Rob Ford's Toronto

[JasonParis]

On a lighter note, here are the results, thus far, from an informal poll re Mayoral support of Metro readers: View attachment 25064

What a wonderful world it would be (for me at least) if these were the actual results in October.

 

[Pickles]

The Rob Ford Football Foundation supplies a cheque for equipment after receiving an invoice from a supplier, provided by a school with which the foundation has an agreement. Rob Ford has testified, under oath, that this is what his foundation does. Nothing more, nothing less.

Yes but I don't believe he testified that his foundation sent a cheque directly to the supplier, simply that a cheque was sent for equipment. What I am saying is that I have a fund that is managed exactly the same as Rob Ford's and that The TCF will issue cheques only to actual charities and non-profits eligible for charitable contributions -- not to suppliers.The cheque would have been sent to either Don Bosco or the Board with a note indicated the specific purpose of the donation (to pay for the equipment).

Rob Ford talks with the school. He promises to cover a portion of the cost, once a school submits an invoice produced by a supplier (this according to his testimony). There is absolutely no evidence that Don Bosco has ever received such a cheque, or entered into any kind of formal arrangement with Ford's Foundation.
To confirm, yes the payment is made on behalf of the Foundation by TCF.

Perhaps there was no evidence given on this matter at Ford's trial since it wasn't relevant to the charges (conflict of interest). However, that is how TCF donor-advised funds are operated and no exception will have been made for Ford's fund.

 

[rightwingSUVdriver]

Actually mine does say I can't work for a competitor for a period of time but I'd been advised casually that it's likely unenforceable for the very reason you mention "can't prevent someone from earning a living".

What about intellectual property though? It's pretty common in the tech world to sign away any intellectual property rights to work you perform during your period of employment. Wouldn't the same kind of thing apply to the work reporters do during an investigation?

If it did, she wouldn't have been able to put out Crazy Town

 

[mrtinfoilsocket]

If it did, she wouldn't have been able to put out Crazy Town

Good point.

 

[Pickles]

I realize the football player from that previous school claimed nothing happened, but as we all know from the numerous Catholic church scandals of recent years, young people are fairly easy to manipulate, especially when it's by "beloved" authority figures that they want to trust. And I can't help wondering if that kid was (a.) paid off, M(b.) threatened in some way to keep his mouth shut, or (c.) was simply too embarrassed by the whole incident to admit to it.

Me too.

... it wouldn't surprise me if the boy simply wanted to put this hypothetical unpleasantness between himself and Ford behind him and just forget about it. Creeps like Ford tend to count on such attitudes when it comes to choosing which victims to pick on. Pam MacConnell elected not to press charges against him after he physically body-slammed her, and he took it as an open invitation to continue menacing her whenever the mood struck him.

His bullying of her certainly revealed a really nasty side of him previously not seen by the public. We've heard he was belligerent and aggressive towards members of opposing teams; the McConnell incident shows his capacity to go after someone who's a colleague, not an enemy.That's why I think some similar treatment of a kid/kids who crossed him or didn't meet his expectations will be in the Board of Ed file.

 

[euler]

Non-competes are difficult to enforce. I've only heard of people threatening to sue over a non-compete ;-) and then their lawyer probably promptly tells them that they'll lose.

Who knows, why would it be bad for Robyn to be at the Globe? Just another paper. She can still do good work.

 

[typezed]

Maybe she's seeking a new beat. Her prominence in the Rob Ford story mostly dropped in her lap. She doesn't seem driven by that intense dislike of Ford, by that sense of offense that makes the story consuming for many of us. She has even spoke favourably of some of his political skills. Unless there is a greater story of criminal connections the Ford story is mostly now a Carnival of Stupid that just keeps on and keeps on and keeps on going on. And pursuing that risky greater story (if it exists) would need a true muckraking reporter who doesn't much care about life outside the job. Not for most. I would have bet on her finding something potentially lucrative on TV. She presents well, and probably has the substance to be a decent interviewer. But the "Crazy Town" publication didn't produce as much TV exposure as I expected.

 

[Dubster]

No offense to Doolittle but she was Donovan's protege. She is great at her job but the real work and guidance on the Ford investigation came from him. The video thing did indeed land in her lap, the rest was just working sources, which any reporter worth their paycheque should be doing.

 

[soimelk]

As an aside, Twittersphere is lit up with news that Robyn Doolittle is now working for the Globe.

AoD

I think its a plus for Toronto politics that Doolittle moves over to the Globe in an investigative capacity. One painfully evident aspect of the Ford scandal is how superior the Star was to all the other dailies in terms of its investigative reporting quality. The Globe had the one big scoop about Doug Ford's drug dealing past, yet even in that story, didn't find new angles report, and the story stagnated. The Post had their moment in the sun with the Slurpy "scoop", while the Sun continued to pay the salary for Ford's public relations director, Joe Warmington. Perhaps the culture of investigative journalism in this city will see a more widespread renaissance with some increased competition and devotion of resources to the craft.

 

[Crazy]

For example, I'm pretty sure Ford did tell Olivia Gondek he was going to "eat her box" and I'm pretty sure she heard him. But who wants to be known for that?

Maybe my memory is faulty (someone please correct me if it is), but I recall Gondek's first response when questioned about the box eating comment was something along the lines of she had to first speak to her lawyer/employer because she didn't want to jeopardize her job. And THEN she came back to say she hadn't heard Ford say anything like that. Well, why the hell wouldn't she say that in the first place if that was the case?

 

[syn]

I wonder how badly The Star fought to keep her on board. As other posters have mentioned, this is probably a step up career wise as she won't be working under Kevin Donovan any longer.

She did really become synonymus with The Star though.

 

[Lansdude]

No offense to Doolittle but she was Donovan's protege. She is great at her job but the real work and guidance on the Ford investigation came from him. The video thing did indeed land in her lap, the rest was just working sources, which any reporter worth their paycheque should be doing.

I think this is right. The Star and Globe are making different sorts of bets. The Star, that their investigative team can do the same work for a cheaper price than if they outbid the Globe for Doolittle. The Globe, that her visibility will attract the readers to pay the upgrade.

Even not knowing what the terms were, I think the Star makes the right choice here because in the long term Doolittle's name will lose value, and that's what she brings. She won't sustain it because the video was really the product of luck. She's a dogged worker but so is any hungry young staffer at a national daily.

 

[Admiral Beez]

No offense to Doolittle but she was Donovan's protege. She is great at her job but the real work and guidance on the Ford investigation came from him. The video thing did indeed land in her lap, the rest was just working sources, which any reporter worth their paycheque should be doing.

Which is why she had to go. You can't have two big fish in one pond.

In the meantime she did her share in increasing exposure and likely ad revenue for the Toronto Star. For all we know, the Toronto Star may have got a percentage of the book revenue. You'd expect this when an acting employee publishes a book about her work at the employer.

By leaving the Toronto Star, she is likely free of most shackles and is now able to write as an ex-employee. We may see something new here.

She's got the looks and manner to be on television, so I expect the Globe is yet another stepping stone.

 

[sno man]

Welcome back UT, was it something I said?

 

[Edward]

Yes it was you. Snow in April!