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Rob Ford's Toronto

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As a gay man, I am against Pride getting involved into political wrangling that they truly have nothing in common with.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is far more complicated than this, and organizations with 'Israeli Apartheid' in their title continue to pollute not only Pride, but my university as well. It's irritating to say the least.


I agree with Ford's ultimatum. Stop with the anti-Israel talk or forfeit city funding for Pride.
 
Pride is Political, and these people can say (and march with) whatever they want. If those against them are so royally ticked off by this unpardonable outrage, let them march behind or before them with their own sign. That'd be fair. Then we can have another group march with both of them - "Queens (and parents and friends of queens) Tired Of Palestinian / Israeli Bitching".
I think it's pretty amazing we live in a city so peaceful that this non-issue is just about the only bit of sensationalism the press can drum up. That's really something.

If the city wasn't going to pull funding over this, it'd be the nudity, or the sexuality, or the gayness, or the hour, or the trash, or whatever. Ford's already made it clear he wanted funding pulled. No need to make it an issue about this tempest-in-a-teapot nonsense.
 
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CanadianNational said:
Pride is Political, and these people can say (and march with) whatever they want. If those against them are so royally ticked off, let them march behind or before them with their own sign. Then we can have another group march with both of them - "Queens Tired Of Palestinian / Israeli Bitching".
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That would be fine... but without city funding. The city shouldn't be funding fringe opinions that offend large swaths of Torontonians (I don't mean Pride, but the anti-Israel talk).
 
I say go ahead and fund it, and let free speech rip. Let's burn down a couple corporate floats while we're at it, squirt anyone wearing corporate makeup with Liquid Ass, invite Ford to marshal the parade after putting itching powder in his underwear and a wig on his head, tear down the parade dividers and dance behind our favourite floats by the light of bonfires. Have The Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence commandeer police cars, and protesters of every stripe fill the air with cacaphonous klaxons. Break open pinatas of Harper, McKay, Flaherty and Baird to reveal stolen treats and deficit dough. Watch Marvin Gaye and Phil Ochs get astrally married.
More, not less.

You can never not offend everybody. How on earth could you ever enforce such an impossible thing? It's not like the event is closed to anyone else who wants to hoist a sign. Maybe the people bitching should get off their soft asses and do some protesting of their own. For real.
 
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Filip said:
As a gay man, I am against Pride getting involved into political wrangling that they truly have nothing in common with.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is far more complicated than this, and organizations with 'Israeli Apartheid' in their title continue to pollute not only Pride, but my university as well. It's irritating to say the least.


I agree with Ford's ultimatum. Stop with the anti-Israel talk or forfeit city funding for Pride.
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Rob Ford is looking for any technicality to remove city funding for Pride. If not "Israeli Apartheid" then something else. Maybe 43 copies of the application for each councilor and mayor? Maybe the application has to be in English AND French? Maybe a typo? Anything?
 
Interesting :eek:

Council foes give Ford even more power

He’s a souped up Ford — thanks largely to his council opponents.

A bid by councillors to derail a staff recommendation to shrink six city boards has given Mayor Rob Ford the power to make hundreds more appointments.

Before Tuesday’s vote, Ford — like his predecessor David Miller — had the power to fill 183 positions on various boards.

Thanks to the motion and the lack of council support to correct it, Ford along with the striking and civic appointments committees he controls, can now handpick more than 400 positions, The Sun has learned.

While the original motion would have altered just six city boards, the amended motion changes 102 of them.

“That motion single-handedly changed 102 boards, no transparency, no accountability, no real debate, just a hasty move,†Ford’s press secretary Adrienne Batra told the Sun Thursday.

Asked if she feels the mayor’s power has been strengthened by the change, Batra acknowledged he will have more chances to put people where he wants.

“It’s given the mayor’s office more opportunity to put people on boards certainly,†Batra said. “That’s something certainly this office was not asking for.â€

The vote was the first major vote Ford has lost since taking office in December.

Council voted 24 to 19 in favour of Councillor Adam Vaughan’s amendment which guaranteed no city agency, board or commission would have less than 11 members.

Vaughan’s motion stated that at least three of those 11 should be city councillors and one should be the mayor or a designate appointed by the mayor.

After the vote, Vaughan called it a “really good day for the people of Toronto†while Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti warned the “on the fly†motion would backfire on councillors who supported it.

Hearing the new appointment numbers, Councillor Shelley Carroll chuckled that Ford’s now “got a lot of work to do.â€

“It was certainly not our intention to create that much work for him to do,†she said.

Carroll pointed out councillors, many who supported Vaughan’s amendment, tried to fix it with another vote but Ford’s council supporters stymied the quick fix.

“Through pure partisan petulant behaviour on the part of their quarterback,†she said, taking a not too subtle shot at Mammoliti.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2011/04/14/17997021.html
 
Catching up on my news fixes after a little trip away, I am finding some solace in the work of Adam Vaughan. At least someone is taking a leadership position against the attempts by Ford to gain an autocracy.

Good luck to Adam Vaughan, he is going to need it, plus courage to boot. Someone's got to slay the dragon.
 
The Toronto Sun spin on that story is crazy -- the original motion doesn't take effect for several months, and someone will surely make a motion at an upcoming meeting to correct the oversight. It will only need a simple majority, and it'll get it. The mayor can seemingly only whip 17 votes (including his own) 100% of the time.
 
W. K. Lis said:
Rob Ford is looking for any technicality to remove city funding for Pride. If not "Israeli Apartheid" then something else. Maybe 43 copies of the application for each councilor and mayor? Maybe the application has to be in English AND French? Maybe a typo? Anything?
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From The Star:

Queers Against Israeli Apartheid quits Pride parade and issues challenge to mayor

Seeking to “challenge†Mayor Rob Ford, the activist group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid has unexpectedly announced that it will not participate in this year's Pride parade.

Ford said in March that the city should not provide funding to Pride if QuAIA's “hate speech†is permitted. But he has also said that funding for Pride and other festivals should be eliminated simply for the purpose of saving money.

In a news release Friday morning, QuAIA said it would hold independent Pride Week events outside of the festival so that Ford is denied a convenient pretext for withdrawing funding. Citing Ford's history of controversial comments related to the gay community, the group accused the mayor of homophobia.

“Rob Ford wants to use us as an excuse to cut Pride funding, even though he has always opposed funding the parade, long before we showed up,†QuAIA spokesperson Elle Flanders said in the news release. “By holding our Pride events outside of the parade, we are forcing him to make a choice: fund Pride or have your real homophobic, right-wing agenda exposed.â€

Ford will face a difficult council battle if he seeks to deny support to Pride even though QuAIA is not participating. In a Star survey days after the 2010 election, only two of 32 councillors who responded said they were in favour of cutting all parade funding. Seventeen were opposed and 13 said they needed to learn more about the issue.

Councillor James Pasternak (Ward 10, York Centre), one of the councillors most outspoken in opposition to QuAIA, said he will vote to fund Pride as usual if the group holds to its word. He called its promise to “exit the public sphere†a “great relief for Toronto.â€

“I don’t have a problem with helping out cultural, civic festivals, whether they’re cultural festivals or parades,†Pasternak said. “The city can play a role in economic activity and social harmony. And for many years, (Pride) did, and was an important economic tool to the city, but it got mired in controversy and became extremely divisive.â€

Pride says it would have to make significant cutbacks this year and possibly face long-term extinction if the city did not provide any support. Last year, the city gave Pride a $123,807 grant and $245,000 worth of services, such as litter cleanup and policing; together, city support amounts to about a quarter of the festival budget.

In a report released Wednesday, city manager Joe Pennachetti noted a study that said the 2009 festival generated $94.3 million in economic activity.

Pennachetti’s report concluded that QuAIA’s participation in Pride does not violate the city’s anti-discrimination policy.

QuAIA’s decision represents a significant tactical shift for the group, which fought intensely last year for the right to participate in Pride.
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W. K. Lis said:
From The Star:
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I'm more upset about what happened last year in regards to the QuAIA. Miller's government (!!!) told them they couldn't participate or forfeit funding, Pride said ok, city gave funding, and Pride let them participate anyway!

That kind of backstabbing from Pride's organizers is incredibly short sighted. I'm not surprised Ford is out to get them.
 
It would really help Ford's case if he were to make the above known ! I had no idea about that, that skews my opinion a little.
 
taal said:
It would really help Ford's case if he were to make the above known ! I had no idea about that, that skews my opinion a little.
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Ya, I couldn't believe it either. I have no respect left for Pride anymore.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com...ide-had-pride-it-wouldnt-need-torontos-money/

" This follows a rather impressive display of chutzpah last year; when Pride was told to either ban QuAIA or receive no city money, it banned QuAIA, took the city’s money, cashed the cheque and then let QuAIA back in. Ford has no interest in getting fooled again. Good. Because there’s an easy solution. Just stop funding the parade and be done with it."
 
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