Here We Go Again......

A new hope for Toronto
By SUE-ANN LEVY

On Tuesday, when Mayor David Miller finally makes official who will occupy the coveted spots in his regime, one can guarantee certain politicians will be shut out.

If I were a betting person, I’d wager that fiscally responsible councillors like Denzil Minnan-Wong, Doug Holyday, Rob Ford, Case Ootes, Mike Del Grande and Karen Stintz won’t be asked to head up any of the seven key standing committees or to play a role in developing the city’s 2007 budget.

Inclusive — that is open to dissenting opinion or a novel idea — is the last thing one can call our mayor.

Minnan-Wong said the mayor was pretty clear at a council session held recently at Fort York that the people who’d get the appointments will be expected to implement his agenda. “I’m not expecting any calls (because) I’m not prepared to pay the price,” he said.

Ditto for Holyday who isn’t the least bit surprised that his phone has also been silent.

“The first thing we should try to do is organize ourselves into some meaningful opposition,” he says.

He’s absolutely right. But the efforts of Holyday and Co. over the past three years have been weak and ineffective.

But help has arrived, in the form of a new civic party called the Toronto Party.

Hopefully there is a lynchpin for the right.........