Rob Ford's Toronto

[TOBorn]

Well, it's possible he has a vested interest in that particular issue, if you believe the rumours.

Mikey is, clearly, in over his head. I cannot imagine, being a parent, putting anything to do with my child's education in his hands. Shame on the uninformed voters who have, irresponsibly, thrust this young man into this untenable situation. It should not be up to the other members of the TDSB to supply him with an education. I fully understand that each of us has had to begin new jobs at some point in our lives, but how many of us stumbled blindly into them without a hint of preparedness?

If Mikey is truly a good person and has not been poisoned by his venomous uncles, then I wish him well. I still cannot, in good faith, laud his appointment.

ETA: The Fords have, once again, shown their unmitigated contempt for the residents of Toronto and their willingness to defile the members of their family for their own twisted gratification.

 

[Kat_YYZ]

this is late as the election is over, but the last bit made me laugh:

A sort-of subdued Doug Ford came to the mayoral candidates meeting in the Leaside arena Oct. 7, but his usual large band of supporters didn’t behave well.

They also took up so many seats that many Leasiders had to be turned away from the door. That’s why the Leaside Property Owners’ Association had asked in writing that each candidate not bring a large number of followers.

But this was the Ford Nation, the same ones who appear at every candidates meeting. They made a frequent ruckus and with their clapping and shouts at the end of the meeting sounded like a Russian mob under orders. They held aloft large Ford signs and incanted loudly, “Ford more yearsâ€. It makes you wonder if they were paid clappers.

Ford and John Tory were at each other often during an evening of wild political promises. Olivia Chow told them to stop the bickering.

Otherwise there was one incident worth recounting.

Ford said he was all in favour of heritage and is a history buff. He loves watching the Discovery channel and reads history books.

That got a laugh from the audience.

But he didn’t get it. “I don’t know what’s funny about that,†he said.
http://leasidelifenews.com/ford-nation-keeps-leasiders-out/

 

[TOBorn]

this is late as the election is over, but the last bit made me laugh:

I actually read that as the 'Disney' channel...

 

[JWBF]

There always seems to be hidden costs.

Doug Ford election signs could cost him $11,700 fine
http://www.torontosun.com/2014/10/28/doug-ford-election-signs-could-cost-him-11700

 

[sweetlou]

First of all, Ford has always been part of his name. He dropped Stirpe but in school he was always known as Ford. No one knew him as Stirpe.

This is not specifically directed at any one in particular, certainly not JWBF, it just seemed an opportune time to say this. I've been reading some not so nice things being said about Michael, but let's cut the kid some slack. It isn't his fault how screwed up his parents are. The fact he turned out as well as he did is actually despite his parentage. By all accounts he is a nice person. He is neither a drunk nor a druggie. He is barely an adult and has an opportunity to make something of himself. He does have learning challenges and was receiving specialized assistance in high school. Let's wait and see how and what he contributes before we paint him with the sins of his uncles and parents.

As an aside, I have no idea where this he attended Laurier bit came from. Except for Kara, the other Ford girls went/are going to Laurier but Michael has not. Interesting how stories develop and get repeated as fact.

Pretty sure it said Wilfrid Laurier on his grown up Facebook page.

 

[Racquette]

Pretty sure it said Wilfrid Laurier on his grown up Facebook page.

Yes, if this is actually his page, that is what it says... (No reason to believe it isn't - not much there, but either a fan or a foe page would likely have more public content).

 

[nohostages]

Well, Randy's son is apparently autistic, so there might be something in the genes.

Mom wasn't exactly a neonatal health hero.

 

[sno man]

Mikey is, clearly, in over his head. I cannot imagine, being a parent, putting anything to do with my child's education in his hands. Shame on the uninformed voters who have, irresponsibly, thrust this young man into this untenable situation. It should not be up to the other members of the TDSB to supply him with an education. I fully understand that each of us has had to begin new jobs at some point in our lives, but how many of us stumbled blindly into them without a hint of preparedness?

If Mikey is truly a good person and has not been poisoned by his venomous uncles, then I wish him well. I still cannot, in good faith, laud his appointment.

ETA: The Fords have, once again, shown their unmitigated contempt for the residents of Toronto and their willingness to defile the members of their family for their own twisted gratification.

At the risk of straying off topic, It's not just Mikey that is woefully under qualified, and elected as Trustee. He's easily the highest profile, but they had two of the other rookies on MetroMorning earlier, and only one of the two sounded like they had a clue. The other assured the listeners that they are a quick study and hope to learn on the job.. Half the Trustees are rookies. Good luck TDSB.

 

[adma]

Back to Penny Morrison:

"when she said she and her mother would lose their house because Tory's SmartTrack transit plan would "tax us out."

A household consisting of her and her mother: no spouse, etc, or anything. Anyone get a vibe of a distaff (and somewhat Grey Garden-ian) version of RoFo's loser friends in their mother's basements?

Well, maybe not *version*; more like, "counterpart". Less of a drug thug than of a crazy-lady stalker type. The kind who'd have bawled after Michael Jackson died, or something.

 

[basic]

Doug Ford hated being a councillor. He has no interest in the mundane duties of constituency work. He wants to tell people what to do without having to do any actual work. He will never, ever go back to Ward 2.

Agreed. Ward 2 will be Mikey's once Saint Robertus is called to his Lord.

 

[sweetlou]

Mikey is, clearly, in over his head. I cannot imagine, being a parent, putting anything to do with my child's education in his hands. Shame on the uninformed voters who have, irresponsibly, thrust this young man into this untenable situation. It should not be up to the other members of the TDSB to supply him with an education. I fully understand that each of us has had to begin new jobs at some point in our lives, but how many of us stumbled blindly into them without a hint of preparedness?

If Mikey is truly a good person and has not been poisoned by his venomous uncles, then I wish him well. I still cannot, in good faith, laud his appointment.

ETA: The Fords have, once again, shown their unmitigated contempt for the residents of Toronto and their willingness to defile the members of their family for their own twisted gratification.

Agreed. I'd be kind enough to 'give the kid a chance' if he was starting his first job in the local deli or at Loblaws, or as a camp counsellor, in line with his demonstrated level of education and experience. But giving him a chance at a job that requires a more comprehensive skill/experience set or evidence of similar work, just because he seems to be a nice kid, isn't right. As someone said upthread, it's a cynical move that shows total disrespect for the voters and for the parents and children he'll represent. BUT that's what the voters of school board ward 1 have chosen.

 

[vic]

I agree about the need for ranked ballots but I don't understand the widespread hate for Mammoliti, who had the good grace to do what people asked of him: get a labotomy. We should reward politicians who do what is asked.

This forum *really* needs a "like" button.

Occasionally while reading this forum I nearly burst out laughing on my commute. It's the silver lining to all this Ford (and Mammo etc.) nonsense.

The "Downtown Arby's" comment from a few months back still makes me chuckle too.

 

[pattycakes]

From today's Star, he's as vague about his education as his uncle was:


"He studied leadership for a semester at Wilfrid Laurier University and took a year of business studies at Humber College before quitting to enter politics."

http://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/...newest_ford_politician_his_own_man_at_20.html

"Last April, early in the civic election campaign, Ford seemed to imply to the Star’s Linda Diebel that he had graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa, where he studied political science and played centre for the Ravens football team.
The confusion arose after Diebel asked Ford about graduating and he replied: “21; I took three years.”

“I don’t ever recall saying that I went anywhere for three years. I went to university for three years, but I wasn’t in Ottawa for three years,” Ford told the website. On Tuesday, York confirmed that Ford took six continuing education courses between 1990 and 1991. The university said he completed “some, but not all” of the first-year courses, which included political science, urban studies, geography, economics and history."

http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2010/12/21/rob_fords_confusing_university_life.html

 

[lizangel11]

He is a good kid probably the best in the family , he really wants to be a pilot not a politician. Someone made a comment about how he speaks and thought since Randy's son was Autistic then he is but actually he was born with a Actually Michael was born with cleft palate and due to the drunk mother of his he never had the surgury to fix it until in his teens.. He really wants to be a pilot not a politician.

Agreed. I'd be kind enough to 'give the kid a chance' if he was starting his first job in the local deli or at Loblaws, or as a camp counsellor, in line with his demonstrated level of education and experience. But giving him a chance at a job that requires a more comprehensive skill/experience set or evidence of similar work, just because he seems to be a nice kid, isn't right. As someone said upthread, it's a cynical move that shows total disrespect for the voters and for the parents and children he'll represent. BUT that's what the voters of school board ward 1 have chosen.

 

[basic]

I'd kind of like to see Doug take a run at the PCPO leadership. Could be fun. He'll have to convince convention delegates to support him, people who are politically engaged and know the issues. It would be a laugh watching him try to put his whoppers over on this crowd.

I think it would have to be enticing to have Drug as the PC leader. I think the mayoral election shows that Ford Nation, while blind, is alive and well. The PC's would surely gather more seats in Toronto. But would the bluster and lies translate to the rest of the province? It would be a huge gamble. The anyone-but-Hudak vote was pretty damn strong as well, and one has to imagine that it will be easy pickings for the Liberal campaign machine to cast Drug as even more evil than Hudak . Is the party willing to sell it's soul and gamble for a bump in seats?