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the legacy

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford pumps his fist after a motion dealing with traffic control at a Toronto intersection was defeated on March 20 2014.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail

On the day of Rob Ford's death, Toronto Mayor John Tory – flanked by the bulk of city council – declined when asked by a reporter to comment on his predecessor's legacy at city hall.

"The history books will record in the short term and in the longer term, what happened and what his accomplishments were," Mr. Tory said. "And we'll leave it to that."

For his many critics, Mr. Ford's only legacy is the damage some say his behaviour did to the functioning of the city's government and to its reputation, making Toronto the subject of worldwide headlines and U.S. late-night talk-show punchlines. But his chaotic four-year reign did accomplish a number of policy goals that local conservatives can point to as successes.

"In the short-run, he'll be remembered as the crack mayor," said Mark Towhey, Mr. Ford's chief of staff who was fired at the height of the crack-video scandal. "But I think 20 years from now, when people look back, the things that will be worth remembering are the stuff that he did get done."

Among them are his bold moves to beat back the city's two main unions, Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 416, whose members included garbage collectors, and Local 79, which represents the city's "inside" workers. The wave of anger that followed their 2009 strike, which left garbage piling up in the city's parks, was a big part of the force the propelled Mr. Ford into the mayor's chair.

It was Mr. Ford, former city councillor and labour relations committee chairman Doug Holyday said, who pushed the city to enter into talks with its unions much earlier in 2012, so they would come to a head in early February. This was done in order to avoid having to face a labour disruption in a hot and sticky June or July, when the union enjoys more leverage and the timing "invites a strike," Mr. Holyday said.

It was also Mr. Ford who spearheaded the contracting out of garbage collection west of Yonge Street, further diminishing the union's power, as only half the city would ever be affected by a strike.

"Before Rob came along, the political will of the councillors and mayors that came before wasn't there to make that happen," Mr. Holyday said.

However, Mr. Ford did not win a total victory over the city's unions. They were able to convince council to beat back his attempt to contract out about 1,000 of the city's cleaners in 2012, a move they argued would throw some of the city's most vulnerable workers out on the street. It was one of Mr. Ford's first significant council defeats.

Central to the Ford brand was lower taxes, and cutting spending on what he called the "gravy train." In these areas, too, Mr. Ford is credited with major wins. Immediately upon taking office, he had council repeal its $60 personal vehicle tax, which was approved under mayor David Miller. But Mr. Ford never managed to repeal its companion, the land-transfer tax on home purchases, which has turned out to be a financial lifesaver for the city, thanks to its booming real-estate market.

Mr. Ford froze property taxes in 2011, although critics say this kind of move merely pushes into future years the increases necessary to keep up with inflation.

His 2012 budget had a 2.5-per-cent property-tax increase, and the 2013 budget a 2-per-cent tax hike – generally smaller increases than those brought in under his immediate predecessor, David Miller.

On the spending side, the rate of spending increases did slow, but despite Mr. Ford's claims at various times to have actually reduced spending in real terms, the amount of cash the city burned through did not shrink on his watch. However, there is no question that under Mr. Ford, fiscal restraint did become a watchword.

Many praise Mr. Ford for pushing for "efficiencies" and cutting waste. He soon found that saving money meant actually cutting some services. His cuts, however, never came close to the $3-billion he promised in his 2010 election campaign. And critics say the cuts he did make are still being felt today. Long-time transit activist Steve Munro points to Mr. Ford's move to hold off on buying an order of new buses for the Toronto Transit Commission as an example, which he says is to blame for overcrowding on many routes that cannot be remedied until more buses arrive.

It is on transit that Mr. Ford's legacy is seen by many as most disruptive. His insistence on "subways, subways, subways" and his Scarborough subway pledge blew up a series of planned transit lines across Toronto that are only now being reconstituted.

His most enduring legacy may be more a mindset change among local politicians, says Conservative strategist John Capobianco.

"The whole 'gravy train' mantra has stuck, even with the left councillors," Mr. Capobianco, who worked on Mr. Ford's 2010 campaign but defected to Mr. Tory's for the 2014 election. "It will be one of those things where people will say, well, what would Rob Ford say? If somebody is going to have a party for themselves and then expense it back to the city, they are going to say, what would Rob Ford do, if he was sitting in that chair?"

With a report from Patrick White

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