Rossie Has Chosen His "Label..."

...so he should be able to be more forthcoming in his rhetoric and define his platform based on the definition: " learning lessons from history: relating to or analyzing the events of history with emphasis on the lessons that can be learned from them."

Don't call me right-wing, Rocco Rossi insists

March 21, 2010
Robyn Doolittle

Rocco Rossi, who says he's fiscally conservative and socially liberal, is a cyclist and doesn't eat red meat. (Jan. 21, 2010)

RENÉ JOHNSTON/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

Rocco Rossi is not right-wing, he wants you to know.
He's a cyclist, an environmentalist, a progressive-thinking son of Italian immigrants, with a soft spot for social justice.
Still not convinced?
He doesn't eat red meat.
"I really believe the true progressive of the 21st century knows that unless you get the finances right, you can't pay for the social good you want to do," Rossi said recently.
Rossi's early opposition to bike lanes along major city thoroughfares, such as Jarvis and Bloor Sts., has proved widely unpopular with left-minded voters.
The former Liberal fundraiser was also the first to talk about outsourcing and selling non-core assets to pay down Toronto's debt, two traditionally right-wing fiscal strategies.
But with expectations mounting that uber-conservative Councillor Rob Ford will announce his candidacy next week, it looks as though the right-wing side of the race is about to get a lot more crowded.
Not so, says Rossi.
"I don't see myself as right or left. I see myself as pragmatic. Fiscally conservative and socially liberal," he said.
"I think that there's a reflex to try and make things easier by categorizing each of us into buckets: Rocco Rossi is right, Joe Pantalone is left, George Smitherman is centre."
And when this happens, he continued, policies and ideas that don't fit that narrative get ignored.
Rossi points to his controversial City Builders Fund proposal, which he says has left him unpopular with some developers.
Today, when the city approves a building project outside current zoning, the developer pays additional fees that are redirected to the community.
But most development occurs in affluent neighbourhoods, and that's widening the gap between rich and poor, Rossi said.
If elected, Rossi says, he will ensure that 50 per cent of those funds reach Toronto's 13 priority neighbourhoods.
But many of Rossi's policies are right-wing.
He shot down candidate Sarah Thomson's proposal to implement a $5 road toll to pay for a city-wide subway system – "I think you need to get your fiscal house in order before taxing (people) even more" – and has called for an immediate halt to bike lane expansion.
"This is a controversial campaign issue," he said in a statement. "Until the voters decide who their next mayor will be, all efforts to proceed with the lane reduction project on Jarvis St. should be halted."
His efforts earned kudos from Rosedale and Lawrence Park, where many residents enjoy a speedy trip to downtown offices via Jarvis.
"Look, I'm a cyclist. I'm probably the only one of the major candidates," he said. "I support bike lanes. I support an interconnected network around the city. I don't support them on arterial roads."