Thread by @goldsbie

The Transport Futures debate opens with "Street Fighting Man" playing over the sound system at Innis Town Hall. Confirmed participant Renata Ford has yet to arrive.

I believe the last time I was in this space was for a screening of Holy Motors, and my hopes are dwindling that this, too, will feature an accordion interlude.

"Renata, are you here?" Silence.

Participants who've showed up are Adam Vaughan (Liberals), Diana Yoon (NDP), and Tim Grant (Greens). Conservatives did not accept invitation.

There will be a raffle for "free kilometres" on the 407.

(Earlier, by a show of hands, only three people in the audience admitted to driving here, with nearly everyone having biked or taken transit.)

Organizer catches self. "Now it's time to invite our four political candidates-- actually three, to the stage."

Ford's chair is unceremoniously spirited away.

It is fun checking in on Vaughan four years later. He has the drained air of a person who has spent a term defending the policies of an incumbent government.

Diana Yoon says an NDP government wouldn't "interfere" if a municipality wanted to introduce road tolls.

But could they even? Like, constitutionally?

Vaughan: "I think I built more bike lanes in my two terms at City Council than any councillor ever has." I feel like there may be a case for @m_layton or @oliviachow holding this distinction?

So far, the candidates at this debate could really be running for any level of government.

(That arguably speaks more to the anachronistic separation of powers than to the policies being advanced.)

46 minutes until the first mention of Doug Ford. 48 minutes until the first mention of Lac-Mégantic.

"All you have to do is walk through the fence" at Davenport to get a sense of how unsafe our rail corridors are, argues the Greens' Tim Grant. Likewise, have you seen the polar bear enclosure at the zoo? Not too safe once you hop the barrier.

"The Ontario Line is a joke," says Adam Vaughan, relishing the opportunity to break down how Doug Ford's line on a map is bullshit unworthy of serious consideration for funding.

"Someone needs to tell Doug Ford that magic markers aren't magic."

This would not be a bad line, if you didn't get the sense that Vaughan was disproportionately proud of himself for having come up with it.

Oh wow, we're moving on to questions about airports and marine policy. Now this is the shit you can't get anywhere else.

Remember how there's occasional discussion about building an international airport in Pickering? That's something that comes up every now and again.

"We are in the process of reviewing a study..." says (sighs?) Vaughan.

Vaughan challenges the NDP candidate to tell Jagmeet Singh to stop using Billy Bishop airport to commute to Ottawa.

(Vaughan, a longtime opponent of the airport, takes Via.)

"One of the great points of irony is that the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal is a public-private partnership," says Vaughan, who criticizes "the left wing" for opposing P3s.

(He does not note the terminal acquired the name 40 years after it opened, nor that everyone hates it.)

(It has been pointed out to me that he was in fact most likely referring to the current, ongoing revamp of the terminal.)

Vaughan compares the NDP's free-transit pledge to Doug Ford's "Buck a Beer" slogan.

The Greens' Grant makes a good case that the federal government's role in transportation should involve keeping various train and bus systems from competing with each other, forcing them to coordinate so that, for example, Greyhound connects people to Via stations.

"Those are some really good ideas, and I wouldn't be a Liberal if I weren't open to stealing them," Vaughan quips.

A two-hour debate focused strictly on questions of policy is the kind of politics cleanse I forgot I needed.

Grant gives a shout-out to Toronto's old trolley buses, and I am reminded how bizarre it is that the TTC operated this type of vehicle in my lifetime but no one ever talks about it, as though it's been Mandela Effected out of existence.

Audience question to Vaughan about why the federal government is still funding the idiotic Scarborough subway extension. Vaughan starts by talking about his family's history in Melbourne and then winds around to complaining about Olivia Chow, and ends by quoting Jane Jacobs.

"When I see what the city government wants to do with its money, I'm glad it's poor." Ouch.

The funny thing is, his central argument — that the federal government shouldn't interfere with what a city council democratically decides ー is reasonable. But he just kept talking.

Now that I think about it, "Vaughan starts by talking about his family's history in Melbourne and then winds around to complaining about Olivia Chow, and ends by quoting Jane Jacobs" is the precise strategy that has gotten him this far in politics.

And now the draw for "free kilometres" on the 407. The first winner, who doesn't own a car, seems vaguely embarrassed to stand up and receive it.

The third winner of "free kilometres" on the 407 is Hamish Wilson, which is the most sublimely funny punchline I could imagine. Oh wait, now the NDP candidate has also won.

This is like giving out Sanagan's gift cards at the Animal Liberation conference.