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The
end
of
October
2010
witnessed
the conclusion of a crazy municipal
election campaign in Toronto. The election
of councillor Rob Ford as
Mayor of Toronto is another on my list
of election travesties of justice. Rob
Ford was almost uniquely
unqualified for the job. He had no
collaborative experience on council. He
had a platform which was little
more than a slogan - and which did
not fit
the facts. The campaign web site
said:
"Toronto
has a
spending problem, not a
revenue problem. Join me in stopping
the waste and getting the spending
under
control." Yet as Chris Selley
noted after the election in the
November 8th National Post :
"A
year ago, during the city’s annual
budget panic, city manager Joe
Pennachetti told all departments to cut
5% from
their net operating budgets for two
years. Everyone nodded grimly. Then
Rob
Ford launched a campaign for mayor
promising precisely half that ..." The
article also illustrated the need
for Ford's cuts given the surplus reported
after the election : "And
now, the city has a $275-million surplus
for 2010."
As a councillor, he said
only gays and needle users
are
likely to get AIDS, that hard-working
'Orientals' are 'taking over,'
and that
although his heart bleeds when cyclists
are killed 'it’s their own
fault at the
end of the day.' " Media saw him as
a loner on council.
Clearly, his
conservative party connection paid off
well for Ford. But it is shocking
that a major political party
would not
feel the need to offer a better role model
as candidate. Our hope
is that the party which got him elected
will moderate Ford's future
behaviour.
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