrated

00:43:20.160 for 20 years

00:43:20.920 that the city

00:43:21.580 is, for some reason,

00:43:22.520 incapable of managing

00:43:23.500 it properly?

00:43:24.420 And that's why

00:43:24.980 I came out

00:43:25.640 and said that

00:43:26.260 I will be suing

00:43:27.580 Metrolinx,

00:43:28.780 the agency that's

00:43:29.840 creating all of these lines,

00:43:31.360 for a billion dollars

00:43:32.740 for breach of contract

00:43:34.520 and damages

00:43:35.340 because this Eglinton line,

00:43:37.360 it was supposed

00:43:37.940 to be finished

00:43:38.600 a while ago.

00:43:39.720 Two years ago,

00:43:40.400 they took the media

00:43:41.140 and politicians

00:43:41.700 on a tour

00:43:42.240 and said,

00:43:42.620 look,

00:43:42.800 it's over 90% complete

00:43:44.580 and it actually worked.

00:43:45.660 They took the train

00:43:46.380 from end to end.

00:43:47.600 What's the problem?

00:43:48.600 They're not closers.

00:43:49.800 They can't get it done.

00:43:51.140 They can't do the granular.

00:43:52.660 They've just found out

00:43:53.400 there's no credible timeline

00:43:54.700 to complete it.

00:43:55.680 There are over 250 deficiencies

00:43:57.780 and city council

00:43:59.040 and the good people

00:43:59.780 of Toronto

00:44:00.180 are expected

00:44:00.760 to just shrug

00:44:01.600 and go,

00:44:01.900 oh, well,

00:44:02.840 another delay.

00:44:03.620 And I've said,

00:44:04.200 no,

00:44:04.500 it's not acceptable.

00:44:05.860 My team and I

00:44:06.640 read the contracts.

00:44:07.600 You're in violation

00:44:08.340 of so many of these terms.

00:44:09.980 We're suing you

00:44:11.000 for breach of contract

00:44:12.200 because we got a light of fire

00:44:13.620 under their rears.

00:44:14.480 We can't keep taking this anymore.

00:44:16.400 Yes,

00:44:16.620 we're all sort of polite Canadians,

00:44:18.160 but at a certain point,

00:44:19.140 you have to go,

00:44:19.760 we're being abused here.

00:44:21.260 We have to fight back.

00:44:22.140 We have to stand up

00:44:22.800 for ourselves.

00:44:23.480 And that lawsuit

00:44:24.780 should hopefully set the tone

00:44:26.100 that this new line,

00:44:27.440 the Ontario line,

00:44:28.380 it's called,

00:44:28.800 along Queen Street,

00:44:29.620 a downtown relief line,

00:44:30.980 we're grateful

00:44:31.700 this is being built.

00:44:32.580 It's long overdue,

00:44:33.700 so I'm going to be

00:44:34.200 a willing partner

00:44:34.980 with the other levels

00:44:35.760 of government

00:44:36.120 and getting it built.

00:44:37.260 But you guys

00:44:37.900 better not mess around

00:44:38.880 and you better stick

00:44:39.660 to schedule

00:44:40.300 because I'm showing

00:44:41.360 we're serious now

00:44:42.400 about holding people

00:44:43.260 to account.

00:44:44.000 This idea that contractors

00:44:45.300 in the public sector

00:44:46.580 can just totally screw up

00:44:48.100 on things in a way

00:44:48.900 that the private sector

00:44:50.040 would never tolerate,

00:44:51.300 we just can't be doing

00:44:52.260 that anymore.

00:44:52.780 To your point about China,

00:44:53.960 I can bring it closer to home.

00:44:55.340 I was touring

00:44:55.860 this beautiful Hindu temple,

00:44:57.260 this Mandir,

00:44:58.100 in the west part

00:44:59.020 of the city,

00:44:59.460 and they are telling me

00:45:00.420 the construction on it,

00:45:01.760 how it did not take very long.

00:45:03.220 They brought people in

00:45:03.880 from India

00:45:04.340 who are experts.

00:45:05.120 It's such a beautiful building,

00:45:06.680 so finely rod

00:45:08.120 and so many details to it

00:45:09.440 and they built it

00:45:10.240 in such a short period of time.

00:45:11.740 I was just gobsmacked.

00:45:13.980 I said,

00:45:14.340 we got to bring you guys

00:45:15.140 in to build the subways

00:45:15.980 because you're closers

00:45:17.860 and they're not.

00:45:18.700 Like, come on.

00:45:19.920 Well, what seems to happen

00:45:21.220 on the policy front

00:45:22.480 constantly

00:45:23.080 is that virtue signaling

00:45:25.900 narcissistic politicians

00:45:27.420 announce huge spending projects

00:45:30.040 and then they make the case

00:45:31.980 that the spending

00:45:33.040 is the accomplishment

00:45:34.400 and then they spend the money

00:45:36.260 but they don't do

00:45:36.940 any of the work necessary

00:45:38.080 to actually supervise

00:45:39.200 the spending

00:45:39.800 because the actual benefit

00:45:41.920 of the spending

00:45:42.620 isn't the spending

00:45:43.440 because any idiot

00:45:44.120 can spend money.

00:45:45.060 The benefit is the results.

00:45:47.080 Now, if you've done

00:45:47.720 even a home contracting project,

00:45:49.420 you know perfectly well

00:45:50.420 that you have to keep

00:45:52.920 an eye on the project

00:45:53.900 all the time.

00:45:54.860 There has to be someone there

00:45:55.780 making damn sure

00:45:56.720 that everything is,

00:45:57.760 I mean, you have to have

00:45:58.360 competent people doing it

00:45:59.420 but even then,

00:46:00.440 if you let a home

00:46:01.600 construction project

00:46:02.860 go unsupervised

00:46:03.800 for any amount of time,

00:46:05.300 first of all,

00:46:05.800 it'll grind to a halt

00:46:06.580 and second,

00:46:07.180 the costs will multiply

00:46:08.300 extensively.

00:46:10.020 So partly because

00:46:10.640 the contractors

00:46:11.240 have other jobs

00:46:12.320 and so, you know,

00:46:13.300 they're putting out

00:46:13.880 the noisiest fire

00:46:15.040 to mix metaphors terribly.

00:46:17.020 They're always putting out

00:46:17.720 this fire that's producing

00:46:19.620 the most smoke and noise

00:46:20.760 and so the same thing,

00:46:22.400 it scales,

00:46:23.000 the same thing happens

00:46:23.740 on major league

00:46:24.380 construction projects

00:46:25.320 and one of the questions

00:46:26.960 that's burning for me

00:46:28.080 is like,

00:46:28.520 well,

00:46:29.540 who the hell

00:46:30.100 abdicated the responsibility

00:46:31.540 on the Eglinton front?

00:46:32.800 And I guess the other thing

00:46:34.120 I'm curious about is,

00:46:35.420 you know,

00:46:35.620 if I was a

00:46:36.400 Eglinton business owner,

00:46:38.800 I would have been inclined

00:46:39.580 10 years ago

00:46:40.300 to go light a fire

00:46:41.280 at City Hall.

00:46:42.160 I mean,

00:46:42.680 what's happened in Eglinton

00:46:43.600 has destroyed the lives

00:46:44.980 of many people

00:46:45.800 over decades-long period.

00:46:47.080 These are hard-working people

00:46:48.100 who put a tremendous amount

00:46:49.200 of money into their businesses

00:46:50.280 and they've just been

00:46:51.500 screwed over

00:46:52.120 in 15 different ways.

00:46:53.660 Another example

00:46:54.360 of the pathology

00:46:55.320 of Canadian politeness.

00:46:57.000 I mean,

00:46:57.220 they shouldn't have been

00:46:58.380 putting up with that at all.

00:46:59.700 It's just,

00:47:00.300 it's beyond belief,

00:47:01.520 that traffic snarl

00:47:02.460 and the mess

00:47:03.340 that's been created there.

00:47:04.480 And so,

00:47:05.260 what,

00:47:06.240 what makes you think

00:47:09.320 that you'll be able to,

00:47:10.620 number one,

00:47:11.160 go after this company

00:47:12.260 successfully

00:47:12.960 without them just

00:47:14.020 folding and disappearing

00:47:15.060 or claiming bankruptcy

00:47:16.080 and disappearing.

00:47:17.640 And number two,

00:47:19.120 to put in place

00:47:19.940 people who actually

00:47:20.780 have the expertise

00:47:21.520 to supervise these projects

00:47:22.820 so they'll actually

00:47:23.460 be completed on time.

00:47:24.820 Particularly germane

00:47:25.800 given that,

00:47:26.360 you know,

00:47:26.560 the plan is to shut down Queen,

00:47:28.840 which,

00:47:29.540 you know,

00:47:29.900 strikes me,

00:47:30.620 given the Eglinton example,

00:47:31.860 as a pretty terrifying thing

00:47:33.120 to undertake.

00:47:35.420 Yeah,

00:47:35.820 well,

00:47:35.960 we've got to change

00:47:36.520 the way we approach

00:47:37.140 these issues.

00:47:37.640 Your point about

00:47:38.220 the home reno projects

00:47:39.400 is so important.

00:47:40.640 I remember a house

00:47:41.640 that I had,

00:47:42.380 we brought in some roofers

00:47:43.900 and there was a major

00:47:44.600 problem with it

00:47:45.300 and I said,

00:47:45.960 look guys,

00:47:46.460 like,

00:47:46.640 you've got to be held

00:47:47.360 to account on this

00:47:48.040 and they wanted more money

00:47:48.940 even though it was

00:47:49.400 their own ineptitude

00:47:50.280 and I remember at one point

00:47:51.860 one of the guys

00:47:52.380 shrugging and saying,

00:47:53.200 well,

00:47:53.300 look,

00:47:53.980 roofing is hard.

00:47:55.300 I said,

00:47:55.560 I know it's hard.

00:47:56.580 That's why I didn't

00:47:57.360 do it myself.

00:47:58.180 That's why I hired someone

00:47:59.220 who claims that they have

00:48:00.100 30 years experience

00:48:01.100 and they're the experts

00:48:02.140 in all of this.

00:48:03.060 So it's all about

00:48:03.720 holding the contractors

00:48:05.140 to account

00:48:05.920 and right now

00:48:06.720 the provincial government

00:48:07.780 is trying to say

00:48:08.480 to this city,

00:48:09.080 oh,

00:48:09.240 it's the contractor's problem.

00:48:11.020 Okay guys,

00:48:12.020 manage the contractors

00:48:13.200 because that's your sole job

00:48:14.580 and one of the interesting

00:48:15.920 things in government

00:48:16.660 is we have so many people

00:48:17.780 paid really good

00:48:18.540 six-figure salaries

00:48:19.580 to not just do the job

00:48:21.120 but to outsource it

00:48:22.380 and to manage the outsourcing

00:48:23.820 and it's like,

00:48:24.620 guys,

00:48:24.980 your 500k salary,

00:48:26.880 you're not even doing the job.

00:48:27.940 Your job is to manage

00:48:28.680 the contractors.

00:48:29.620 We should be expecting

00:48:30.460 that from you.

00:48:31.540 So part of this lawsuit

00:48:32.900 that I want to get going here

00:48:34.740 as soon as I get into

00:48:35.740 the mayor's office

00:48:36.480 is both

00:48:37.280 and I should say

00:48:38.080 that billion dollars,

00:48:39.020 I want to redistribute

00:48:40.040 those funds in part

00:48:41.060 to those businesses

00:48:41.920 that you identify

00:48:42.980 as being quite wrongly aggrieved

00:48:45.220 and of course

00:48:46.160 losing some of their life savings

00:48:47.780 over all of this.

00:48:48.660 This is to reframe

00:48:50.600 how we approach this

00:48:51.860 and to reset

00:48:52.540 who is the boss

00:48:53.460 because right now

00:48:54.280 increasingly

00:48:54.800 I think in public sector contracts

00:48:57.380 people who get the contracts

00:48:58.820 almost feel like

00:48:59.500 they are the boss.

00:49:00.780 So I want to reframe

00:49:01.780 the way we approach it

00:49:02.900 and that we can manage this

00:49:05.220 very rigorously.

00:49:06.720 We can demand excellence

00:49:07.940 because part of the problem

00:49:08.920 is we're just not demanding

00:49:10.620 excellence

00:49:11.360 and accountability.

00:49:13.160 Yeah, well

00:49:13.940 it's obviously

00:49:15.100 in the interests

00:49:15.960 of crooked contractors

00:49:17.720 to drag out

00:49:18.980 a high paying job

00:49:19.980 as long as possible

00:49:21.240 especially if you can also

00:49:22.640 combine that

00:49:24.100 with not doing the work

00:49:25.360 which is a good way

00:49:26.080 of saving costs.

00:49:27.780 So the impetus

00:49:29.440 for making these projects

00:49:30.980 inefficient

00:49:31.440 is absolutely clear

00:49:32.600 especially like I said

00:49:33.560 if you're dealing

00:49:34.040 with corrupt contractors

00:49:35.220 and so

00:49:35.740 have you talked

00:49:38.020 I presume

00:49:38.760 that you've talked

00:49:39.580 to legal advisors

00:49:41.040 about the

00:49:42.080 advisability

00:49:43.260 and practicality

00:49:44.120 of such a lawsuit.

00:49:45.120 What have they

00:49:45.520 what have they told you?

00:49:47.260 And I mean

00:49:47.800 this isn't

00:49:48.520 as far as I can tell

00:49:49.320 this isn't common practice

00:49:50.620 with regard

00:49:51.620 to the relationships

00:49:52.400 between

00:49:53.020 municipal

00:49:54.140 or provincial government

00:49:55.180 and contractors

00:49:56.020 right

00:49:56.440 doesn't generate

00:49:57.380 degenerate

00:49:58.040 into a billion dollar lawsuit.

00:50:00.040 What makes you think

00:50:01.040 that you can go forward

00:50:01.980 with this

00:50:02.560 on legal grounds?

00:50:04.000 Well

00:50:04.380 because you read

00:50:04.920 through the contracts

00:50:05.600 and it's glaringly obvious

00:50:06.740 that they are in breach

00:50:07.720 of contract

00:50:08.340 on a number of fronts

00:50:09.480 so you proceed

00:50:10.360 from that

00:50:10.780 and actually

00:50:11.600 I mean

00:50:12.400 you're right

00:50:13.240 but when it comes

00:50:14.520 to dealing

00:50:14.900 with the subway system

00:50:15.920 actually the contractors

00:50:17.880 are currently suing

00:50:19.400 the provincial government

00:50:20.820 over their own grievances

00:50:22.320 so it's like

00:50:23.200 these guys

00:50:24.000 again

00:50:24.400 that the contractors

00:50:25.300 think they run the show

00:50:26.300 they've actually

00:50:27.300 commenced the lawsuits

00:50:28.380 and the city of Toronto

00:50:29.700 is once again

00:50:30.480 the passive player

00:50:31.460 and the residents

00:50:32.160 are just expected

00:50:33.660 to take it

00:50:34.380 I want to get

00:50:35.100 the city of Toronto

00:50:35.760 in the game

00:50:36.480 I don't like

00:50:36.960 endless litigation

00:50:37.860 but the contractors

00:50:39.280 are the ones

00:50:40.280 who almost have

00:50:40.880 the greatest inertia

00:50:41.760 they've got the biggest balls

00:50:42.800 at the table right now

00:50:43.820 and again

00:50:44.520 we've got to say

00:50:45.000 no

00:50:45.140 we're getting in the game too

00:50:46.520 we're the only ones

00:50:47.960 not triggering

00:50:48.680 legal action right now

00:50:49.900 so again

00:50:50.500 that just puts us

00:50:51.280 on the defensive

00:50:52.000 and we don't have

00:50:52.700 a voice at the table.

00:50:54.260 Okay

00:50:54.600 well we've talked

00:50:55.300 a fair bit about

00:50:56.200 you know

00:50:57.100 some of the

00:50:57.700 remediating

00:50:59.740 some of the idiocies

00:51:00.860 that currently plague Toronto

00:51:02.260 let's say

00:51:02.800 on the bike lane front

00:51:03.800 and the park front

00:51:04.720 and the public transportation front

00:51:06.780 might be fun

00:51:07.860 for a bit

00:51:08.400 to talk about

00:51:09.020 what the city

00:51:09.540 could look like

00:51:10.300 I mean

00:51:10.520 one of the things

00:51:11.360 that's really struck me

00:51:12.240 I was in Montreal

00:51:12.980 not so long ago

00:51:13.900 and Montreal's done

00:51:14.660 a lovely job

00:51:15.360 of revitalizing

00:51:16.200 their old city

00:51:17.560 and the waterfront

00:51:19.580 so it's

00:51:21.040 extremely accessible

00:51:22.380 to people

00:51:22.800 it's very

00:51:23.760 very beautiful

00:51:24.420 it's a lot of fun

00:51:25.600 and that's something

00:51:26.560 Montreal's really good at

00:51:27.700 I mean

00:51:27.920 that damn city

00:51:28.740 man

00:51:29.020 it's produced

00:51:29.960 a civic life

00:51:30.800 that's just top rate

00:51:31.940 you know

00:51:32.280 if you're speaking

00:51:33.520 of world-class cities

00:51:34.560 there's probably

00:51:35.120 one in Toronto

00:51:36.100 or one in Canada

00:51:37.040 and that would be

00:51:37.680 Montreal

00:51:38.080 given all the things

00:51:39.880 that it has to offer

00:51:40.740 and Toronto

00:51:41.620 claims world-class city

00:51:43.080 status constantly

00:51:44.240 which is one of the

00:51:45.420 reasons you know

00:51:46.140 it's actually not true

00:51:47.160 because if you are

00:51:48.260 a world-class city

00:51:49.100 you don't have to

00:51:49.680 yell about it constantly

00:51:50.660 but we have this

00:51:51.780 amazing waterfront

00:51:52.820 that's

00:51:53.160 because the whole city

00:51:54.160 is spread out

00:51:54.800 along this

00:51:55.300 this gigantic lake

00:51:57.180 with its beautiful beaches

00:51:58.380 but so much of that

00:51:59.740 is still marred

00:52:01.000 by construction rubbish

00:52:02.280 and like detritus

00:52:03.740 of the last 150 years

00:52:05.200 of pointless

00:52:05.800 and counterproductive planning

00:52:07.760 and like the city

00:52:09.280 could be very

00:52:09.880 waterfront centered

00:52:10.800 and there has been

00:52:11.480 some moves

00:52:12.060 on that front

00:52:12.780 right downtown

00:52:13.600 with some real

00:52:14.880 progress made

00:52:16.920 I would say

00:52:17.420 over the last 20 years

00:52:18.420 I mean

00:52:18.680 then there's

00:52:19.840 night time in Toronto too

00:52:21.140 I think what was done

00:52:22.140 with the CN Tower

00:52:22.940 for example

00:52:23.540 lighting it up

00:52:24.160 that's kind of fun

00:52:24.900 and playful

00:52:25.340 and many cities

00:52:26.700 across the world

00:52:27.480 have instituted

00:52:28.680 these festivals

00:52:29.320 of lights

00:52:29.900 that make their cities

00:52:30.860 really glow

00:52:31.440 and dance at night

00:52:32.340 and like Toronto

00:52:33.340 could be a real

00:52:33.920 hopping place

00:52:34.740 it has the possibility

00:52:36.340 for that

00:52:36.800 very well developed

00:52:37.840 waterfront

00:52:38.420 and like a very

00:52:39.560 exciting downtown

00:52:40.380 and a cultural hub

00:52:43.140 if that was handled

00:52:44.340 intelligently

00:52:44.980 what do you see

00:52:46.340 on the positive front

00:52:47.260 for Toronto

00:52:48.760 under your

00:52:49.640 under your guidance

00:52:51.380 as mayor

00:52:51.900 as mayor

00:52:53.740 I'll say yes

00:52:54.900 to big

00:52:55.840 bold

00:52:56.580 exciting

00:52:57.200 and fun

00:52:58.100 ideas

00:52:58.720 because Toronto

00:52:59.840 has become

00:53:01.060 a city of no

00:53:02.400 and we always look

00:53:03.860 for reasons

00:53:04.420 to knock things down

00:53:05.660 what we call

00:53:06.180 tall poppy syndrome

00:53:07.180 there's something

00:53:08.180 that's going to be

00:53:08.760 very inspirational

00:53:09.620 very powerful

00:53:10.360 well let's come up

00:53:11.240 with reasons

00:53:11.680 to actually criticize

00:53:12.660 it instead

00:53:13.360 I've been speaking

00:53:14.120 to a lot of

00:53:14.520 real estate developers

00:53:15.400 who have some

00:53:15.960 very ambitious ideas

00:53:17.400 and when development

00:53:18.760 is coupled

00:53:19.380 with beautification

00:53:20.620 with boldness

00:53:21.540 it can be a really

00:53:22.380 powerful thing

00:53:23.120 to rebuild the city

00:53:24.260 because you don't

00:53:24.920 want the bureaucrats

00:53:25.880 and you don't want

00:53:26.540 the politicians

00:53:27.720 beholden to special interests

00:53:29.080 you want the people

00:53:29.940 who are the great innovators

00:53:32.640 and what so many

00:53:33.800 of these developers say

00:53:35.040 and also other

00:53:36.480 forward looking sectors

00:53:37.420 like the tech sector

00:53:38.280 for instance

00:53:38.740 what so many people

00:53:39.860 in these sectors say

00:53:40.760 development

00:53:41.300 tech sector

00:53:42.080 that things are so

00:53:44.460 slow moving

00:53:45.880 rigid and negative

00:53:47.380 when it comes to

00:53:48.360 planning

00:53:48.940 when it comes to

00:53:49.900 approvals

00:53:50.440 when it comes

00:53:51.060 to red tape

00:53:51.900 I was speaking

00:53:52.640 to one developer

00:53:53.440 who said

00:53:53.940 he's been waiting

00:53:54.680 six months

00:53:55.540 for a meeting

00:53:56.260 about whether

00:53:57.160 or not this wall

00:53:58.040 is kept or not

00:53:58.880 as a heritage

00:53:59.560 designation wall

00:54:00.640 and I said

00:54:01.220 well what's the problem

00:54:02.500 here what's the hold on

00:54:03.120 he said well

00:54:03.480 the guy comes by

00:54:04.380 from the city

00:54:04.980 and then he says

00:54:05.920 okay I got to go back

00:54:06.780 for this other paper

00:54:07.560 and then the meeting

00:54:08.560 is pushed for six weeks

00:54:09.520 later I'm like

00:54:09.900 why can't you be a closer

00:54:11.240 you get the guy

00:54:12.080 in the room

00:54:12.520 you're looking at

00:54:13.020 this darn wall

00:54:13.820 yay or nay

00:54:14.660 and just close the deal

00:54:15.820 right then and there

00:54:16.480 what's the problem

00:54:17.300 so you want to expedite

00:54:18.380 all these things

00:54:18.900 it's almost like

00:54:19.560 we're deliberately

00:54:20.340 dragging our feet

00:54:21.940 on all of this

00:54:22.620 if you want

00:54:23.380 a beautiful city

00:54:24.280 tomorrow

00:54:25.600 and we should have

00:54:26.400 one yesterday

00:54:26.900 but if you want it

00:54:27.640 tomorrow

00:54:27.960 you've got to start

00:54:28.780 saying yes to things

00:54:29.900 and approval processes

00:54:31.260 are so slow

00:54:32.320 well here's an example

00:54:34.980 so and I haven't

00:54:36.960 I've been traveling

00:54:37.840 a lot in recent years

00:54:39.060 and so I haven't

00:54:39.900 paid as much attention

00:54:40.740 to this particular issue

00:54:41.720 as I might

00:54:42.240 and so my knowledge

00:54:43.020 might be out of date

00:54:43.860 but I noted that

00:54:44.680 there was a

00:54:45.180 there was a protracted

00:54:46.520 attempt in Toronto

00:54:47.460 to diversify the food carts

00:54:49.860 away from just hot dogs

00:54:51.500 which is kind of

00:54:52.280 what they are now

00:54:52.980 hot dogs and sausages

00:54:53.960 and there was a notion

00:54:55.240 that given Toronto's

00:54:56.540 thriving ethnic communities

00:54:58.000 that we could set up

00:54:58.960 a system of food carts

00:55:00.840 and that could offer

00:55:02.780 an incredible plethora

00:55:04.420 of different dishes

00:55:05.540 and this is

00:55:06.260 this happens in places

00:55:07.460 like Manhattan

00:55:08.160 for example

00:55:08.740 and those street

00:55:10.000 those street restaurants

00:55:13.080 let's say

00:55:13.600 are good entry point

00:55:14.780 for people who want

00:55:15.480 to start a new business

00:55:16.300 and they do add a lot

00:55:17.580 to local life

00:55:18.420 because they can move

00:55:19.040 to parks and so forth

00:55:19.960 but the last time

00:55:21.380 I checked

00:55:22.040 none of that

00:55:23.280 had happened

00:55:24.500 all the carts

00:55:26.200 were still serving

00:55:26.960 hot dogs sausages

00:55:28.720 and french fries

00:55:29.480 essentially

00:55:29.940 and that

00:55:30.920 much touted

00:55:32.020 diversification

00:55:32.780 of food cart

00:55:33.580 hasn't occurred at all

00:55:34.460 hadn't occurred at all

00:55:35.220 it seemed to me

00:55:35.740 a classic

00:55:36.340 you know

00:55:37.260 very local

00:55:38.200 and detailed example

00:55:39.780 of that culture of no

00:55:41.020 that permeates

00:55:42.040 Toronto thinking

00:55:43.140 I saw a lot of that

00:55:44.080 at the University of Toronto

00:55:45.040 for example

00:55:45.580 there was always

00:55:46.040 a thousand reasons

00:55:46.880 why something interesting

00:55:47.880 and exciting

00:55:48.720 couldn't be done

00:55:50.160 you know

00:55:51.020 covered up with a patina

00:55:52.400 of we celebrate excellence

00:55:54.700 it's like yeah

00:55:55.360 I don't see much evidence

00:55:57.020 of that

00:55:57.340 plenty evidence

00:55:58.040 to the contrary

00:55:58.640 what's happened

00:55:59.620 do you know what's happened

00:56:00.400 on the food truck front

00:56:01.340 and do you think

00:56:02.460 that's emblematic

00:56:03.260 of the kind of problems

00:56:04.080 that you've been describing

00:56:05.120 it is

00:56:06.080 and the issue has regressed

00:56:07.440 so the other year

00:56:08.280 we introduced something

00:56:09.200 called CafeTO

00:56:10.380 where because of COVID

00:56:12.060 and indoor spaces

00:56:13.720 were in lockdown

00:56:14.580 so they said

00:56:15.140 okay we want to have

00:56:15.840 more outdoor spaces

00:56:16.600 so we're going to expedite

00:56:17.660 letting you have patios

00:56:19.260 that are just

00:56:19.920 on the sidewalks

00:56:21.860 or even sometimes

00:56:22.600 in the parking spaces

00:56:24.080 there we'll just let you

00:56:24.960 turn it into

00:56:25.660 a patio

00:56:27.060 so it would be like

00:56:27.640 a Parisian experience

00:56:28.700 and great

00:56:29.660 awesome

00:56:30.060 so we did it

00:56:30.840 and then this year

00:56:32.140 they've decided

00:56:32.720 you know what

00:56:33.260 let's start charging

00:56:34.220 we let them do it for free

00:56:35.600 let's charge them

00:56:36.840 $3,000

00:56:38.040 for each one of these patios

00:56:39.900 you know like

00:56:40.580 why

00:56:41.140 what's going on here

00:56:42.060 because it's a cash grab

00:56:43.180 because they realize

00:56:43.760 we can do this

00:56:44.800 we you know

00:56:45.420 they started it

00:56:46.180 they've already put

00:56:46.720 the outlay for it

00:56:47.480 now we've got them

00:56:48.620 let's get the $3,000

00:56:50.020 out and we'll bring in

00:56:51.080 $20 million

00:56:51.880 on all this

00:56:52.660 dinging them all

00:56:53.300 hold on a second

00:56:54.000 this is a great

00:56:54.700 it's a beautification measure

00:56:56.340 it gets the place jump in

00:56:57.960 it's brought in

00:56:58.660 all this economic activity

00:56:59.740 so of course

00:57:00.460 how can we take

00:57:01.640 something from them

00:57:02.500 how can we

00:57:03.160 how can we screw them over

00:57:04.420 on the sly a little bit

00:57:05.980 and so many businesses

00:57:07.080 are outraged

00:57:07.520 I came out

00:57:08.180 in front of the cameras

00:57:09.540 the other day

00:57:09.980 I said

00:57:10.420 no cafe TO fees

00:57:12.020 I'm axing them

00:57:12.960 I'm getting rid of them

00:57:14.100 we shouldn't be in a situation

00:57:15.520 where government

00:57:16.120 wants to micromanage everything

00:57:17.680 stifle everything

00:57:18.540 and

00:57:19.120 key to government

00:57:20.080 how can I get money

00:57:21.340 out of this

00:57:21.800 how is this a revenue opportunity

00:57:23.320 and that's really concerning

00:57:24.680 and that plays into

00:57:25.440 how they can't get

00:57:27.060 the food truck game going

00:57:28.120 and the general approach

00:57:29.100 to any good thing

00:57:30.720 that comes along

00:57:31.460 so

00:57:32.540 when you're out

00:57:33.560 talking to people now

00:57:34.880 tell me some of the stories

00:57:37.420 that you've heard

00:57:38.140 from people

00:57:38.780 that are talking to you

00:57:40.200 on a day to day basis

00:57:41.160 that have struck you

00:57:42.640 most deeply

00:57:43.320 and that

00:57:43.820 you regard as

00:57:45.080 say

00:57:45.680 pointing

00:57:46.200 in an emblematic way

00:57:47.660 to the problems

00:57:48.320 that the city faces

00:57:49.240 I mean you've been

00:57:50.040 talking to people

00:57:50.580 all over the place

00:57:51.300 and what's that

00:57:51.800 what's that been like

00:57:53.000 and what have you learned

00:57:53.860 well like I said

00:57:55.020 everybody brings up

00:57:55.840 the public safety issue

00:57:56.800 it doesn't matter

00:57:57.420 where they are

00:57:58.000 on the spectrum of society

00:57:59.100 one story

00:58:00.160 I will never forget

00:58:00.980 a father

00:58:01.860 knew my positions

00:58:03.240 on the drug injection sites

00:58:04.480 his daughter

00:58:05.060 has been

00:58:05.560 all through the system

00:58:07.020 in tragic ways

00:58:08.260 he told me

00:58:09.320 completely

00:58:10.180 sort of sober faced

00:58:11.540 emotionless

00:58:12.980 his family story

00:58:14.260 of the past couple years

00:58:15.300 he spoke for

00:58:16.460 about 20 minutes straight

00:58:17.760 to tell his daughter's story

00:58:19.280 I was in tears

00:58:21.260 at the end of it

00:58:21.980 and I was just

00:58:23.500 hearing this story

00:58:24.280 I was not the father

00:58:25.220 reliving it

00:58:25.900 it's still ongoing

00:58:26.820 it is an absolute tragedy

00:58:29.440 what's going on

00:58:30.680 in our streets

00:58:31.300 in terms of enabling

00:58:32.400 the drug culture

00:58:33.300 obviously there's so much

00:58:35.180 violence

00:58:35.580 hospitalization

00:58:36.440 the girl had been

00:58:37.280 pushed into

00:58:38.240 sex trafficking

00:58:39.660 and just horrendous details

00:58:41.960 and this is happening

00:58:43.060 people's daily lives

00:58:44.680 and yet because we have

00:58:46.240 a small number

00:58:47.220 of activists

00:58:47.820 who stand up

00:58:48.540 and use buzzwords

00:58:49.500 around harm reduction

00:58:50.540 we're just supposed

00:58:51.980 to not say boo

00:58:52.900 about this

00:58:53.400 we're supposed

00:58:53.840 to accept it all

00:58:54.660 and I'm not going to

00:58:55.360 a very deeply human

00:58:57.520 emotional conversation

00:58:59.000 with a father

00:58:59.800 in pain

00:59:00.860 an ongoing pain

00:59:02.280 for that family

00:59:03.040 and I'm not supposed

00:59:04.800 to do anything about it

00:59:06.000 because 20 people

00:59:07.380 are going to hold up

00:59:08.080 a placard

00:59:08.640 with a rude word

00:59:09.340 about me

00:59:09.800 not cutting it

00:59:10.980 that the safety issues

00:59:12.560 and the urban decay

00:59:13.520 are so real

00:59:15.080 it is just dreadful

00:59:16.340 these videos

00:59:16.940 coming out of

00:59:17.400 Vancouver

00:59:17.860 Seattle

00:59:18.340 everyone says

00:59:19.240 they're seeing

00:59:19.660 that stuff

00:59:20.180 on Instagram

00:59:20.700 on Twitter

00:59:21.340 they don't want

00:59:22.220 to see Toronto

00:59:22.780 go one step

00:59:24.240 further in that direction

00:59:25.460 and my commitment

00:59:26.880 to the people

00:59:27.380 of Toronto

00:59:27.680 I've said

00:59:28.060 as mayor of Toronto

00:59:28.900 I will stand strong

00:59:30.440 on that stuff

00:59:31.420 we're going to

00:59:31.900 clean up the streets

00:59:32.760 or else we're

00:59:33.540 just going to

00:59:34.200 decay further

00:59:34.840 so is that

00:59:35.760 would you regard

00:59:36.720 that

00:59:37.000 like if you had

00:59:37.820 to make

00:59:38.180 another

00:59:39.200 factor I've noted

00:59:42.160 that characterizes

00:59:43.480 leaders

00:59:44.440 rather than pretenders

00:59:45.980 is that they actually

00:59:46.880 have a list

00:59:47.680 of priorities

00:59:48.420 because

00:59:49.420 the pseudo leaders

00:59:51.360 have a hundred

00:59:52.840 problems

00:59:53.360 and they're going

00:59:53.800 to solve all of them

00:59:54.660 and wherever they turn

00:59:56.020 someone has a problem

00:59:56.800 and they're instantly

00:59:57.920 offered the assurance

00:59:59.360 that that's going

01:00:00.000 to be a top priority

01:00:00.880 and the thing

01:00:01.740 about top priorities

01:00:02.520 is that there's actually

01:00:03.440 one top priority

01:00:05.120 you know

01:00:06.000 and you can't

01:00:07.160 do everything

01:00:07.680 you have to

01:00:08.380 make a hierarchy

01:00:09.360 of necessity

01:00:10.060 it's one of the reasons

01:00:11.680 I like Bjorn Lomberg's

01:00:12.880 work on the

01:00:13.320 on the environmentalist

01:00:14.540 front for example

01:00:15.260 is he's rank ordered

01:00:16.320 solutions according

01:00:17.380 to cost benefit

01:00:18.200 for example

01:00:18.820 and so it sounds

01:00:20.060 like

01:00:20.840 that one of the

01:00:22.240 primary priorities

01:00:23.320 that you would have

01:00:24.220 as leader

01:00:24.580 is that

01:00:25.920 it's public safety

01:00:27.200 broadly

01:00:27.640 that includes

01:00:28.260 cleaning up the parks

01:00:29.200 that includes

01:00:29.820 making the subway safe

01:00:31.040 is that your

01:00:31.600 number one priority

01:00:32.480 how does that

01:00:33.300 fit in with

01:00:34.020 the idea of

01:00:35.660 like beautification

01:00:36.600 of Toronto

01:00:37.140 and development

01:00:38.220 of economic opportunity

01:00:40.140 where do you see

01:00:41.500 your priorities

01:00:42.000 how would that

01:00:42.620 be laid out

01:00:43.320 in your first

01:00:44.040 say year of government

01:00:45.200 public safety

01:00:46.840 is a hundred percent

01:00:48.120 key

01:00:48.520 it's my main

01:00:49.460 priority

01:00:50.120 phasing out

01:00:51.120 the drug injection

01:00:51.960 sites

01:00:52.360 getting beat cops

01:00:53.360 back on the streets

01:00:54.340 so people feel

01:00:55.560 like this city

01:00:56.220 is something

01:00:56.640 they can make

01:00:57.540 beautiful again

01:00:58.180 they want to

01:00:59.000 make beautiful again

01:00:59.860 they can build

01:01:00.660 buildings here

01:01:01.440 people are going

01:01:02.040 to buy those

01:01:02.500 buildings

01:01:02.800 pay property tax

01:01:04.080 which gives us

01:01:04.680 the funds

01:01:05.220 to keep investing

01:01:06.300 in things

01:01:06.780 businesses say

01:01:07.680 I do want to

01:01:08.780 reinvest in downtown

01:01:09.780 because my employees

01:01:11.560 feel like there's a

01:01:12.300 place for them to live

01:01:13.100 and a safe place

01:01:14.200 for them to live

01:01:14.900 where they no longer

01:01:15.600 want an exodus

01:01:16.400 from both downtown

01:01:17.320 and it's spilling out

01:01:18.920 to other parts

01:01:19.540 of Toronto as well

01:01:20.320 if you don't have

01:01:21.480 public safety

01:01:22.180 if people don't

01:01:23.080 want to be in the city

01:01:24.400 then it's a non-starter

01:01:25.820 and we've got to

01:01:26.580 bring law and order

01:01:27.260 back

01:01:27.580 we've got to bring

01:01:28.420 back those assurances

01:01:29.420 do you have any

01:01:31.160 concerns about

01:01:32.300 well I mean

01:01:34.360 one of the concerns

01:01:35.640 and I suppose

01:01:36.480 it's a reasonable

01:01:37.060 concern

01:01:37.460 is that if you

01:01:38.280 if you

01:01:39.500 are pushing

01:01:40.880 a law and order

01:01:41.660 platform

01:01:42.380 that you tilt

01:01:44.140 the city

01:01:44.820 towards

01:01:45.500 excess policing

01:01:46.820 towards excess

01:01:48.100 authoritarian

01:01:49.260 heavy-handed

01:01:50.700 authoritarianism

01:01:51.640 and obviously

01:01:52.080 that can be a problem

01:01:53.420 because there can be

01:01:54.120 too much policing

01:01:55.140 and as there was

01:01:56.760 during the COVID era

01:01:57.860 let's say

01:01:58.580 the so-called

01:01:59.560 pandemic

01:02:00.360 of authoritarian

01:02:01.500 virtue

01:02:02.560 how do you

01:02:04.920 what dangers

01:02:06.940 do you see

01:02:07.660 on the policing front

01:02:08.920 and do you have

01:02:09.820 some sense

01:02:10.340 of how

01:02:10.720 you might ameliorate

01:02:12.660 the concerns

01:02:13.240 of people

01:02:13.780 who are afraid

01:02:14.940 of a more

01:02:15.540 law and order

01:02:16.200 approach

01:02:16.780 yeah and a couple

01:02:18.060 years ago

01:02:18.480 when people were

01:02:19.000 taking to the streets

01:02:19.820 across North America

01:02:20.940 to protest the police

01:02:22.300 more broadly

01:02:22.900 I never once said

01:02:24.240 in my commentary

01:02:24.980 don't do those protests

01:02:26.860 don't go out there

01:02:28.060 and I've never

01:02:29.240 said to anyone

01:02:30.120 don't protest

01:02:30.780 don't make your voice heard

01:02:31.860 because part of that

01:02:32.780 experience was reminding

01:02:34.000 police that their job

01:02:35.140 is to serve

01:02:35.720 and protect the people

01:02:36.700 they're hired by the people

01:02:38.000 and they respond

01:02:38.720 to the people's concerns

01:02:39.760 so there's a pressure

01:02:40.980 valve moment

01:02:41.640 where people want to

01:02:42.280 get their thoughts

01:02:42.820 out on the police

01:02:43.580 and hold them to account

01:02:44.720 by all means do it

01:02:45.860 the problem is

01:02:46.800 what we did a few years ago

01:02:48.180 is we threw the baby

01:02:49.440 out with the bath water

01:02:50.480 the pendulum just went

01:02:52.120 bonkers

01:02:52.720 in totally the wrong direction

01:02:54.240 defunded the police

01:02:55.620 demoralized the police

01:02:56.940 and detasked the police

01:02:58.680 that's a phrase

01:02:59.280 officers use

01:03:00.000 when they're speaking to me

01:03:00.780 took away the things

01:03:02.600 they do

01:03:03.060 so right now

01:03:03.960 I'm not particularly

01:03:04.900 afraid of going

01:03:06.300 in the wrong direction

01:03:07.120 I just want the pendulum

01:03:08.100 to get back to normalcy

01:03:09.380 right now

01:03:10.120 and so when the policemen

01:03:12.080 say that they've been

01:03:13.100 detasked

01:03:13.920 my suspicions

01:03:14.900 that has something

01:03:15.760 to do also

01:03:16.420 with the removal

01:03:17.220 of localized autonomy

01:03:18.640 right

01:03:18.960 I mean

01:03:19.200 policemen have to be

01:03:21.020 able to make

01:03:22.160 their own decisions

01:03:23.060 at the micro level

01:03:24.220 because

01:03:25.540 well

01:03:26.640 someone in a managerial

01:03:28.960 position

01:03:29.320 isn't on the ground

01:03:30.380 and watching the situation

01:03:31.540 and individual policemen

01:03:33.200 get thrown under the bus

01:03:34.120 a lot for doing that

01:03:35.200 and obviously

01:03:36.060 that's going to be

01:03:36.920 demoralizing

01:03:37.640 and when you

01:03:38.560 when you talk to

01:03:39.540 policemen

01:03:40.360 about their concerns

01:03:41.740 about doing their job

01:03:42.700 what sort of things

01:03:43.680 are they telling you

01:03:44.560 that are interfering

01:03:45.620 what are they afraid of

01:03:47.380 Toronto has a

01:03:49.200 broken windows problem

01:03:50.520 where all the minor infractions

01:03:52.760 are totally allowed

01:03:53.900 there is zero policing

01:03:55.420 of minor infractions

01:03:56.840 and that sends the message

01:03:58.300 that well why not

01:03:59.420 do a major infraction

01:04:00.660 if no one cares

01:04:01.860 about the little things

01:04:02.940 are they going to care

01:04:04.000 about the big things

01:04:04.840 so the detasked

01:04:06.000 means that

01:04:06.440 there was a time

01:04:07.340 when you'd call 911

01:04:08.360 or call the local division

01:04:10.120 directly

01:04:10.660 and you'd say

01:04:11.780 we have some graffiti here

01:04:13.580 or we have a guy

01:04:14.360 causing a disorder problem

01:04:15.700 my house has been broken into

01:04:17.020 my car was stolen

01:04:18.320 you're increasingly redirected

01:04:20.200 to this service 311

01:04:21.580 where an operator

01:04:23.140 who's not at all

01:04:24.000 connected with the police

01:04:25.400 says okay sir

01:04:26.340 I'll take a note

01:04:27.320 and maybe one day

01:04:28.580 someone will get back to you

01:04:29.760 I'll give a very real example

01:04:31.260 I saw on my community

01:04:32.800 Facebook page

01:04:33.600 that there were injection needles

01:04:34.940 under these risers

01:04:36.880 under these bleachers

01:04:37.780 at a park right near

01:04:38.840 where my kids play

01:04:40.200 and someone said

01:04:41.160 watch out

01:04:41.680 these are here

01:04:42.220 but we called the service

01:04:43.200 because they say

01:04:43.760 don't touch the drug needles

01:04:45.140 because the great thing

01:04:46.000 about having all these

01:04:46.740 injection sites

01:04:47.480 is there's all these experts

01:04:48.660 who deal with this stuff

01:04:49.580 so don't you touch them

01:04:50.460 we're going to bring the experts

01:04:51.440 he called this service

01:04:52.700 the needles were not collected

01:04:54.200 I went and took a look

01:04:55.660 I called the service again

01:04:57.360 to say are these needles

01:04:58.340 getting collected

01:04:59.040 they just never were

01:05:00.600 and they say

01:05:01.100 oh yeah

01:05:01.480 someone will be there

01:05:02.080 to pick them up

01:05:02.640 and they're just not

01:05:03.740 issues where

01:05:05.180 who's even dealing

01:05:06.580 with these issues anymore

01:05:07.680 detask just means

01:05:08.880 they're not responding

01:05:09.740 to things

01:05:10.060 car thefts are massive

01:05:11.560 in Toronto right now

01:05:12.800 part of the problem

01:05:13.660 and we haven't really spoken

01:05:15.220 about the media yet

01:05:16.340 but because mainstream media

01:05:19.440 is being hollowed out

01:05:20.340 there's tons of layoffs

01:05:21.400 people are not actually

01:05:23.000 reporting on what's going on

01:05:24.700 and they don't really

01:05:25.460 have a sense of just

01:05:26.600 how much crime

01:05:27.260 has gotten out of control

01:05:28.260 unless they're on top of it

01:05:29.940 so community Facebook groups

01:05:31.360 will post the news releases

01:05:33.100 that are on the police website

01:05:35.520 that talk about

01:05:36.360 these sexual assaults

01:05:37.560 these stabbings

01:05:38.260 these robberies

01:05:39.080 and they get to people

01:05:40.520 via their community hubs

01:05:41.820 but they're not in the news

01:05:43.180 so if you're not in those

01:05:44.300 community safety Facebook pages

01:05:45.900 or if you're not talking

01:05:47.560 to somebody

01:05:48.100 who's had this stuff

01:05:49.140 happen to them

01:05:49.720 you're oblivious

01:05:50.680 to what's actually going on

01:05:51.760 and it is brutal right now

01:05:53.280 the volume of things

01:05:54.440 you know I was in

01:05:55.720 the capital city

01:05:56.900 of Albania

01:05:57.940 a while back

01:05:58.840 and unlike most

01:06:00.600 eastern European cities

01:06:01.980 it is graffiti free

01:06:04.280 and you might think

01:06:07.160 well that's who cares

01:06:08.520 and I would say

01:06:09.640 well if you traveled

01:06:10.420 through eastern Europe

01:06:11.240 you'd care

01:06:11.800 and this is also true

01:06:12.980 of Rome by the way

01:06:13.840 because there is

01:06:16.180 an assortment

01:06:18.440 of magnificent architecture

01:06:19.960 that's absolutely marred

01:06:21.980 and it's not bloody well

01:06:23.440 marred by street art

01:06:24.900 it's marred by

01:06:26.320 miserable little

01:06:27.400 psychopathic thugs

01:06:28.540 who are doing nothing

01:06:29.320 but tagging

01:06:30.120 and the cities

01:06:31.560 look dreadful

01:06:32.900 as a consequence

01:06:33.660 and they actually

01:06:34.400 fixed that in Albania

01:06:35.680 they had about 50 people

01:06:38.020 to begin with

01:06:38.740 tasked with

01:06:39.540 going around

01:06:40.500 and painting out

01:06:41.320 the graffiti

01:06:41.960 but they started

01:06:43.120 working

01:06:43.560 they started

01:06:44.100 finding the graffiti

01:06:45.500 artists so called

01:06:46.780 and they identified

01:06:47.600 the small number

01:06:48.680 of them that were

01:06:49.260 actually talented

01:06:50.060 and figured out

01:06:51.940 how to use

01:06:52.880 their talents

01:06:53.540 in a more productive way

01:06:54.940 and so they've managed

01:06:56.280 to reduce

01:06:56.920 their graffiti

01:06:58.400 removal team

01:06:59.320 to one person

01:07:00.340 and the whole city

01:07:01.740 is clear

01:07:02.660 of this scourge

01:07:04.120 and it really is a scourge

01:07:05.120 and I think it is

01:07:05.780 a broken window scourge

01:07:06.940 is that

01:07:07.280 if tagging

01:07:08.640 is allowed

01:07:09.100 to go unaddressed

01:07:10.100 first of all

01:07:10.860 it adds to the general

01:07:12.080 ugliness

01:07:12.800 of the city

01:07:13.960 and that's demoralizing

01:07:15.480 it shows that

01:07:16.560 the thugs

01:07:17.280 can

01:07:17.600 what would you say

01:07:19.760 manifest

01:07:20.660 their psychopathic

01:07:22.040 narcissism

01:07:22.740 without any

01:07:23.400 danger

01:07:24.600 of being stopped

01:07:25.800 and that does

01:07:26.680 encourage

01:07:27.300 broader scale

01:07:28.380 what would you say

01:07:30.180 social misbehavior

01:07:31.460 and crime

01:07:32.080 and so

01:07:33.080 well

01:07:34.580 I've been trying

01:07:37.060 to think through

01:07:37.980 what processes

01:07:40.780 might be necessary

01:07:41.780 to bring

01:07:42.640 a vision

01:07:44.240 of

01:07:44.700 you know

01:07:46.000 an artistically

01:07:47.040 thriving

01:07:47.940 but

01:07:49.720 well-ordered

01:07:50.880 society

01:07:51.420 into being

01:07:52.040 and this idea

01:07:52.800 of co-opting

01:07:53.640 some of the people

01:07:54.320 who are involved

01:07:54.920 in these

01:07:55.360 in these

01:07:56.320 low-level

01:07:58.880 criminal activities

01:08:00.240 seem to be

01:08:00.760 an interesting one

01:08:01.660 I mean

01:08:02.080 you talked about

01:08:02.960 the broken window

01:08:03.740 problem

01:08:04.280 you talked about

01:08:05.700 the needle problem

01:08:08.100 for example

01:08:08.720 and the fact

01:08:10.200 of homelessness

01:08:10.680 in the park

01:08:11.380 what other elements

01:08:12.740 of urban decay

01:08:13.740 do you think

01:08:14.400 are sending

01:08:14.900 the wrong message

01:08:15.740 to people

01:08:16.240 in Toronto

01:08:16.820 one big issue

01:08:18.960 that so many

01:08:19.940 different groups

01:08:20.600 talk to me about

01:08:21.260 and I've met

01:08:21.740 with Hindu parent groups

01:08:23.340 Asian parent groups

01:08:24.480 meeting with

01:08:25.840 an Islamic association

01:08:26.980 so many concerns

01:08:28.980 about an issue

01:08:29.960 you've talked a lot

01:08:30.880 about education

01:08:32.320 and the school system

01:08:33.660 now the mayor

01:08:34.120 of Toronto

01:08:34.560 does not run

01:08:35.320 the school system

01:08:36.100 it's a provincial issue

01:08:37.180 but you have

01:08:37.620 a relationship

01:08:38.360 with the head

01:08:38.880 of the school board

01:08:39.620 and the trustees

01:08:40.540 an ongoing relationship

01:08:41.740 and I've told

01:08:42.400 these parents

01:08:42.920 I will be

01:08:44.140 your advocate

01:08:45.020 I will elevate

01:08:46.380 your voices

01:08:47.060 because they are

01:08:48.220 very concerned

01:08:49.240 about the lack

01:08:50.500 of academic excellence

01:08:52.000 instead there's

01:08:53.040 a lot of advocacy

01:08:54.400 a lot of activism

01:08:55.640 going on

01:08:56.520 in the school system

01:08:57.360 and that schools

01:08:58.320 have become

01:08:58.880 zero consequence

01:09:00.440 environments

01:09:01.240 where the broken

01:09:02.320 windows theory

01:09:03.080 is almost

01:09:03.560 being taught

01:09:04.680 in the worst

01:09:05.220 possible ways

01:09:05.940 in the system

01:09:06.560 that as kids

01:09:07.960 there's zero

01:09:08.680 consequences to things

01:09:09.940 you know my wife

01:09:10.860 and I are always

01:09:11.340 telling our kids

01:09:11.780 hurry up

01:09:12.180 you're going to be

01:09:12.500 late for school

01:09:13.040 what are you doing

01:09:13.400 this is unacceptable

01:09:14.180 you can't show up

01:09:15.260 to hockey late

01:09:15.880 you can't show up

01:09:16.380 to class late

01:09:17.100 and yet there was

01:09:18.040 a time when I was

01:09:18.640 a kid when if you

01:09:19.380 did that

01:09:20.040 well there'd be

01:09:21.020 a problem

01:09:21.520 it would be

01:09:22.100 acknowledged that

01:09:22.940 you let the team

01:09:24.060 down

01:09:24.460 you've let the class

01:09:25.540 down

01:09:25.820 maybe you have to

01:09:26.280 go to the office

01:09:26.900 it's marked on a page

01:09:27.960 and now

01:09:28.440 there's no consequences

01:09:29.700 so we're kind of

01:09:30.520 saying come on guys

01:09:31.200 and then when it

01:09:31.740 actually happens

01:09:32.500 and there

01:09:32.820 the couple times

01:09:33.960 they are late

01:09:34.540 or the kid who's

01:09:35.060 late every day

01:09:35.560 they go mom dad

01:09:36.640 why are you nagging

01:09:37.460 us about this

01:09:38.100 this is clearly

01:09:38.740 not a problem

01:09:39.340 we can

01:09:39.700 it doesn't matter

01:09:40.480 you don't have

01:09:41.000 to do all this

01:09:41.600 I don't have to

01:09:42.220 remember to do

01:09:42.800 my homework

01:09:43.220 if I don't do

01:09:43.680 my homework

01:09:44.160 what are the

01:09:44.780 consequences

01:09:45.240 nobody cares

01:09:45.820 if I don't do

01:09:46.280 my homework

01:09:46.680 and I'm not

01:09:47.700 I'm not blaming

01:09:49.020 the teachers

01:09:49.680 or at least

01:09:50.280 I'm not blaming

01:09:50.740 all of them

01:09:51.220 for this

01:09:51.680 because a lot of

01:09:52.440 teachers tell me

01:09:53.660 that this is a

01:09:54.240 problem as well

01:09:54.700 the system

01:09:55.500 just doesn't

01:09:56.380 allow this to

01:09:57.020 happen

01:09:57.280 because again

01:09:57.680 going back

01:09:58.080 to the policing

01:09:58.720 we reached a

01:10:01.100 crossover point

01:10:01.860 where principals

01:10:02.740 teachers

01:10:03.260 superintendents

01:10:04.220 who did bring

01:10:05.180 consequences to

01:10:06.120 kids where they

01:10:06.580 were needed

01:10:07.020 they were thrown

01:10:08.020 under the bus

01:10:08.680 by the politicians

01:10:09.900 by the senior

01:10:10.980 bureaucrats

01:10:11.540 so we have this

01:10:12.240 cascading problem

01:10:13.280 at the education

01:10:14.460 level as well

01:10:15.200 so why not

01:10:16.140 when you graduate

01:10:16.720 from high school

01:10:17.360 or you know

01:10:17.980 you're in grade 10

01:10:18.720 and school lets out

01:10:19.920 why not go do

01:10:20.700 tagging on people's

01:10:22.040 private property

01:10:22.780 I mean there's

01:10:23.860 no signal

01:10:24.460 that that's

01:10:25.260 something one

01:10:26.040 shouldn't be doing

01:10:26.680 yeah so that's

01:10:28.020 part of the

01:10:28.520 that's part of

01:10:29.420 a reflection of

01:10:30.100 this broader

01:10:30.740 social malaise

01:10:32.360 and also the

01:10:33.620 increasing hyper

01:10:34.480 dominance of

01:10:35.280 the radical types

01:10:36.280 who you know

01:10:37.260 use this

01:10:37.820 narcissistic

01:10:38.600 compassion to

01:10:39.360 twist things

01:10:39.900 around

01:10:40.280 and so

01:10:40.700 so you got

01:10:42.580 involved in

01:10:43.180 municipal politics

01:10:44.280 and what is

01:10:46.300 what has that

01:10:46.900 done to your

01:10:47.460 journalistic career

01:10:48.500 at the moment

01:10:49.220 like what are

01:10:49.700 you putting on

01:10:50.220 the line

01:10:50.700 to run this

01:10:52.320 mayoralty

01:10:52.760 campaign

01:10:53.260 I mean if

01:10:54.160 you win

01:10:54.480 obviously you're

01:10:55.060 going to be

01:10:55.320 mayor but if

01:10:55.880 you lose

01:10:56.360 what happens

01:10:57.240 if you lose

01:10:57.860 what do you

01:10:58.520 go what

01:10:58.940 what do you

01:10:59.680 have waiting

01:11:00.080 for you

01:11:00.520 do you go

01:11:01.560 back to your

01:11:01.980 journal your

01:11:02.620 career in

01:11:03.040 journalism how

01:11:03.660 does that work

01:11:04.240 out

01:11:04.460 I'd like to

01:11:05.140 think I have

01:11:05.500 a lot waiting

01:11:06.020 for me because

01:11:06.600 this has just

01:11:07.100 been such an

01:11:07.660 amazing experience

01:11:08.360 and I say if

01:11:08.860 you want to

01:11:09.180 fall in love

01:11:09.600 with the city

01:11:10.040 of Toronto

01:11:10.360 all over again

01:11:11.020 and and remember

01:11:12.200 what you like

01:11:12.800 about it you

01:11:13.200 run for mayor

01:11:13.780 because you just

01:11:14.360 meet so many

01:11:15.400 amazing people

01:11:16.620 and people open

01:11:18.000 up their doors

01:11:18.620 they open up

01:11:19.400 their hearts

01:11:19.800 to you so

01:11:20.280 I think

01:11:21.060 everything opens

01:11:21.860 up when you

01:11:22.260 just go around

01:11:23.000 and you make

01:11:23.480 those meaningful

01:11:24.040 human connections

01:11:24.840 and I'll say

01:11:25.220 particularly coming

01:11:26.120 out of a period

01:11:26.680 where we weren't

01:11:27.600 making human

01:11:28.220 connections for a

01:11:29.140 good two years

01:11:29.800 and as you know

01:11:30.340 Toronto was one

01:11:31.900 of the most

01:11:32.200 locked down

01:11:32.680 jurisdictions in

01:11:33.540 the world to

01:11:34.900 sort of reopen

01:11:36.260 things and just

01:11:37.320 sit down and

01:11:38.280 have meaningful

01:11:38.940 human connections

01:11:39.780 this has been

01:11:40.760 such a great

01:11:41.500 privilege for me

01:11:42.660 and I think

01:11:43.320 regular folks

01:11:44.340 really want the

01:11:45.440 sort of stuff

01:11:45.940 that you've been

01:11:46.400 talking about for

01:11:47.040 years that I've

01:11:47.640 been talking about

01:11:48.360 four years

01:11:49.260 so I'm in it

01:11:49.940 to win it

01:11:50.400 and you know

01:11:50.780 every day

01:11:51.340 we're making

01:11:52.200 connections with

01:11:52.960 new people

01:11:53.440 and more

01:11:54.560 individuals joining

01:11:55.460 the team

01:11:55.920 because they want

01:11:57.440 to go in this

01:11:58.000 new direction

01:11:58.560 and the people

01:11:59.500 the fringe

01:12:01.580 niche activist

01:12:02.960 agenda is

01:12:04.460 increasingly I

01:12:05.520 think losing

01:12:07.100 momentum

01:12:07.520 people don't

01:12:08.200 realize that

01:12:08.800 they're undeniably

01:12:10.220 on the down

01:12:11.220 that all the

01:12:12.000 indicators show

01:12:12.760 that these folks

01:12:13.740 do not have the

01:12:14.600 influence and power

01:12:15.440 they did

01:12:16.460 and it's time to

01:12:17.120 put the regular

01:12:17.640 folks back in

01:12:18.320 charge again

01:12:18.780 and we can do

01:12:19.740 it

01:12:19.940 so okay

01:12:20.900 okay so let's

01:12:21.780 let's talk about

01:12:22.560 that you you

01:12:23.320 made two points

01:12:24.060 then I'm going to

01:12:24.820 ask you about the

01:12:25.580 alternatives again

01:12:26.360 to to to being

01:12:27.640 mayor let's say

01:12:28.340 because I'm

01:12:28.800 interested in the

01:12:29.400 price you pay for

01:12:30.140 this but you

01:12:31.180 made the case

01:12:31.860 I've been talking

01:12:33.240 to people in my

01:12:33.900 audiences that you

01:12:35.340 know if they're

01:12:35.760 concerned about

01:12:36.560 what's going on

01:12:37.260 in the political

01:12:37.680 front especially

01:12:38.480 with regards to

01:12:39.360 the more extreme

01:12:40.140 activist types

01:12:40.880 that they should

01:12:41.440 really think hard

01:12:42.700 about involving

01:12:43.940 themselves in the

01:12:44.740 political process

01:12:45.440 because obviously

01:12:46.720 something's wrong

01:12:47.860 and obviously if

01:12:49.620 people who are

01:12:50.760 centrist and

01:12:51.800 competent don't

01:12:53.380 involve themselves

01:12:54.200 then people who

01:12:55.520 are extreme and

01:12:56.240 incompetent will

01:12:57.120 take over and

01:12:58.080 that's and so

01:12:59.040 you know part of

01:12:59.980 the rise of the

01:13:00.740 woke nightmare is

01:13:02.120 also the abdication

01:13:03.540 of the competent

01:13:04.940 and so now you

01:13:06.960 said you know you

01:13:07.680 got involved in

01:13:08.340 this political

01:13:08.880 campaign and it's

01:13:09.720 actually been really

01:13:10.300 good for you it's

01:13:11.040 been heartening it's

01:13:11.900 made you more

01:13:12.400 optimistic and you

01:13:14.120 said that it would

01:13:15.360 be good for people

01:13:16.080 to join the team

01:13:16.960 so maybe one of

01:13:17.800 the things you

01:13:18.840 could help people

01:13:19.640 understand practically

01:13:21.120 is if people

01:13:22.880 wanted to be of

01:13:23.940 service to your

01:13:24.900 enterprise say

01:13:25.940 right now what

01:13:27.600 concrete steps could

01:13:29.140 they take to do

01:13:30.000 that and then also

01:13:31.320 why should they do

01:13:32.620 that what what

01:13:33.940 would be useful and

01:13:35.640 productive on their

01:13:36.840 front for you know

01:13:38.300 taking the time and

01:13:39.840 energy to involve

01:13:40.800 themselves politically

01:13:41.680 so first of all

01:13:42.800 how would they do

01:13:43.420 it and then what

01:13:43.960 would you know what

01:13:44.720 would what they

01:13:45.240 might what might

01:13:45.880 they learn and how

01:13:46.620 might they develop

01:13:47.300 for doing it

01:13:48.100 thanks so much for

01:13:49.500 the opportunity so

01:13:50.520 you can go to my

01:13:51.140 website fury.ca f-u-r-e-y

01:13:53.620 dot c-a we're

01:13:54.720 looking for people to

01:13:55.620 obviously vote to

01:13:57.100 spread the word to

01:13:58.380 get involved as a

01:13:59.460 volunteer to commit

01:14:00.860 whatever talents they

01:14:02.000 may have it's all

01:14:02.820 about activating

01:14:03.640 different networks

01:14:04.440 meeting with people

01:14:05.140 getting the word out

01:14:06.020 and obviously campaigns

01:14:07.320 also cost money so

01:14:08.620 to make a contribution

01:14:09.600 which you can make

01:14:10.480 at fury.ca and

01:14:11.860 there is a rebate

01:14:12.700 program where you

01:14:13.460 actually get about

01:14:14.040 75 percent of your

01:14:16.360 money back after the

01:14:18.080 after the election

01:14:18.940 they just write you a

01:14:19.780 check back it's how

01:14:20.600 the system works

01:14:21.360 right now so I say

01:14:22.380 would you give me

01:14:22.900 75 dollars and

01:14:23.860 people say oh yes

01:14:24.380 I would I say oh

01:14:25.020 well then could you

01:14:25.600 give me 300 dollars

01:14:26.500 because they're going

01:14:27.060 to give you 225 back

01:14:28.180 so that's you're only

01:14:30.080 on the hook for the

01:14:30.940 75 and why do it

01:14:33.700 well because we have

01:14:35.160 a great opportunity

01:14:36.540 here I will say

01:14:37.380 practically speaking

01:14:38.280 it's a very divided

01:14:39.360 field and there's

01:14:40.780 about eight people

01:14:41.840 with serious campaigns

01:14:43.640 who are running for

01:14:44.300 mayor right now

01:14:44.840 most of them are in

01:14:46.500 the left of the

01:14:47.400 spectrum and they're

01:14:48.220 all going to be

01:14:48.900 fighting over each

01:14:49.780 other for those

01:14:50.420 left-wing votes I

01:14:51.880 feel like I'm pretty

01:14:52.820 much the only person

01:14:53.860 who's out there in

01:14:54.920 the sane aspect of

01:14:56.480 the spectrum and

01:14:57.500 those of us who are

01:14:58.140 like-minded have this

01:14:59.200 opportunity because

01:15:00.140 while I want to win

01:15:01.460 a mandate widely

01:15:02.780 across the city and

01:15:03.740 all voices matter and

01:15:04.740 I want to get as many

01:15:05.300 votes as possible this

01:15:06.560 can actually be one

01:15:07.420 with only about 18%

01:15:08.880 of the vote is kind

01:15:09.860 of the number that

01:15:10.600 a lot of the

01:15:11.340 strategists say so I

01:15:13.440 will be in it to

01:15:14.360 exceed that 18% but

01:15:16.180 to definitely get

01:15:16.980 that 18% and the

01:15:18.740 rest of the field is

01:15:19.600 crowded whereas there's

01:15:20.520 a whole terrain out

01:15:21.560 there that I can

01:15:23.760 totally go out and

01:15:24.980 capture and it's about

01:15:26.260 activating the network

01:15:27.140 so anybody who has a

01:15:28.180 community group a

01:15:29.140 church group a group

01:15:29.940 of friends a business

01:15:30.840 association say hey

01:15:32.420 that I like what

01:15:33.360 Anthony's saying I

01:15:34.280 don't want to bring

01:15:34.780 him on a zoom call or

01:15:35.920 want to get him to an

01:15:36.920 event or let's do

01:15:38.220 that because it's all

01:15:39.060 about spreading the

01:15:39.820 word and more people

01:15:41.480 are joining by the day

01:15:42.300 and the word is

01:15:42.840 spreading I just feel

01:15:43.600 so great about it I

01:15:44.920 feel like there's only

01:15:46.020 upside to me for this

01:15:48.060 and for everybody in

01:15:49.020 Toronto who wants

01:15:49.680 positive change

01:15:50.560 okay so I'm gonna

01:15:52.980 outline that in a

01:15:54.180 very detailed way so

01:15:55.380 you can contribute

01:15:57.460 financially and you

01:15:59.520 can vote those would

01:16:00.440 be kind of the entry

01:16:01.260 level what would you

01:16:02.620 say contributions

01:16:03.520 right I should

01:16:04.780 classify effort so I

01:16:06.480 don't run afoul of

01:16:07.360 election laws here

01:16:08.040 only people in

01:16:08.700 Ontario can

01:16:09.960 contribute not just

01:16:10.780 Torontonians but

01:16:11.480 everybody in Ontario

01:16:12.480 but people people

01:16:13.460 outside of Ontario

01:16:14.280 aren't eligible to

01:16:15.240 contribute right okay

01:16:17.340 okay that's a good

01:16:18.140 clarification so you

01:16:19.220 can vote you can

01:16:20.020 support it financially

01:16:20.960 then you said if

01:16:22.980 you're the member of a

01:16:23.820 community if you're a

01:16:24.520 member of a community

01:16:25.280 group if you have some

01:16:26.200 local charisma and

01:16:28.420 clout then you can

01:16:30.400 contact your campaign

01:16:31.720 to make that network

01:16:34.140 available to you and to

01:16:35.300 your team so that

01:16:36.480 would be useful for

01:16:37.260 people who are

01:16:38.000 organizers at the

01:16:39.620 business level for

01:16:40.320 example or or in

01:16:41.680 other community ways

01:16:42.720 if young people want

01:16:44.680 to volunteer to help

01:16:45.700 what would what would

01:16:48.260 you have them do like

01:16:50.040 there I know people go

01:16:51.480 door-to-door in

01:16:52.440 campaigns for example

01:16:53.280 that's a very good way

01:16:54.600 to cut your political

01:16:55.400 teeth you meet a lot of

01:16:56.520 people that way you

01:16:57.200 have to develop your

01:16:57.920 social skills very very

01:16:59.120 rapidly because you'll

01:17:00.400 meet every sort of

01:17:01.520 person you can possibly

01:17:02.500 imagine by going door

01:17:04.440 to door knocking and

01:17:05.320 you'll find friends and

01:17:06.720 foes quite rapidly and

01:17:08.640 so you know that's good

01:17:09.820 experience for people

01:17:10.820 who who haven't had that

01:17:12.200 kind of experience if a

01:17:13.360 young person wanted to

01:17:14.420 volunteer you said they

01:17:15.540 could go to your

01:17:15.980 website that's fury.ca

01:17:17.420 what what would you ask

01:17:20.240 them to contribute and

01:17:21.240 what opportunities might

01:17:22.820 lay themselves out for

01:17:23.960 them yeah and they can

01:17:25.080 email me personally

01:17:25.840 anthony at fury.ca the

01:17:28.440 opportunities that we'd

01:17:29.500 lay out is you're right

01:17:30.760 the door knocking is

01:17:31.740 just such a big part

01:17:32.700 of it whether it's

01:17:33.140 just distributing flyers

01:17:34.320 to people's houses to

01:17:35.220 get the message out or

01:17:36.580 knocking on doors making

01:17:38.300 those meaningful

01:17:38.960 connections or we go to

01:17:40.200 places like very large

01:17:42.500 attended events or local

01:17:43.700 farmers markets and it

01:17:44.740 is that human connection

01:17:45.860 and that's what it's all

01:17:46.860 about me saying this is

01:17:48.360 my vision and also what's

01:17:49.720 your vision for the city

01:17:50.660 what are your thoughts

01:17:51.340 and you made an

01:17:51.840 excellent point earlier on

01:17:53.500 in our conversation where

01:17:54.580 if you hear the same

01:17:56.000 thing from 10 20 100

01:17:57.740 people you go well these

01:17:58.820 folks are on to

01:17:59.520 something and there's a

01:18:00.360 wisdom on the street and

01:18:01.580 part of the problem with

01:18:03.200 the the people in

01:18:04.340 politics right now is

01:18:05.240 they they deny street

01:18:06.400 wisdom so it's it's

01:18:07.940 people joining me to

01:18:09.620 really make those

01:18:10.580 positive connections with

01:18:11.760 people all across the

01:18:13.080 city and to meet with

01:18:14.200 people who you maybe

01:18:15.640 otherwise wouldn't have

01:18:16.640 met with a neighborhood

01:18:17.400 you don't always go to

01:18:18.440 or or or someone who

01:18:20.060 you just normally wouldn't

01:18:20.820 see you go wow and the

01:18:22.020 great thing and one of

01:18:23.340 the things that the

01:18:24.000 social justice warriors

01:18:24.980 get so wrong is they

01:18:26.460 want to accentuate our

01:18:27.340 differences but when you

01:18:28.560 just start getting out

01:18:29.240 meeting people you

01:18:29.920 realize our similarities

01:18:31.260 are so much more

01:18:32.460 powerful and profound

01:18:33.620 than our differences

01:18:34.360 and you come together

01:18:35.600 with someone who you

01:18:36.440 might think I don't

01:18:37.160 have a lot in common

01:18:37.920 with oh no you do have

01:18:39.000 a lot in common with

01:18:39.760 them so please everybody

01:18:40.940 join the team and we're

01:18:42.320 going to go out and do

01:18:43.000 that we're going to

01:18:43.400 knock on doors distribute

01:18:44.560 flyers we're going to

01:18:45.660 organize zoom calls join

01:18:47.180 me at events as I go out

01:18:49.120 and connect with people

01:18:50.020 and it's just it's so

01:18:51.660 cool to be in that car

01:18:52.980 with a team and go we're

01:18:53.960 going out to this event and

01:18:55.000 that event and it's a

01:18:55.860 packed schedule I'm

01:18:56.780 working and as things ramp up

01:18:58.320 the elections on June 26 I'm

01:18:59.780 just going to be working

01:19:00.560 like 18 hour days but it's

01:19:03.280 amazing it's a beautiful

01:19:04.260 experience and I'd encourage

01:19:05.720 everybody to join me

01:19:08.300 yeah well you know one of

01:19:09.940 the things that young

01:19:11.140 people who are listening

01:19:12.100 might consider is that it's

01:19:15.480 very useful as you attempt

01:19:17.660 to make your way through

01:19:18.700 life to improve your social

01:19:20.600 skills to improve your

01:19:21.960 ability to talk to a wide

01:19:23.280 variety of people and to

01:19:24.460 listen to them and to expand

01:19:26.680 your social network and you

01:19:29.200 can do that in with

01:19:30.420 incredible rapidity by

01:19:31.960 getting involved in the

01:19:32.860 political campaign you

01:19:34.520 door knock you're going to

01:19:35.300 meet a lot of people than

01:19:36.160 you met before in your life

01:19:37.320 you're going to get a lot

01:19:38.040 sharper on your feet and

01:19:39.620 then if you're the least

01:19:40.680 bit useful and reliable

01:19:42.060 then people who will at

01:19:44.780 some point in principle

01:19:45.860 have some access to

01:19:47.080 opportunities are going to

01:19:47.960 know who you are and if

01:19:49.040 you proved yourself useful

01:19:50.500 those doors are going to

01:19:51.860 open like mad and so

01:19:53.640 there's nothing in it but

01:19:54.840 upside and so for those

01:19:56.740 of you who are listening

01:19:57.560 and who are concerned on

01:19:58.960 the political front or

01:19:59.740 who have some political

01:20:00.420 interests or who are maybe

01:20:01.820 just cynical it's like

01:20:03.140 well get out there and get

01:20:04.940 involved a little bit and

01:20:06.120 and see you'll see for

01:20:08.240 yourself quite quickly that

01:20:10.040 the institutions that

01:20:11.620 govern our society are

01:20:12.660 actually quite functional if

01:20:13.800 we actually use them and

01:20:15.600 so and it's a good

01:20:16.820 opportunity so I'd encourage

01:20:19.160 people who are watching to

01:20:20.380 do this.

01:20:21.440 No absolutely I mean my

01:20:23.220 Rolodex has only grown in

01:20:24.720 terms of the great

01:20:25.440 connections I've made the

01:20:26.440 people I've met and these

01:20:27.420 really like I said genuine

01:20:28.740 positive connections and

01:20:30.220 then people join the team

01:20:31.420 and they're meeting all the

01:20:32.660 different people these

01:20:33.460 people obviously many

01:20:34.320 people in the business

01:20:35.040 community and in the arts

01:20:36.420 world and in this sector

01:20:37.500 and that sector and you're

01:20:38.760 interested in this you go

01:20:39.900 hey I you know I I met this

01:20:41.800 guy on this campaign a

01:20:42.860 couple years ago now I'm

01:20:43.920 doing this new product I

01:20:44.700 got to get back in touch

01:20:45.640 with that guy again I mean

01:20:46.620 the people who get

01:20:47.640 involved in political

01:20:48.460 campaigns yes there's

01:20:49.540 political junkies but it's

01:20:50.600 also people from every

01:20:51.600 sector every walk of life

01:20:52.900 and and and the creative

01:20:54.560 opportunities that come

01:20:55.920 from we're all coming

01:20:57.040 together for this shared

01:20:58.180 interest to make our city

01:20:59.280 better but then bam it

01:21:01.020 opens the door in the

01:21:02.380 world for for anybody on

01:21:03.940 the team to do so much

01:21:05.200 more with the connections

01:21:06.040 they made you are you're

01:21:06.940 totally right it really is

01:21:08.320 it's a movement is what it

01:21:09.620 is.

01:21:11.020 Yeah well and it's it's

01:21:12.100 such a good opportunity for

01:21:13.440 young people because

01:21:14.300 political campaigns are

01:21:15.640 generally extremely desperate

01:21:18.280 for help of all sorts and

01:21:20.580 so you actually want to go

01:21:22.200 somewhere where people are

01:21:23.300 extremely desperate for

01:21:24.360 help of all sorts because

01:21:25.460 then you're even you're

01:21:26.640 rather limited talent

01:21:27.700 talents because you're

01:21:29.060 young and you don't know

01:21:29.800 what you're doing are

01:21:30.900 welcome and and then you

01:21:33.500 have this opportunity to

01:21:34.820 take on responsibility that

01:21:36.340 otherwise wouldn't be

01:21:37.220 granted to you and to

01:21:38.280 learn in extremely rapidly

01:21:40.220 and so if you're looking to

01:21:42.060 foster your career which

01:21:43.900 shouldn't be your primary

01:21:45.000 goal on the political

01:21:46.000 front but you know things

01:21:47.940 can work in concert a

01:21:49.820 political campaign is an

01:21:51.740 excellent way of learning

01:21:53.300 about the city and and

01:21:55.060 and developing your your

01:21:56.680 skills and your social

01:21:57.780 network so and you know I

01:22:00.060 want to drive home the fact

01:22:01.440 too that if responsible

01:22:03.000 people don't take up their

01:22:05.520 political responsibilities

01:22:06.760 then irresponsible people

01:22:08.380 take up the political

01:22:09.560 responsibilities and then

01:22:11.140 you tilt things toward a

01:22:12.660 kind of non-productive

01:22:14.720 narcissistic tyranny and

01:22:18.420 that's not a good idea and

01:22:20.000 that's happening everywhere

01:22:21.020 very rapidly and I think

01:22:22.860 one of the ways to

01:22:23.600 remediate that is to get

01:22:24.920 involved at the local

01:22:26.480 level where things actually

01:22:27.620 happen and so it's part of

01:22:29.060 the reason you know why

01:22:29.900 your campaign interested me

01:22:31.880 maybe we could close a

01:22:33.500 little bit

01:22:33.880 what kind of vision do you

01:22:37.500 think the people who are

01:22:39.660 also running for mayor are

01:22:41.280 putting forward that's

01:22:42.640 different from yours and and

01:22:44.280 how would you contrast

01:22:45.260 that specifically like who

01:22:46.580 who's the front runner is

01:22:47.700 Olivia Chow the front

01:22:48.780 runner who's the front

01:22:49.580 runner in this race at the

01:22:50.600 moment on the on the more

01:22:52.000 progressive side yeah

01:22:53.640 Olivia Chow for those who

01:22:54.840 don't know is sort of like

01:22:56.040 the the elder stateswoman of

01:22:58.180 the far-left movement all

01:22:59.540 across Canada and she was a

01:23:01.100 federal politician for a

01:23:02.280 while her husband who passed

01:23:04.300 away was the leader of the

01:23:06.180 left-wing party in Canada

01:23:07.340 she's now seeking the

01:23:08.380 mayoralty again she was

01:23:09.620 rejected 10 years ago she

01:23:11.360 wants to I guess get her

01:23:12.620 revenge on the good people of

01:23:13.900 Toronto and those ideas are

01:23:15.120 about tearing down the

01:23:16.460 Gardner the major highway

01:23:17.720 just tear it down out of

01:23:19.540 bike lane to pretty much

01:23:20.480 every single street bringing

01:23:22.460 in more taxes I guarantee

01:23:24.240 you that's going to happen

01:23:25.280 they do not believe that

01:23:27.100 City Hall has a spending

01:23:28.340 problem which I believe I

01:23:30.100 can talk about this stuff in

01:23:31.340 great detail the financial

01:23:32.440 matters but what so many of

01:23:34.500 the other guys want to do is

01:23:35.600 just look for opportunities to

01:23:36.960 just steal more taxes from

01:23:38.280 people they've all the

01:23:40.680 councillors running for mayor

01:23:41.800 voted to proceed with this

01:23:43.140 municipal sales tax so a

01:23:45.020 whole new level of tax oh

01:23:46.500 don't worry it'll just be one

01:23:47.600 or two percent in the first

01:23:48.700 year yeah right and then four

01:23:49.920 and then five and so forth

01:23:51.140 they're going to get addicted

01:23:52.380 to the revenues from it if we

01:23:54.060 have an affordability crisis

01:23:55.220 right now which we do with the

01:23:56.480 rising price of food is this a

01:23:58.240 good thing for folks

01:23:59.660 particularly low-income folks

01:24:01.040 absolutely not shopkeepers

01:24:03.260 disincentivizing them they're

01:24:05.140 coming up with all these other

01:24:06.240 crazy new tax entirely new taxes

01:24:08.820 that they're going to try and

01:24:10.740 impose upon people that is not

01:24:13.120 the right way for it it's not

01:24:14.400 the responsible way I have said

01:24:15.800 flat-out no to these new taxes

01:24:18.080 and instead what we got to do is

01:24:19.960 be responsible with the books and

01:24:21.480 if we grow our city the more units

01:24:23.900 of housing you're building well

01:24:25.220 there's property taxes that come

01:24:26.620 with that so you're building your

01:24:27.780 revenues that way you're doing a

01:24:29.660 positive growth a positive way of

01:24:31.760 growing the coffers by by inviting

01:24:33.740 more people into town to share in

01:24:36.400 this this great city building

01:24:37.600 project we're doing all right so

01:24:39.840 we'll sum up so your primary

01:24:43.260 concern is to re-establish trust

01:24:46.740 and and reasonable trust in in

01:24:51.440 public safety to ensure that the

01:24:53.280 city doesn't degenerate into a

01:24:55.640 crime-ridden nightmare the way so

01:24:57.700 many cities have degenerated and

01:24:59.460 continue to do so and you believe

01:25:01.960 that if you do that well that's

01:25:03.460 going to be is restore people's

01:25:05.460 faith in the downtown for example

01:25:07.560 and encourage development

01:25:08.880 encourage habitation one of the

01:25:10.640 great things about Toronto compared

01:25:12.060 to many North American cities is

01:25:14.140 that the core downtown core is

01:25:17.420 very residential and so it doesn't

01:25:21.460 have that ghetto like aspect of of

01:25:23.800 just start business with no life

01:25:26.240 that characterizes so many cities in

01:25:29.500 North America and that is a great

01:25:31.020 advantage of Toronto you you see a

01:25:34.400 a positive vision on the

01:25:35.960 beautification front more

01:25:37.820 development of parks a more

01:25:39.780 vibrant artistic and culturally

01:25:42.120 alive Toronto you're not

01:25:44.240 particularly fond of increased

01:25:46.960 taxation you are looking at

01:25:49.640 intelligent solutions to

01:25:51.620 transportation which don't involve

01:25:53.200 for example multiplication of bike

01:25:55.000 lanes that do nothing but interfere

01:25:56.540 with the flow of traffic you want to

01:25:58.540 do something to remediate the

01:26:01.120 corruption on the transportation front

01:26:03.680 especially that's plagued areas

01:26:05.360 devastated areas like the Eglinton

01:26:07.400 corridor and you've encouraged young

01:26:10.380 people to involve themselves in your

01:26:12.240 young not just young people but also

01:26:14.740 young people to involve themselves in

01:26:16.240 your campaign you said that was

01:26:17.700 fury.ca f-u-r-e-y dot c-a and you

01:26:22.200 your email address again for people who

01:26:24.360 want to contact you directly is

01:26:26.200 anthony at fury dot c-a

01:26:28.800 right okay well I think that's

01:26:32.360 probably not a bad place to end this

01:26:34.320 is there anything else that you'd

01:26:35.740 like to say to the people of

01:26:37.920 Toronto but people more broadly as

01:26:39.760 well who are watching this because

01:26:41.860 they're interested in the issue of

01:26:43.380 municipal politics is there anything

01:26:44.960 else you'd like to say before we we

01:26:47.120 close off yeah thank you for the

01:26:48.900 opportunity all politics is local

01:26:50.960 we've got to take back our cities from

01:26:53.420 this decay it's happening in cities all

01:26:55.860 across the western world all throughout

01:26:57.740 north america toronto is a city worth

01:27:00.220 fighting for and on a number of

01:27:02.240 fronts the municipal issues but

01:27:03.640 advocating for parents for parents

01:27:05.820 rights the number of parents who come

01:27:07.600 up and say why are they sending grade

01:27:09.140 threes home with surveys asking are

01:27:10.960 you non-binary or not people of all

01:27:13.540 walks of life all political backgrounds

01:27:15.360 left-wing parents gay and lesbian

01:27:17.140 parents are saying this stuff is

01:27:18.540 bonkers it's gone too far and like I

01:27:21.400 said at the outset the center is

01:27:23.560 shifting and it's shifting in the

01:27:25.720 direction of the sort of things that

01:27:27.220 you and I have been talking about for

01:27:28.620 years so that's the opportunity and

01:27:30.820 that's the play here and that's why I'm

01:27:32.400 doing this and why I'm so passionate to

01:27:34.500 become the next mayor of Toronto all

01:27:36.620 right well we'll close with that for

01:27:38.620 everyone watching listening you know

01:27:40.200 that many of you know that I spend an

01:27:43.460 extra half an hour with the people that

01:27:45.040 I talk to on the dailyware plus

01:27:47.000 platform we'll talk about more

01:27:48.720 autobiographical issues there I'm

01:27:50.520 interested in how Anthony's interests in

01:27:54.260 journalism and in public policy more

01:27:56.220 generally unfolded across time so we'll

01:27:58.420 address that and whatever other issues

01:28:00.500 we feel are germane along the way for

01:28:02.840 all of you watching and listening on the

01:28:04.460 YouTube platform thank you very much for

01:28:06.580 your time and attention to the daily

01:28:08.420 wire plus people for facilitating this

01:28:10.400 conversation setting up the technical

01:28:12.580 end and the film crews who are involved

01:28:14.760 in Toronto and I'm in Thessaloniki Greece

01:28:17.680 doing this video right now thank you to the film

01:28:20.380 crew here for making this well flawlessly

01:28:23.140 on for putting this together flawlessly

01:28:25.240 on the technical front much appreciated

01:28:27.280 Anthony we'll continue to communicate I'll

01:28:30.880 be back in Toronto second week of June

01:28:33.380 and I'll be there for quite a while and

01:28:35.780 so well we'll get a chance to talk some

01:28:38.200 more maybe there's some event we could do

01:28:39.620 together that might be fun we can talk a

01:28:41.740 little bit about some of the more

01:28:43.080 visionary ideas that we've been discussing

01:28:44.720 behind the scenes that would also be

01:28:46.420 entertaining and so thank you very much

01:28:48.580 for well for running for mayor first that's

01:28:51.220 no trivial thing you know you have to you

01:28:53.320 have put a fairly big detour in your life

01:28:55.220 to manage that and then also for agreeing

01:28:57.320 to talk to me and my audience today

01:28:58.840 oh thank you so much Dr. Peterson it's been a

01:29:01.220 pleasure and an honor

01:29:01.920 hello everyone I would encourage you to

01:29:06.540 continue listening to my conversation with

01:29:08.920 my guest on dailywireplus.com

01:29:12.160 you

The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast - May 18, 2023

358. Drugs, Homelessness, and Shady Metro Dealings ｜ Anthony Furey

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