Rob Ford's Toronto

[MetroMan]

I've been watching this thread for a few days and it's now my main source of news on Ford. Thanks for staying on top of it, everyone.

My thoughts:
- I think it is unlikely that the police are investigating whether Rob Ford smokes crack. Their interest is likely only in the murders, so if they are not connected it will fall to the press to follow up on the crack smoking. I am anxiously awaiting the next installment from the Star, assuming there is one. I wouldn't be surprised at this point if the story fizzles - of course Ford being Ford, there will be something else in a month or two. He'll remain Mayor for the rest of his term, and do a worse job than ever, but add up all the scandals and I doubt he'll be re-elected.

- One of the big issues in the last election was transit, and I remember that all candidates except Pantalone were promising to essentially kill Transit city. I know for myself, the craziness of the intervening years have made me realize: Transit City may not be perfect but there is no alternative. I wonder if others feel this way. I think the general craziness of Ford may have focused the minds of those who oppose him.

This is a good point. There's been a Ford scandal every couple of months or so. With all this heat on Ford, what will he do next while people are watching? My fear has been that if Ford doesn't respond to these questions, the press will get tired of asking and slowly things would return to normal. But who am I kidding? Ford is giving us new ammunition every day. As long as staff is resigning, as long as the media discover new things to report, this story can go on indefinitely. TheStar has already requested george Christopoulos, Isaac Ransom and Brian Johnston's e-mail records under the Freedom of Information Act. There will definitely be some juicy stuff in there. If The Star can vindicate itself, it's going to come out the best investigative reporting paper in Canada. They're going to rack up rewards on this.

 

[guitarchitect]

This is a good point. There's been a Ford scandal every couple of months or so. With all this heat on Ford, what will he do next while people are watching? My fear has been that if Ford doesn't respond to these questions, the press will get tired of asking and slowly things would return to normal. But who am I kidding? Ford is giving us new ammunition every day. As long as staff is resigning, as long as the media discover new things to report, this story can go on indefinitely. TheStar has already requested george Christopoulos, Isaac Ransom and Brian Johnston's e-mail records under the Freedom of Information Act. There will definitely be some juicy stuff in there. If The Star can vindicate itself, it's going to come out the best investigative reporting paper in Canada. They're going to rack up rewards on this.

Got any info for us today MetroMan? We're a bunch of junkies, jonesing for our next fix...

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

MetroMan:

What I am curious about is where is Nick Kouvalis in all this and how he is relating to the split between Towhey and Ford.

AoD

 

[MetroMan]

Got any info for us today MetroMan? We're a bunch of junkies, jonesing for our next fix...

I just woke up haha. I'm going to City Hall after lunch, I'll let you know what I'm hearing.

MetroMan:

What I am curious about is where is Nick Kouvalis in all this and how he is relating to the split between Towhey and Ford.

AoD

I've been wondering about him this whole time. What's his reaction to this? My feeling is: "HaHaHaHa". He doesn't care. He did his job, he got Ford elected then bailed. "Next guy please".

 

[TonyV]

I've got Ford fatigue. They're talking about it all in restaurants, barber shops, delicatessens, and it's all negative. The only one who came to his defence is my barber's wife. (They live in Woodbridge, it doesn't count).

Switching away from these news stories until I get my nerves back. I've missed three days of very important piano drilling, preparing for my exam recital. Damn ford. F@@@ Ford. To hell with Ford and his dumb brother.

Note-- Commentary in G&M this morning says Ford must resign, now.

 

[Gavin]

My fear has been that if Ford doesn't respond to these questions, the press will get tired of asking and slowly things would return to normal.

Mine as well. It's obvious his strategy is to depend on the public fatiguing on the issue.

 

[tiffer24]

But with the Fords, there's always another scandal just around the corner. They seem to think that they're starring in an American reality show.

 

[MetroMan]

What to watch today:

-- Several news organizations have requested the fired staffer's e-mail records.
-- What are the police going to say?
-- Something is brewing at the Provincial level.

 

[nfitz]

Perhaps we will be getting the video soon? Not exactly sure how to parse Robyn Doolittle's tweet

"The National Post's must-read: man living in apt 1703 says he's seen Ford crack video. #slurpy (you'll get it soon)"

It's referring to the National Post's article - http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/30/rob-ford-crack-drama-takes-a-surreal-turn-on-dixon-road/

The man who lives in that apartment says he's seen the video. Slurpy is simply the nickname of someone referred to in the article (which doesn't make sense in the tweet, but after you read the article you'll get that).

Nothing in the tweet really.

And I think this is the first day in a week that there hasn't been some surprising revelation in the morning papers. So is this over, or are there more shoes to drop?

As for the police and the video. If they do have it, they must know that if they release it then Ford is done (likely both Fords, given how much Doug Ford has hung his reputation on there being no video). Not sure that would be a factor in stopping them ... or releasing it.

I suppose it depends how much the video is a factor in the killing. If it was a factor, you can't see how they or the crown wouldn't have to disclose both it's existence and contents early in the upcoming court cases against the murderers.

What to watch today:

...
-- Something is brewing at the Provincial level.

I wonder if the police have the video, if they would be discussing with the Attorney-General. It almost sounded like Wynne knew something yesterday ... knowing that something was going to happen.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

MetroMan:

Unless the provincial government got some information bombshell, I can't see them getting themselves involved given the public opinion out there. As to the opposition (esp. the Tories), they are suspiciously quiet even in light of Wynne's comments yesterday - they aren't even taking going for the anti-democratic line.

AoD

 

[Tulse]

Unless the provincial government got some information bombshell, I can't see them getting themselves involved

I agree -- however terrible the situation is at this point, it isn't proven that Ford has some something illegal, or that he can't be pressured to leave by the tools available to council. Ford has to go, but there is no way the province will push him unless they have no choice. (And wouldn't removing Ford essentially require provincial legislation?)

 

[Gavin]

The province stepping in at anything short of Ford being criminally charged would be absolutely toxic. I took Wynne's comments yesterday to mean that she knew something was up and that they were prepared to step in once it went down...but anything short of that would be political masochism.

 

[Anna]

It's referring to the National Post's article - http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/30/rob-ford-crack-drama-takes-a-surreal-turn-on-dixon-road/

The man who lives in that apartment says he's seen the video. Slurpy is his nickname (which doesn't make sense in the tweet, but after you read the article you'll get that).

Not quite.

that he and his friends briefly considered making a fraudulent crack video starring an acquaintance and Rob Ford lookalike nicknamed “Slurpy,â€

 

[guitarchitect]

What to watch today:

-- Several news organizations have requested the fired staffer's e-mail records.
-- What are the police going to say?
-- Something is brewing at the Provincial level.

- FOI Takes a while to take effect, I wouldn't expect to see the contents of the emails for a couple of months, no?
- This is what I'm interested in...
- I wouldn't go that far - Wynne just wanted to state that if the shit hits the fan, she's looking into the emergency measures that would need to be taken and she's ready to take them. Unless you've heard something we haven't? I just don't think that "Government staffers researching the laws" means something will happen, it's just a form of contingency planning.

It's referring to the National Post's article - http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/30/rob-ford-crack-drama-takes-a-surreal-turn-on-dixon-road/

The man who lives in that apartment says he's seen the video. Slurpy is his nickname (which doesn't make sense in the tweet, but after you read the article you'll get that).

I know she posted the link, but the tag #slurpy is sort of a joke at this moment on twitter, someone has even made a joke twitter account. You're incorrect in your account - Slurpy is the nickname of a kinda-Ford-lookalike that they were going to use to make a fake video to help take the heat off of Ford. the Fact that she wrote (you'll get it soon) is what makes it difficult to parse, because it came after the hashtag but in the context of the crack video.

 

[Roy G Biv]

Wynne needs to focus all her energy on fighting that other idiot, GTA "conservative", Jim Flaherty.