The overflowing crowd trying to get into the mayoralty debate in the William Lea Room was more than the fire regulations would allow Tuesday night (October 7, 2014). Members of the organizing Leaside Property Owners Association made a decision to turn away people at the outer door of the arena function room as the 260 odd chairs filled and standees gathered as many as six lines deep around them. Several umbrella toting persons who had walked to the arena had to turn around and go home. Inside, some LPOA organizers expressed resentment that the crowd seemed to contain many people from outside Leaside. As to the debate, it followed a pattern of frequently hyped answers from the candidates to orchestrated responses. Mayoral debates have largely ceased to offer anything fresh from the candidates. They are exercises in trying to massage the media coverage, whether live or delayed. The message is the media massage, one might say. The questions from the audience were pertinent if familiar. They ranged over transit, traffic and the OMB. This was all red meat in the parlance of politics for Leaside voters facing the chaos of the Eglinton Ave. LRT and the notice served by countless developers. There is also the stinging pain of the death of Georgia Walsh in July. That accident is now pretty much enshrined as proof of out-of-control traffic. Olivia Chow made references to this tragedy and expressed gratitude for the Slow Down signs which have appeared across the city. All candidates spoke sympathetically about this tragedy but their solutions to heavy traffic remain open to question. They all talk of stopping traffic from leaving main thoroughfares, but the definitions were necessarily vague. John Tory responded quietly to attacks on the viability of Smart Track by Mr. Ford. Tory said experts published today called the criticism from Ford and Chow a tempest in a teapot. The plan was a sensible way to use existing track to speed transit, Tory said. Many turned away from Leaside election debate
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The overflowing crowd trying to get into the mayoralty debate in the William Lea Room was more than the fire regulations would allow Tuesday night (October 7, 2014). Members of the organizing Leaside Property Owners Association made a decision to turn away people at the outer door of the arena function room as the 260 odd chairs filled and standees gathered as many as six lines deep around them. Several umbrella toting persons who had walked to the arena had to turn around and go home. Inside, some LPOA organizers expressed resentment that the crowd seemed to contain many people from outside Leaside. As to the debate, it followed a pattern of frequently hyped answers from the candidates to orchestrated responses. Mayoral debates have largely ceased to offer anything fresh from the candidates. They are exercises in trying to massage the media coverage, whether live or delayed. The message is the media massage, one might say. The questions from the audience were pertinent if familiar. They ranged over transit, traffic and the OMB. This was all red meat in the parlance of politics for Leaside voters facing the chaos of the Eglinton Ave. LRT and the notice served by countless developers. There is also the stinging pain of the death of Georgia Walsh in July. That accident is now pretty much enshrined as proof of out-of-control traffic. Olivia Chow made references to this tragedy and expressed gratitude for the Slow Down signs which have appeared across the city. All candidates spoke sympathetically about this tragedy but their solutions to heavy traffic remain open to question. They all talk of stopping traffic from leaving main thoroughfares, but the definitions were necessarily vague. John Tory responded quietly to attacks on the viability of Smart Track by Mr. Ford. Tory said experts published today called the criticism from Ford and Chow a tempest in a teapot. The plan was a sensible way to use existing track to speed transit, Tory said. 