Rob Ford Accused Of Wavering On Key Election Promise
Posted October 21, 2010 7:12 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
He hasn’t yet been elected Toronto’s mayor, but candidate Rob Ford is already being accused of wavering on one of his key campaign promises.
A big part of Ford’s platform was cancelling the two-year-old Municipal Land Transfer Tax within his first year in office.
Now, he says he won’t get rid of it until 2012, blaming next year’s provincial election for the delay.
“You have to work with the provincial government to eliminate the land transfer tax and the provincial government will be shut down starting probably in April or May,” Ford told a crowd of real estate agents on Thursday. “So anything that has to be filtered through the provincial government might be delayed.”
But Ford’s own policy advisor and real estate experts say he doesn’t have to wait for the province to act.
“He can repeal the land transfer tax without any provincial amendment,” said Von Palmer of the Toronto Real Estate Board. “They do have that right. They can get rid of the tax.”
Rival George Smitherman says Ford’s backpedalling is a sign he can’t be believed.
“[Ford] broke trust,” he said. “He promised in venue after venue that he was eliminating the land transfer tax. The election hasn’t even happened yet and he has already broken that commitment.”
The tax brings in $200 million a year for the city. Ford is the only candidate who has mentioned getting rid of it, and that has garnered him support from some real estate agents, whether or not he follows through.
A new Leger Marketing Poll conducted for the Toronto Sun shows the two men are still tied for top spot. According to 600 Torontonians phoned last weekend, Ford is seen as the man who would make the most changes at City Hall, but Smitherman is seen as the man who would be the better mayor.
