Rob Ford's Toronto

[euler]

i wonder why he did this for these displaced people, but not the 78 year old displaced from the jewelry store fire...

He also could have called a taxi van instead of calling Byford's personal line again to get a bus, which while he was OK with it simply looks bad. Still can't really fault him for literally helping these people out in a time of crisis.

 

[the lemur]

That's really all the author was saying, "smarter than you" is simply an attention-grabbing headline.

What he actually said was, to his students: which agrees with the whole "smarter than most people".

Well, sure ... his students haven't had the experience of being in government or administration of any kind. Sure he's smarter than almost anyone of those students, and by extension smarter than most people (thinking again of George Carlin's statement about how stupid most people really are ...). But the tone of the article seems to be 'You think you know Bush is dumb, but you're wrong! He's actually a genius!'. Which is a stretch.

Also, the student's question was about how *involved* Bush was in what was going on regarding the financial crisis, i.e., how informed and aware he was and to what extent he was working on the problem. Whatever we assume about his intelligence, that question actually doesn't necessarily mean 'Was he smart enough to understand the issue?' or 'He was too dumb to be able to deal with it, right?'. The author doesn't even say whether the student who asked the question acknowledged that it was about intelligence.

 

[casita]

He also could have called a taxi van instead of calling Byford's personal line again to get a bus, which while he was OK with it simply looks bad.

I responded to many fire scenes in this city over four decades. I used to drive the ambulance buses. It is the responsibility of the Emergency Services officials to contact TTC Control for their buses.

They don't need a candidate for mayor grandstanding for the voters by calling the TTC boss at home.

 

[James_D]

Had -- say, Adam Vaughan done the same thing Ford would have been screaming about gravy, hand in the cookie jar, special treatment for the downtown elites etc...

 

[dforthandbview]

From the article: Mayor Rob Ford called TTC chief executive Andy Byford at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night with a question: could a bus that had been sent to the site of an Etobicoke fire, as a stationary “shelter bus,” be used to take him and some of the people displaced by the fire to a hotel?

So the bus was already there or on it's way and Ford had asked if it could be used to transport these families? That's not the same as calling up Byford and requesting a bus. Also, this bus was already out of service, unlike the bus that was sent to pick up his football players.

 

[tariqata]

I responded to many fire scenes in this city over four decades. I used to drive the ambulance buses. It is the responsibility of the Emergency Services officials to contact TTC Control for their buses.

They don't need a candidate for mayor grandstanding for the voters by calling the TTC boss at home.

This was the part that really bugged me about this incident. I mean, I don't think it's a bad thing for local politicians to show up to provide moral support and assistance when people are displaced and need help, but somehow I doubt that it is out of the ordinary for emergency services workers to arrange for shelter and other immediate needs in these cases. Ford's behaviour and publicizing of the incident seems designed to send an implicit message that if he hadn't been on the scene, those four people would have been SOL.

 

[euler]

I doubt that it is out of the ordinary for emergency services workers to arrange for shelter and other immediate needs in these cases.

Does Toronto have any facilities for this other than homeless shelters? I imagine you'd have to rely on the kindness of friends, family and strangers to put you up. I could see a nearby hotel that is underbooked to offer up rooms gratis, or neighbours and stuff, but... where would Toronto put multiple families?

 

[PinkLucy]

I'm not a fan of Ford at all, but I appreciate his enthusiasm for the hockey game yesterday, particularly since it was the women's team. Canadians across the country were jumping up and down.

Now, as for the emergency bus, I think he spun that to make it look like his idea.

 

[casita]

Regarding the mayor responding to emergency scenes around midnight, does he drive the Escalade himself, or is his chauffeur/driver/whatever called in?

Or, does someone else come get him, or he takes a cab?

 

[zang]

Councillor Mark Grimes jumped two times. Is that also unacceptable behaviour? Or is two the limit?
Also, if Ford had sat in his chair, like some councillors did, and just politely clapped he would have been criticized for not showing a little bit of enthusiasm. Seriously, this guy can't win sometimes.

It's more related to the way he values wins and losses, not the general enthusiasm. I get that people get excited. To me it just looked like he took he win far more seriously than other would or did.

 

[Grimace]

Does Toronto have any facilities for this other than homeless shelters? I imagine you'd have to rely on the kindness of friends, family and strangers to put you up. I could see a nearby hotel that is underbooked to offer up rooms gratis, or neighbours and stuff, but... where would Toronto put multiple families?

I have no idea, but this is just another of many examples of the Fords taking advantage of their personal wealth to suggest they are better than everyone else. In the circumstances this is not the best example to complain about, but it entirely fits within the no-office-budget; pay-my-way-to-Austin; donate-my-salary-to-charity nonsense started by Ford Sr. that demeans politicians that are not independently wealthy and therefore need a salary and a budget to survive and do their jobs properly. If the Fords want to be generous with their money they should donate to established charity and not be out buying votes by paying for hotels, handing out $20 bills, etc.

 

[PinkLucy]

It's more related to the way he values wins and losses, not the general enthusiasm. I get that people get excited. To me it just looked like he took he win far more seriously than other would or did.

It was hockey, this is Canada and #WeAreWinter. Lots of people took it seriously, just like they will today. He wasn't out of line.

 

[annonuesr]

Hmmm. Maybe there is something to all our speculation about time running out for the Fords.

We all know cornered animals are the ones to fight the hardest. So, is this confidence? Or is it just their typical bluster cranked up to even higher levels than usual because the boys are beginning to feel the walls slowly closing in? If their behavior was obnoxious enough that Nunziata told them to can it, they must be feeling stressed out indeed.

Apologies for bringing this up from pages back, but having watched that sordid bit of the proceedings, I've gotta say that Nunziata's tone and actions during this stretch in no way held the Fords to account. They were actually shouting over speakers, threatening other council members, and disrupting proceedings. Once other councillors called out the speaker for letting this go on, she continued to let it go on for almost a minute, cutting off the protests of other councillors by turning off their mics.

The quotation above came after a lengthy strength of ineffectual, confused stumbling that did nothing to stop the disruption in chamber. She didn't even pause for a response from the Fords - it was almost as though she was saying these words to herself.

If nothing else, I'm looking forward to the next term in the hopes that we have a speaker who understands what the word "decorum" means, and how it might be maintained. Council proceedings under Nunziata's watch are an absolute joke.

 

[euler]

Council proceedings under Nunziata's watch are an absolute joke.

Tell us something we don't already know... The woman is utterly useless. I think I once described her as a schoolteacher who has lost control of her classroom. I honestly don't know how she got elected or if she has a single original thought in her entire body.

What was amusing was when Rob Ford had to take over the chair and he did a *far better job* of keeping things running smoothly than Nunziata ever did. That's pretty bad when Ford does a better job than you.

 

[ChesterCopperpot]

Interesting that she cited the @RobFordToronto account, which has not tweeted yet.

Think the hat would go well with a prison uniform though.

They were debating the use of social media for campaigning yesterday and I believe they aren't allowed to use their City of Toronto account for campaigning - this is probably the twitter handle he will use during the election