Rob Ford's Toronto

[evvabeing]

Yup, they were squeezed in, hard to hear at times, I thought Doolittle tries a little too hard to be quippy and Michael Cooke kept cutting in when that one audience member was asking about "piling on." But worth the price of admission.

Wondering if I should take next Friday off for the next ITO dump, haha.

i'd love to see the results of a study looking into lost productivity. the financial cost of that should be added to the costs of rob ford... $100 million for LRT cancellation, at least $1 million for the police investigation, $x for lost productivity...

feel free to add to this list of you think of something to add.

 

[requiem]

The obvious answer is the one they gave, i.e. that the Fords bring it upon themselves. This was well-supplemented by McArthur's excellent point (which others here have already mentioned) that politicians who lie to journalists are in effect throwing down the gauntlet to the fourth estate.

Yes, this has been the way I have thought of the "piling on" accusations myself. If Ford didn't do these things in the first place, there'd be nothing to report! From the crack tape to the conflict of interest case to the fiscal claims, he's brought it on himself. I do agree though with what the various panel members said about the City Hall elevator scrums and showing up at Ford's house...not a fan of either, it's just theatre as Cooke said.

 

[tiffer24]

Norm Kelly just described the Fords as "the Kardashians of Canada" in a CP24 interview.

 

[requiem]

i'd love to see the results of a study looking into lost productivity. the financial cost of that should be added to the costs of rob ford... $100 million for LRT cancellation, at least $1 million for the police investigation, $x for lost productivity...

feel free to add to this list of you think of something to add.

I was surprised though that a lot of people in the crowd didn't raise their hands when asked if they knew who the various "characters" were. I feel like my circle and I have read through the ITO but a lot of people haven't.

 

[dforthandbview]

I found myself warming to Greg McArthur's steady and relatable way of speaking as the panel went on.

It was interesting when he polled the audience on if they know who Basso is, who Bellissimo is, and then he asked if they knew who Romeo Di Battista is and was impressed by the hands considering "he hasn't really come out yet" which, to me, implied that there's a story there in the works.

 

[mrtinfoilsocket]

It was interesting when he polled the audience on if they know who Basso is, who Bellissimo is, and then he asked if they knew who Romeo Di Battista is and was impressed by the hands considering "he hasn't really come out yet" which, to me, implied that there's a story there in the works.

haha I was just about to type that! I just listened to it (twice) to make sure I really heard him say that.

 

[requiem]

haha I was just about to type that! I just listened to it (twice) to make sure I really heard him say that.

I hope that means something!

 

[Dubster]

I hope that means something!

Maybe that's the story eyewonder was hinting at a few days ago that "was held back."

Wondering if I should take next Friday off for the next ITO dump, haha.

It's being released at 4:30 PM on a Friday! And I'm supposed to go to a Christmas party that night. Going to be extremely difficult not to check my phone like an asshole for most of the evening as details spill out.

 

[requiem]

It's being released at 4:30 PM on a Friday! And I'm supposed to go to a Christmas party that night. Going to be extremely difficult not to check my phone like an asshole for most of the evening as details spill out.

I like the media reports for the highlights (and I imagine since they know what's in it already, they'll be somewhat ready)...but I do like to read over the document myself as well.

 

[TOperson]

I'm not sure it's a lack of empathy that drives this. She may in fact be an enormously compassionate person. What she may be commenting on here is exasperation with taxation (and government corruption), which can happen over time with life experience.

She's definitely not "enormously compassionate". She's let slip a few details about how she parents her children and ... yikes. And she didn't say a word about corruption.

ETA: Her early-20s daughter is currently in a "transitional year" program at university, which is like a pre-university year for mature students who didn't do so well and need to improve their grades to be eligible for university. It's another way she & her family are benefitting, right now, from tax-funded social-type programs, yet she still isn't so sure about them. Cognitive dissonance, hypocrisy, whatever - it seems like the same thing that keeps people supporting Ford (and a bunch of other useless people, ideas, etc).

 

[PinkLucy]

Norm Kelly just described the Fords as "the Kardashians of Canada" in a CP24 interview.

Hey, has he been reading this thread?

 

[NYCBoy2305]

Panel video available

It was interesting when he polled the audience on if they know who Basso is, who Bellissimo is, and then he asked if they knew who Romeo Di Battista is and was impressed by the hands considering "he hasn't really come out yet" which, to me, implied that there's a story there in the works.

footage of last night's media panel on ROFO. http://www.newsana.com/live

 

[evvabeing]

I was surprised though that a lot of people in the crowd didn't raise their hands when asked if they knew who the various "characters" were. I feel like my circle and I have read through the ITO but a lot of people haven't.

it's true that not everyone is trying to or wants to know as much as people on this forum, but i have had a few friends surprise me... ones that i thought wouldn't care at all, have read the entire ITO. but in addition to that, there's been lots of "get in here, you've gotta see what's on tv now" in offices everywhere.

 

[pud99]

I like the media reports for the highlights (and I imagine since they know what's in it already, they'll be somewhat ready)...but I do like to read over the document myself as well.

The provincial Crown could file a Notice of Appeal at any time before the court office closes at 4 PM on Dec. 6th. Justice Nordheimer delayed his order coming into effect until 4:30 PM on Dec. 6th so as to give the provincial Crown time to decide whether it will file a Notice of Appeal. If they do, nothing will be released unless and until that appeal is dismissed or withdrawn. (The federal Crown has said that it will not appeal. The provincial and federal Crowns have different roles/interests in the proceedings. The provincial Crown has carriage of the extortion charge.)

 

[the lemur]

I'm not sure it's a lack of empathy that drives this. She may in fact be an enormously compassionate person. What she may be commenting on here is exasperation with taxation (and government corruption), which can happen over time with life experience.

I can understand being exasperated by government corruption - it's real and a very visible sign of misspent tax revenue and a structural lack of accountability among politicians. But I don't usually see a complaint about taxation going beyond a perception or an emotion-based argument that has little to do with awareness of how much tax someone pays, what it goes towards or how things are paid for.