Joe Warmington

TORONTO - Maybe skates could be the new way of commuting in Toronto?

I mean cars are a bad, right?

Blades would be environmentally friendly and certainly safer than what I endured and witnessed on some sidewalks Tuesday.

And a whole lot cheaper than new train lines.

SmartSkate? Has a ring to it. No consultant fee for the idea or branding necessary.

Roller blades in the summer? Skateboards? Those cool new two-wheeled hoverboards?

In the days after Sunday's snow storm, the sidewalks on many sidestreets were like ice rinks — forcing people to risk breaking their necks as they walked to the subway or to work.

Meanwhile, the bike lanes were perfectly plowed and salted. Same goes for swanky Bloor St. No ice skates needed there.

It’s amazing how the big shot progressives all talk about Toronto as a city they need to build into world class while, at the same time, they are unable to make sure sidewalks are clear a full day after the snow fell.

They want to toll people for roads already paid for and have more taxing powers to “raise revenue” but the boring stuff, like breaking up some ice on a walkway — they are not as into it.

They already get billions in tax revenue and don’t do very well with it. They can’t even do the basic stuff in this city properly, let alone build anything spectacular.

With the exception of sports stadiums and training facilities, of course. Those kinds of things they seem to be able to find a way to make a priority and get done on public land.

Same goes for the bike lanes. They are beautiful and despite the millions and millions spent to build them on what should be roadways, there’s no talk about tolling, taxing or licencing people who use them.

We’d go broke if they did, because it is such a small number of people who actually use them.

But of course with the politically correct running everything today, the minority is often the priority.

And everybody else pays.

It’s likely not going to stop. Did you see the ridiculous open letter Tuesday from Canada’s big city mayors begging for the ability to tax their already struggling residents even more?

“As mayors of Canada’s biggest cities we are ready to champion real solutions, In Toronto, road tolls would finance a long-overdue transit expansion and ease congestion that is choking the most populated region in the country,” said the letter signed by Mayor John Tory and Calgary’s Naheed Nenshi, Edmonton’s Don Iveson, Jim Watson of Ottawa, and Gregor Robertson of Vancouver. “These large infrastructure projects come at a great cost, and it is imperative that we collaborate with the provincial and federal governments to move forward with a solution that works for all.”

Maybe a new methadone clinic? New stadium? Phoney Expo or second-rate sporting games that no one cares about?

Or even better yet, a $1-billion, 21-acre sodded roof over the train tracks and call it a city park for the condo dwellers to use for their dog’s bathroom breaks?

Are you sure you want these Liberal mayors having more taxing powers? Think that one through, people.

“These large infrastructure projects come at a great cost, and it is imperative that we collaborate with the provincial and federal governments to move forward with a solution that works for all,” said the letter.

How’s this for a solution? Send a salter over to the dangerous sidewalk on Howard St!

Or at least rent out commuter skates?