Tag: toronto

Apparently, the reports of Rob Ford’s political demise have been greatly exaggerated.

I thought that when Ford confessed to having smoked crack cocaine, he would be forced out undemocratically by Toronto City council or Ontario Liberal Premier Wynne.

Four Toronto newspapers, including the National Post and Toronto Sun, all called for Ford to resign.

Ford was the butt of jokes on every late night American comedy show from Stewart to Letterman. Much to the mortification of some overly-sensitive Torontonians.

So Toronto’s four great newspapers have collectively spoken. Ford must go.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the “powerful Toronto media” trying to ride Ford out of town on a GO Train rail.

As a result of these papers raging against Ford, Ford’s support increased by about 5 points to about 44% approval.

I am not sure what is declining faster — these papers’ circulation numbers or their rapidly declining influence on public affairs.

What is patently clear is that in these papers’ rush to judgment, they don’t understand Ford’s populist appeal.

And long after their newspapers are used to line the city’s cat litters, they still will not get it.

I think all those years of drinking fancy tea at David’s Teas, sipping Almond Milk at Whole Foods and eating organic beef from Rowe Farms, where everybody knows your cow’s name, may be the cause.

I don’t think even 30 days of rehab in Scarborough will do the trick.

But I will try one more time to explain the populist and enduring appeal of the Ford phenomenon.

I have known and met many members of Ford Nation in the last few years. I have met them at coffee shops, restaurants and in their homes. I have met them at Ford Fests.

The bulk of Ford’s support is in the cities of Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough.

Many Ford supporters are hard-working lower-income and middle-income families who have immigrated to Toronto from all corners of the world: Asia, South Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and South America, just to name a few.

Rob Ford, the white Waspy guy from a wealthy business family, appeals to all these different peoples. He also appeals to a lot of old line white and ethnic Toronto families.

They love and support Rob Ford. Their support is deep, wide, visceral and unbreakable. They will stick by Ford even if he is convicted of a criminal offence.

At these Ford Fests, Ford is treated like a racial rock star. Ninety percent of his people are non-white. They have come to see Ford, not for the free beer and hot dogs. But to be photographed with Ford. To hear his simple message, of saving their tax dollars. And stopping the ‘gravy train” of free-spending urban elites. And of course, “Subways, subways, subways!” The battle cry of these suburbanites who for too long had been ignored by the lefty Millerites at City Hall.

I have covered Canadian and American politics since the 1970s . Ford’s immigrant non-white supporters revere Ford as if he was a combination Bobby Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
It has to been seen, to be believed.

For some strange reason this Ford character relates to and understands these people.Ford understands that his supporters are worried about making their rental payments, their mortgage payments, buying groceries for their families and ensuring their children are properly educated. They are worried about their jobs and whether good jobs will be available for their children in the future.

They work very hard for their money, and they resent that their tax dollars, in the past, paid for unnecessary and very expensive vanity projects of Mayor Miller and his left wing acolytes on council.

These people resented these councillors flying all over Canada and the world on their dime. They resented these councillors’ over-inflated office budgets. They resented that Miller treated city hall as an employment agency for his union buddies. Miller’s city hall granted union members jobs for life with overly expensive pensions. Such financial benefits were paid for by Ford’s supporters, on one hand, but were out of their reach, on the other hand.

Ford supporters also resented that Mayor Miller and his lefty acolytes apparently spent most of their time and their taxpayer money, trying to “save the whales,” that is, promoting and imposing policies these suburbanites believed were irrelevant to their own daily needs and wants. For example, a highly subsidized urban bike program, anti-car, city bike lane proposals, penalties on plastic bags, vegetable gardens on city’s roofs, all to save the planet.

To his credit, Ford delivered on his campaign promises. During Ford’s first three years in office, he gained control of the city budget. He reduced the rate of tax increases from Miller time. He tamed the unions and implemented the partial privatization of some garbage city services. He also drastically reduced his own mayor’s office budget and the budgets of all 44 city councillors at considerable annual savings. And he scored an unusual political coup by securing tri-level financial support for the expansion of the much-needed and much-desired Scarborough subway.

Ironically, the full-on media onslaught against Ford, this over the top Ford hate-fest, has turned a mirror on his Old Toronto critics. And exposed them as elitist, self-centred, power-hungry, undemocratic, condescending, ignorant and insensitive.

Any politician who courts Ford’s Old Toronto critics is no friend of Ford Nation.

Rob Ford will still be the person to beat in next year’s municipal election.

Oct. 31 was certainly a wild day in Toronto City Hall.

Reporters leaping up and down on the Mayor’s private driveway like jackals.

Disclosures of secret meetings between the Mayor and his buddy Lisi. Revelations about the lost video.

The usual lefty suspects on City council calling for Ford’s head on a platter. And urging the Mayor out of faux concern for his health to resign, to step aside, and to commit political hara-kiri in the City Hall lobby.

And of course, these councillors were claiming, for the good of the city, that the city should not be distracted by the circus, surrounding the Mayor.

A circus, ironically partially created and fuelled by these very same Ford opponents competing with each other before the cameras to denounce Ford. And by those very same reporters cornering Ford and Ford opponents for juicy anti-Ford quotes.

The reporters are trying to do their jobs. They’re trying to get to the truth. Report dirt on Ford and sell newspapers. I get that. But who is ultimately responsible for the circus at City Hall? Who is really distracting whom?

Ford is trying to do City business. Toronto councillors are more interested in Ford’s removal than in doing their jobs for which they were elected. The press appears to prefer sensationalism to the reporting on the more important, but mundane problems of Toronto residents — i.e. transit, social housing and infrastructure.

For Ford Nation, it was just not another Thursday.

I cannot speak for Ford Nation. But I do know some Ford Nation members who are not thrilled by the recent revelation that there does exist a video in which Mayor Ford is allegedly smoking a substance through a crack pipe.

According to Dennis Morris, Ford’s counsel, Ford has not technically lied, when he stated there was no video in which he was smoking crack cocaine. The assumption is that the substance was tobacco or pot. To date, Chief Blair has not stated that Ford will be charged on the basis of the video of Ford and the pipe.

This video may not be disclosed to the public until the trial of Mr. Lisi, which may be another 1 to 2 years.

Ford may never be charged.

The contents of the “pipe” in the video, may never be learned.

Also many Ford Nation members are not thrilled by the numerous photos and evidence of Ford and Lisi having secret meetings and exchanging mysterious packets.

However, once again, no charges have been laid as a result of this information. And no charges may ever be laid against Mayor Ford.

Even if charges were laid against Mayor Ford, he cannot be removed from office unless a criminal conviction is imposed upon him.

Legally, Ford can remain as Mayor to the end of his term. He is not legally obligated to resign or step aside. Notwithstanding Ford’s messy personal life and all his mishegas (craziness), Ford Nation still stands by their man. His fiercely loyal supporters strongly identify with their unsinkable mayor. And they hate the Toronto SWAGs(elites) who want Ford gone and wish to do undemocratically what they failed to do democratically. Hence his approval rating has increased.

The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, and the Toronto Sun have called for Ford to resign, for the good of the City.

The Sun believes that “he is a liability to his own agenda of fiscal conservatism, because the longer he stays in office, the more City Hall will become a circus preoccupied with the mayor’s personal issues”.

The Post argues, “Ford’s personal life is now so thoroughly beset by crisis that the people of Toronto cannot count on him to fairly represent them and give his duties the time and consideration they require.”

Marcus Gee of the Globe maintains “the noise over this shabby business (Thursday’s revelations)… will drown out everything he tries to do.

The Star argues, referring to the video, “the sight of Ford in this footage… will drag the mayor’s office to new depths of degradation.”

In summary, the press argues that the sight of Ford in the video, the surrounding circus, crisis and noise will render Ford incapable of doing his job and thus justify his voluntary resignation.

With respect, I beg to differ.

Rob Ford has the rare ability to focus and execute on his political/public agenda, notwithstanding the messiness of his personal life. During the first three years of Ford’s term, he was hit with numerous law suits, investigations, and judicial inquiries. A lesser man would have cracked under the pressure.

Notwithstanding these pressures, Ford has delivered on his promises. He has achieved significant tax savings for taxpayers through: successful union negotiations; contracting out garbage services; killing an unpopular vehicle registration fee; reducing councillors and his office budgets.

He has also gained control of city spending and reduced the rate of taxation well below the Miller years.

Ford also secured historic tri-level funding for the Scarborough subway even while under criminal investigation. Clearly, Ford has an uncanny ability to compartmentalize.

Ford reminds me of a once obscure Arkansas governor, who shared with Ford a love of Kentucky Fried Chicken. He was beset, both as a governor and as the president of the United States, by personal scandals, extra-marital affairs, judicial inquiries, shady financial transactions, associations with sleazy characters and impeachment proceedings. But Clinton succeeded through his personal crises as has Ford. And look at Bill Clinton now.

My point is that Ford thrives in these crises. He is a formidable street fighter. If Toronto city councilors prefer preening for the press and concentrating on Ford’s personal issues, rather than dealing with the real issues that affect Toronto residents, then they are not acting in the best interests of Toronto for which they were elected. And come next election, those councillors may be in for a rude awakening.