Electrify
Senior Member
Not sure if this should be in one of the other Ford threads, but I do feel it has enough merit to deserve its own thread. Mods feel free to move it at your own discretion.
It appears much of Ford's support has come from the outer parts of the city, areas that some have labeled as conservative suburbs. Thing is, over the past decade Toronto has been a Liberal and NDP stronghold. Over numerous elections, the Conservatives have been unable to score a seat here, provincially or federally. In addition to this, Toronto has elected a very left mayor over the previous two elections. While there was a desire for change, to go straight to Tea Party level of policy seems very much out of character.
So where is all this desire for radical change coming from? Well, as I mentioned earlier it apparently is coming from the post-war areas of the city: Etobicoke, North York, and Scarborough. These areas of the city have seen highest amounts of new Canadians moving into them over the past decade. Many of these people were of a higher class in their old countries, so they didn't rely on what little social blanket that was provided there. Many come from places where old world beliefs are strong, especially regarding homosexuality. And many have developing English skills, which means they are more likely to get their news from easy to read sources like The Toronto Sun, and then graduate to sources like The National Post which further enforces right wing ideas.
Now, as we all know Ford has been vocal towards immigrants during this campaign, so why would they vote for him? Well as mentioned many of these immigrants were successful in their home countries, they've made it here. They may feel less empathetic towards others who are immigrating recently, especially those who are coming as refugees when they had to work so hard to get here themselves.
NOW I AM NOT ANTI-IMMIGRANT NOR DO I WANT THIS THREAD TO BE VIEWED AS BEING ANTI-IMMIGRATION! I am trying to explain such a radically hard shift to the right. If anything, I blame neo-conservative media outlets for blindly supporting a candidate who's numbers do not add up while packaging their message towards those with limited English skills, and for left-leaning media for not countering this with an easy to digest source for news coverage.
It appears much of Ford's support has come from the outer parts of the city, areas that some have labeled as conservative suburbs. Thing is, over the past decade Toronto has been a Liberal and NDP stronghold. Over numerous elections, the Conservatives have been unable to score a seat here, provincially or federally. In addition to this, Toronto has elected a very left mayor over the previous two elections. While there was a desire for change, to go straight to Tea Party level of policy seems very much out of character.
So where is all this desire for radical change coming from? Well, as I mentioned earlier it apparently is coming from the post-war areas of the city: Etobicoke, North York, and Scarborough. These areas of the city have seen highest amounts of new Canadians moving into them over the past decade. Many of these people were of a higher class in their old countries, so they didn't rely on what little social blanket that was provided there. Many come from places where old world beliefs are strong, especially regarding homosexuality. And many have developing English skills, which means they are more likely to get their news from easy to read sources like The Toronto Sun, and then graduate to sources like The National Post which further enforces right wing ideas.
Now, as we all know Ford has been vocal towards immigrants during this campaign, so why would they vote for him? Well as mentioned many of these immigrants were successful in their home countries, they've made it here. They may feel less empathetic towards others who are immigrating recently, especially those who are coming as refugees when they had to work so hard to get here themselves.
NOW I AM NOT ANTI-IMMIGRANT NOR DO I WANT THIS THREAD TO BE VIEWED AS BEING ANTI-IMMIGRATION! I am trying to explain such a radically hard shift to the right. If anything, I blame neo-conservative media outlets for blindly supporting a candidate who's numbers do not add up while packaging their message towards those with limited English skills, and for left-leaning media for not countering this with an easy to digest source for news coverage.