The National Post writes positively this morning about the government’s uncanny ability to manage media events. This week’s announcement of the funding for public transit in the GTA forms the basis of the story . While Toronto and the Toronto Transit Commission may have been the primary beneficiaries of the feds’ largesse, their NDP leaders were all but invisible at the PM’s announcement. The Post notes that Toronto officials were not notified of the time and place of the pending announcement until less than 24 hours before while observing that Brampton, Durham and York Region had sufficient advance waning to have shiny transit vehicles on-site to provide the PM’s backdrop. York Region’s VIVA bus was front and centre, not because VIVA is getting much more money but because, apparently, it is a nice shade of Conservative blue. As the Post notes, no Liberal red TTC buses were in sight and the government’s appeal to voters in the burgeoning communities around the city was obvious. Toronto can have, and probably will, Bob Rae, but Durham prefers Jim Flaherty. Oh, and a little boost to John Tory and the provincial PCs doesn’t cost extra. No details seems to be overlooked in the PMO.
That said, at least one Toronto official demonstrated how not to win friends and positively influence people. Adam Giambone, the oh-so-bright young new chairman of the TTC, and Mayor Miller, managed to complain, on the day of the announcement of $0.7 billion for Toronto transit, that the federal funds would not allow the TTC to “operate” the just approved new subway and that the federal government better offer-up more money pronto! And don’t we all know how long it’s going to take the TTC to have shovels on the ground let-alone trains in the tunnels. At the rate we’re going there could be 10 more federal elections before students are scrambling for seats at York U Station. And just to demonstrate how dumb he really is, Giambone also stated that the TTC didn’t have a spare bus to contribute to the PM’s stage-set. It shows how little he knows about the TTC, after several years on the commission, that he isn’t aware that hundreds of buses are sitting idle at mid-day, waiting for rush hour. It seems clear that Toronto officials actually planned a snub to the PM, by refusing to wash and dispatch a bus to one of their busy subway stations for the media event. Smart-move when you want to follow it with an appeal for more funding. Or is it that NDP media management means never appearing on-stage with a Conservative.
That said, at least one Toronto official demonstrated how not to win friends and positively influence people. Adam Giambone, the oh-so-bright young new chairman of the TTC, and Mayor Miller, managed to complain, on the day of the announcement of $0.7 billion for Toronto transit, that the federal funds would not allow the TTC to “operate” the just approved new subway and that the federal government better offer-up more money pronto! And don’t we all know how long it’s going to take the TTC to have shovels on the ground let-alone trains in the tunnels. At the rate we’re going there could be 10 more federal elections before students are scrambling for seats at York U Station. And just to demonstrate how dumb he really is, Giambone also stated that the TTC didn’t have a spare bus to contribute to the PM’s stage-set. It shows how little he knows about the TTC, after several years on the commission, that he isn’t aware that hundreds of buses are sitting idle at mid-day, waiting for rush hour. It seems clear that Toronto officials actually planned a snub to the PM, by refusing to wash and dispatch a bus to one of their busy subway stations for the media event. Smart-move when you want to follow it with an appeal for more funding. Or is it that NDP media management means never appearing on-stage with a Conservative.
