Rob Ford's Toronto

[Peepers]

Rather than offering a candidate, I'll offer a fantasy mayoral race: Michael Thompson vs Kristyn Wong-Tam.

If I had to pick a Mayor from the current crop of Councillors Michael Thompson would be at the top of the list. I don't understand why his name is never mentioned as a possible contender. As for Wong-Tam I think at this point it will be next to impossible for her to win re-election in her ward much less win a Mayors race. She won her ward with the tiniest of margins when she was an unknown commodity. Now that voters have a better idea of what makes Wong-Tam tick (she bankrolled QuAIA) a lot of voters are completely turned-off her. In a Mayoral race I can't see where she would have support - I'd vote Kevin Clarke for Mayor before I would vote for Wong-Tam.

 

[spider]

That's a ridiculous claim. You cannot separate Ford from his platform, b/c his platform is nonsensical and/or blatent lies. You voted for Ford, despite the fact that he was the worst possible choice. Wear it.

To play your game, though I doubt he wants the job, I'd like Ken Dryden. Thoughtful, respectful of others' opinions, able to reconcile opposing views.

Ken Dryden it is, thanks for "playing the game".

 

[sarnya]

Let's not over-intellectualise this phenomenon. All it really boils down to is a bunch of emotionally self-conscious and financially insecure poorly-educated individuals voting for someone who they perceive shares some of their own concerns and anxieties.

You really hit the nail on the head. One needs to look no further than the Toronto Taxpayers Coalition Facebook page today to prove your perception of Ford Nation. They're trying to create an outrage over the councillors who attended FCM in Vancouver this weekend.

Taken from that Facebook page today, this is some insight into the mentality of the people RC8 describes.

Almost half of city council is currently jet-setting on your dime!

You can be sure that there will be a long list of drinks and food, well beyond what would be considered "reasonable".

They went for a vacation and we are paying for it. Period.

I highly doubt these people are flying economy, staying in modest accomodations, and eating in modest restaurants.

This is exactly like the Sunshine List... People have this resentment and jealously towards elected officials and public servants for the reasons RC8 mentioned. One of my close friends is a senior staffer to a OLP minister and travels frequently with his/her minister. I wouldn't call what my friend does jet-setting or vacation... if anything, my friend is working harder than a usual day at the office. My friend and this particular minister took a Greyhound to and from Sudbury one time because it saved money and was more efficient than flying. Where's the jealously towards elected officials now?

It's perfectly normal for politicians to travel as part of their job, the last thing I would call it is a vacation.

 

[jje1000]

I also have to add that he does have a huge amount of support among poorer immigrants in the inner suburbs. Ironically, many see Ford as someone who "one of them" and is fighting the "elitists". They couldn't pick a worse person to represent them.

This is why the video was so important- it showed his making of several disparaging remarks- and would have damaged his popularity up there. Unfortunately, I think that by this time, the Fords or his allies have likely had the video destroyed. Remember the comments made by the inhabitant of the room the video was made in? He said the video would never see the light of day.

Still hoping that Robyn Dolittle's comments are correct, and that there is at least a second or third copy out there currently being negotiated for by Gawker. But I'm not holding high hopes for it.

 

[Adjei]

If this video doesn't come out within the next week or so, this thing dies down and people will forget and move on.

 

[MetroMan]

How to force an election

Folks, I've found a mechanism for City Council to force an election. If City Council does not meet for 60 days, the Premier must call an election. To form a quorum, a Council meeting must be attended by 23 Councillors (including or excluding the Mayor). If City Council wants to force an election, they should meet outside Council Chambers, perhaps protesting in Nathan Phillips Square. If only Ford loyalists attend, the speaker is forced to cancel the meeting. If this were kept up for 60 days, the Premier would have to call a general election and we'd be going to the polls this October, not in 2014.

Call your councillors, suggest this to them. I'm sure there are more than 23 Councillors who want Ford to step down.

 

[jje1000]

If this video doesn't come out within the next week or so, this thing dies down and people will forget and move on.

I think that as long as the video comes out within the next year or so, the story can still flare out to its original intensity as long as the video is sufficiently incriminating.

Folks, I've found a mechanism for City Council to force an election. If City Council does not meet for 60 days, the Premier must call an election. To form a quorum, a Council meeting must be attended by 23 Councillors (including or excluding the Mayor). If City Council wants to force an election, they should meet outside Council Chambers, perhaps protesting in Nathan Phillips Square. If only Ford loyalists attend, the speaker is forced to cancel the meeting. If this were kept up for 60 days, the Premier would have to call a general election and we'd be going to the polls this October, not in 2014.

Call your councillors, suggest this to them. I'm sure there are more than 23 Councillors who want Ford to step down.

Not so much interested in forcing Ford out, as this will only add to their "Save us Ford Nation, we're being persecuted" + "we need a new Ford-friendly city council" narrative. I'm much more interested in any news of the video's whereabouts. Let the Fords mess up on their own.

 

[RC8]

And where on earth did you hear that upper or middle-class heterosexual white males are commonly critics of the mayor? If that's true, it's absolutely mind-boggling, since that's who he exclusively fights for, and that's who traditionally shares Fordian values.

There have been quite a few polls showing such trends for a while.

Ford holds 51.7 percent support from those born outside of Canada. Smitherman has 30.1 percent.

This is an oldie, for example.

He also lost by a very wide margin in the Beaches and in Rosedale, which are famous for having the lowest percentage of visible minorities in the city, and the greatest share of 'heterosexual white' people. In Scarborough, meanwhile, where visible minorities dominate, Ford won almost every single ward by a margin of 20-40% of the vote!

Polls have also indicated time and time again that most university-educated people (which applies to most of the white upper-middle-class) disapprove of Ford, while those who have only primary education or less overwhelmingly support him. Another one in the Star last year showed that Ford's approval ratings are highest among low-income households, and decrease substantially as you climb up the income ladder.

Sure, there must be a bunch of Ford-like people in Etobicoke who identify with him, but the majority of his supporters likely belong to low-income minorities.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

There have been quite a few polls showing such trends for a while.



This is an oldie, for example.

He also lost by a very wide margin in the Beaches and in Rosedale, which are famous for having the lowest percentage of visible minorities in the city, and the greatest share of 'heterosexual white' people. In Scarborough, meanwhile, where visible minorities dominate, Ford won almost every single ward by a margin of 20-40% of the vote!

Polls have also indicated time and time again that most university-educated people (which applies to most of the white upper-middle-class) disapprove of Ford, while those who have only primary education or less overwhelmingly support him. Another one in the Star last year showed that Ford's approval ratings are highest among low-income households, and decrease substantially as you climb up the income ladder.

Sure, there must be a bunch of Ford-like people in Etobicoke who identify with him, but the majority of his supporters likely belong to low-income minorities.

Why would any low income minority support this man? He wants to cut transit funding and funding to services that are of most benefit to the poor. And then there is his history of racist comments. Surely it dosen't take a genius to see that Ford is a horrible representative for low income minorities.

 

[sarnya]

I took some screenshots from the latest Forum Research poll dated May 25, 2013. Obviously polls are to be taken with a grain of salt but below are some insights into Ford's approval ratings.

Do you approve or disapprove of the job Rob Ford is doing as mayor?

Do you approve or disapprove of the job Rob Ford is doing as mayor?

Rob Ford Approval Trending

 

[DSC]

Folks, I've found a mechanism for City Council to force an election. If City Council does not meet for 60 days, the Premier must call an election. To form a quorum, a Council meeting must be attended by 23 Councillors (including or excluding the Mayor). If City Council wants to force an election, they should meet outside Council Chambers, perhaps protesting in Nathan Phillips Square. If only Ford loyalists attend, the speaker is forced to cancel the meeting. If this were kept up for 60 days, the Premier would have to call a general election and we'd be going to the polls this October, not in 2014.

Call your councillors, suggest this to them. I'm sure there are more than 23 Councillors who want Ford to step down.

There are probably far more than 23 Councillors who would like to see Ford(s) gone but I think it would hardly endear these Councillors to the electorate if they ceased to do official Council business for 60 days and then forced the City to run a full election. I bet most would not get re-elected and Ford just might. Though we DO need some sort of leadership at City Hall it would be better that Council continues what it is doing now and simply ignores Ford
and his proposals.

 

[Tulse]

Though we DO need some sort of leadership at City Hall it would be better that Council continues what it is doing now and simply ignores Ford and his proposals.

Yes, given that the mayor doesn't have a lot of actual procedural power beyond being another councillor, the best approach would be for council to treat Ford as irrelevant and push its own agenda. What is needed is for a significant block of councillors to coalesce around some clear bipartisan issues and make those the priority of council.

 

[jje1000]

There are probably far more than 23 Councillors who would like to see Ford(s) gone but I think it would hardly endear these Councillors to the electorate if they ceased to do official Council business for 60 days and then forced the City to run a full election. I bet most would not get re-elected and Ford just might. Though we DO need some sort of leadership at City Hall it would be better that Council continues what it is doing now and simply ignores Ford
and his proposals.

Exactly. Not doing work (wasting taxpayer dollars) + Forcing Ford out (overrunning the rule of the electorate) = falling into Ford's narrative trap that City Council is out to get him and that they would need to be replaced with Ford-friendly councillors. Which would be much worse than what's happening right now because it would allow Ford's ideas to proceed without interruption.

I'd be perfectly fine with Ford's reelection, as long as the slate of councillors opposed to him remains as strong, or even stronger. Thank goodness we don't have a strong mayoral system.

 

[JWBF]

There are probably far more than 23 Councillors who would like to see Ford(s) gone but I think it would hardly endear these Councillors to the electorate if they ceased to do official Council business for 60 days and then forced the City to run a full election. I bet most would not get re-elected and Ford just might. Though we DO need some sort of leadership at City Hall it would be better that Council continues what it is doing now and simply ignores Ford
and his proposals.

I guess you can say I could be half joking, but if it concerns the mayor doing actual work in his ~2-4 hour days then what would be the difference?

Just for the record, Robbie talks big about councillors taking vacations on the tax payers dime (a good example is the mayor conference), however, he shirks his duty by putting in less than office hours. Also going on vacation instead of supporting the people of Toronto really shows he does care about the people, just the people he prefers.

My point, if he was actually preforming his job that tax payers give him money for... well I'm sure you can fill in the blanks of this mini rant.

 

[W. K. Lis]

I guess you can say I could be half joking, but if it concerns the mayor doing actual work in his ~2-4 hour days then what would be the difference?

Just for the record, Robbie talks big about councillors taking vacations on the tax payers dime (a good example is the mayor conference), however, he shirks his duty by putting in less than office hours. Also going on vacation instead of supporting the people of Toronto really shows he does care about the people, just the people he prefers.

My point, if he was actually preforming his job that tax payers give him money for... well I'm sure you can fill in the blanks of this mini rant.

Apparently, Rob does not go to conferences.

I went on conferences when I was working. We learned new approaches, techniques, and situations. Yes, I traveled by plane and stayed at hotels, paid by the company, but it was no vacation. We had to learn, and on return, pass that information onto others in the organization.

How does he expect to confer with other mayors and politicians without networking with them? You can't play telephone tag all the time.