John Tory Quotations

When you come here you realize all these things are real and have an impact on peoples' lives.

Simple information requests encounter huge roadblocks or exorbitant costs and there are massive delays in getting information.

Since I've been here, which is just a year now, we have been blocked at every turn,

One of the tests of leadership in a diverse society is that you not allow issues like this -- which are complex -- to boil over into angry, polarized debates.

I don't think it's as much a game of chicken as it is a game of bully-boy on the part of the government.

He has no plan ... and people are taking it in the neck across the province.

He has broken a fundamental trust with Ontarians and I have seen nothing that suggests he's decided to start being straightforward with people.

I think it's important to have the government understand that's huge - eight per cent of anybody's business is huge.

I think we've had basically 20-to-25 years, with the exception of the 427, where we've had nothing built.

People in communities in the north are losing their jobs and this announcement will be little comfort to them,

People, I think in many cases, believe that health care is free. And it's not free. They pay for it through their taxes.

Some of these powers, both governance and otherwise, should probably apply to some of the other larger cities in Ontario, that are maybe not as large as Toronto, but are certainly big governments deserving of acting in a more independent fashion.

I think his word is in such tatters I'm not sure why we'd believe that calculation,

Were all the protests really necessary? People have the right to expect better and more competent leadership than that.

Which one of us with our bank manager would get away with predictions that are so wildly off it appears you don't know what's going on?

Well, train service is not that simple, ... It is generally a subsidized service in most parts of the world. Some places, like in the U.S., use money from tolls to help fund transit.

There has been a subversion or violation of the rules, intentional or not.

Even the rules that are in place are not being followed.

Our tendency has often been to say 'Well let's let the government worry about that', 'Phone a politician', 'Send a politician a letter'. I think people have to step up and take some ownership of these problems that includes crime but not limited to crime.

Somebody should have done their homework to determine whether the plant was eligible or not. If I was the plant (manager), I would be assuming that if they could manage to have a press conference in front of the plant, that I would be eligible for the program.

This is another example of a government that has lost all respect for taxpayers.

They should just focus on trying to desperately keep even a few of the ones they made before.

A lot of people assume this is a Toronto problem. This is a problem across the province,

The more you look at this, the more it's apparent he has no standards for his ministers in any area,

It's just evidence to the fact that if you let it lie and you don't address it and you don't attack it . . . that it's going to spread, ... You have to address it firmly and that is what has been lacking on the part of the McGuinty government.

That is very disconcerting, very alarming and should be a wakeup call to all of us,

The two most repeated views I have been hearing from the community are the need for a better police presence and tougher sentencing for criminals using guns, ... Improving community programs and a coordinated youth strategy is also raised by many as a key factor in our efforts to stop this gun violence.

They insist on having a public relations extravaganza, probably at some cost to the taxpayers . . . to rehash a bunch of old promises (and) make a few new ones,

I want to see the premier and the attorney general (Michael Bryant), who showed such vigour (last summer) when it came to (banning) pit bulls, showing the same vigour when it comes to the criminal justice system,

I have no problem with him announcing an ad campaign, although it's the same one we have every year,

It has to be independent, it has to be open, it has to be public. Last I checked, the best way to do that is with a public inquiry.

By letting it go on, and suddenly ending it mysteriously on a Sunday afternoon, is not probably the best kind of leadership that one could show.

I do have a problem with the fact that that's it. This man came to the plowing match for the second year in a row and had nothing to say to an industry that is in crisis.