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Rob Ford's Toronto

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Cherry: “People are sick of the elites and artsy people running the show. It’s time for some lunch pail, blue-collar people.â€

Yeah, cuz, like, didn't Bob and Doug used to work in a beer factory, or something?
 
I am so fucking sick of this manufactured class war and anti-intellectual bullshit. I know I'm mostly preaching to the choir here, but FUCK.
 
Rob Ford and Don Cherry.

As someone who a fled brutal hick town years ago to get the civilized safety of downtown Toronto, this event has has something of the appearance of a vision from hell.
 
Whenever I think of Rob Ford, I always think of the episode of the Simpsons when Homer becomes the new sanitation commissioner.

I apologize for the poor quality, it was the best I could find.
[video=youtube;gVoKVxRlzcY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVoKVxRlzcY[/video]

Of course, I also fully expect this to happen when Ford's term is over.

[video=youtube;5AAP7zORyWA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AAP7zORyWA[/video]
 
Imagine being away for a year and returning to this.

It would be a Planet of the Apes moment.
 
Irishmonk said:
*Prediction:

There will be a fomenting of anti Ford unrest in Council as the new year unfolds and the pressures of the fast tracked new budget builds. By February (and maybe sooner) there could even be a strong ant-Ford block consisting of roughly 20-24 councillors headed by Adam Vaughn and some others like Mihevic and Fletcher who will do everything they can to box in the antics, whims and petulant pronouncements of the Mayor-King.

When spring rolls around and the 2011 budget squeeze threatens the running of Toronto's big festivals like Luminato and Pride, as well as basic programs and services like parks, public pools and libraries, the media shit storm will crank into overdrove and there will be major demonstrations at City Hall by all manner of aggrieved groups. The urban/suburban civil war will be in full throttle and things will get very ugly.

Put on your seatbelts--it's going to be a bumpy ride.
Click to expand...

Honestly--my hunch is that what you're suggesting is an understatement. I think we're looking at a scenario that'd make the G20 demonstrations wilt; as in, people dying, etc...
 
^ If Irishmonk's was an understatement, yours is certainly hyperbole. I don't expect major demonstrations but public opinion will certainly turn against Ford once pools and libraries start closing, and events people expect annually like Pride pop up on the news experiencing difficulties because of Ford's cuts. People don't want their taxes raised but they're equally enraged by having their services cut. Ford's honeymoon will melt away before the winter snow.
 
Rob Ford isn't the mayor. Doug Ford is the mayor.

Question: does Doug Ford live in Canada full time?

Rob Ford was sent into politics to keep him out of the family business. And soon, we will all know why.
 
With the caveat that I have been wrong a lot when it comes to the Fords, I find it hard to believe they aren't setting themselves up for a huge mess in council. Even after the 'strong mayor'changes, I think a disciplined and coherent Council opposition could wreak havoc with their agenda. And in a Council that still has a very large progressive bloc, they are making no effort whatsoever to prevent the emergence of one. In fact, they seem to be going out of their way to make the point that only hardline supporters will have any influence. The situation is ripe inded for Adam Vaughan or Shelley Carroll to organize a de facto 'party of no' whose core members alone would be close to a majority.
 
^Yeah, I forgot to mention Carroll in my doomsday screed. She could well be the attack dog of the rational (formerly "left") wing in council.

Early spring will be an interesting period. I wonder if all the construction at NPS will make it easier for the Ford coddled police force to blockade the space against demonstrations. I'm starting to imagine the Ford team as a kind of grimly despotic and boldly Machiavellian force the likes of which this city has never seen or had to deal with. There's a an eerily diabolical Rove/Bush, Master/Blaster make-up to Bob and Doug that makes them quite threatening and intimidating. This really is a Twilight Zone episode come to life.

Calgary is looking better and better all the time.
 
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The good news is that Toronto-East York Community Council is wholly under the control of the rational part of council. A lot can be done on the community council level, and that is where these councillors will direct their energy, since they're excluded from everything else. They counldn't go so far as to unilaterally start building a DRL, but a lot of smaller stuff can be done at that level.

It will be interesting to see who becomes chair of the Toronto-East York Council. Whoever it is would be in a good position to be the unofficial leader of the opposition, and mayoral challenger in 2014.
 
^That's somewhat heartening though the TEYCC won't have any control over the budget which is what will drive a stake through this city.

Adam Vaughn is the obvious challenger in all of this. He's going to have to really man-up to be ready for 2014.
 
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