Where Joe Stands on the Big Issues Facing Toronto:

1. What are your thoughts on Transit City?

"Transit city is essential to the well being of Torontonians because you have to be able to get around. Toronto is presently worse than Los Angeles in terms of people going to where they want to go, and where they are coming from. It takes 80 minutes to do that in Toronto and 76 minutes in Los Angeles. Transit City is not an option. Transit City is a necessity. Transit City should have been built a generation ago. Not five, ten years from now. It can not be stopped, it has to be built."

2. Bike lanes have become a heated topic during this campaign. Where do you stand on the issue?

"Over half of the population of Toronto owns a bike. If you have a bike, we want you to be cycling because it's healthy for the individual in terms of physical exercise, it's healthy for the environment because it doesn't create pollution and it doesn't take up much space. It's in our interest as a community to find out ways of accommodating rather then simply wish them away."

3. How do you feel about the idea of charging road tolls?

"Road tolls within the city of Toronto alone do not make sense what so ever because they'll provide a disincentive to our jobs and town. If you have to pay an extra ten dollars a day per worker to come in, companies will relocate to the 905 region and that's bad for Toronto and Torontonians and it is also bad for the environment. That's because when jobs are in downtown Toronto what happens is 80% go there go by means other then their car; cycling, walking, transit. If the jobs are in Markham let's say, or Mississauga 80% of the people go there by car and that's not healthy for the environment, or healthy for the individuals. So road tolls have that unintended consequence. The only way road tolls would make sense if it was dealt with regionally."

4. What "big idea" do you have that will be part of your platform?

"The big idea is that we have an amazing city that Torontonians want to be a fantastic city. We're not interested in cutting back and selling and risk being the next Detroit, Buffalo, or Cleveland of tomorrow. My idea is this is an amazing city which can be a fantastic city, so I'm not prepared to accept second best here and I believe that is what Torontonians want to."

5. How do you feel about the crime level in Toronto? How do you plan on addressing it?

"I fully support what Chief Bill Blair has done in terms of community policing and in terms of helping youths in neighborhoods at risk and that's why I believe it's working and whatever the chief says he needs, we'll work with him. He is doing an excellent job. I think our men and woman in blue are people we should be proud of because their doing an excellent job."

6. How do you plan on bringing "new life" to the city?

"One of the things I'm most proud of is the BMO field at Toronto FC. I was chair of exhibition place the one who negotiated the agreement with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and the Provincial government which had the BMO field built, which used city land and we spent 9.8 million dollars of tax payers money to build it, with the Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment putting more money in it then we did, but we own the stadium, the city does and the public does. We're happy because we're getting taxes and activity and the TFC is happy because they're making money and soccer sports fans are happier then anybody else because they have an amazing venue with an amazing sport. I think we have to do more of that."

7. How important is accountability while you are in office and how do you plan on monitoring this?

"Don't forget the city of Toronto is the only jurisdiction in the country which has an integrity commissioner; we have a lobbyist register, so we make sure we have an open and clean government, which is very important because we use taxpayer's money so we have to provide services for people."