Rob Ford's Toronto

[Tewder]

I don't know, there's no such thing as bad publicity, right? The international press/media has always found Toronto to be dull and indistinguishable so maybe it doesn't hurt to have some attention directed our way. After all, part of the story with Ford is how out of stride with this city he truly is.

 

[downradio]

After all, part of the story with Ford is how out of stride with this city he truly is.

I don't think the out of stride thing is really being internalized by people who have no other anchor to base their perception of Toronto on. Only once he's left office, disgraced, would that message really come through. At least that's how it's come across to me from where I sit...

 

[ChesterCopperpot]

Oh boy!!!

Mayor Rob Ford‏@TOMayorFord1h
@HulkHogan wants to arm wrestle me tomorrow at #FanExpo. Another reason to cheer for Toronto!

 

[guitarchitect]

I don't know, there's no such thing as bad publicity, right? The international press/media has always found Toronto to be dull and indistinguishable so maybe it doesn't hurt to have some attention directed our way.

Eh, I dunno if there's no such thing as bad publicity, personally - I'd say the Fords are getting a lot of bad publicity lately and aren't to happy about it. Of the City at large, do we really want to be laughed at/mocked? Do we really want our reputation to be "Oh yeah, you had the crack smoking mayor right?" when we travel abroad, from now on?

If some good can come out of this when it's all over - maybe the mayor will have a moment of self-reflection when he realizes that the entire world is watching and/or making fun of him and the City he claims to love so much. Hopefully it's the kick in the pants he needs to get the help he requires, but the more likely result is that he'll just get worse. Part of me thinks that being a mayor/councillor is the thinnest little thread preventing him from being a full-blown junkie, because he needs some modicum of presentability. Once he loses that, I don't think he'll have much time

EDIT:

Oh boy!!!

Oh jeez. Who wants to bet that Ford will "Win" - I'd much rather see Hulk Hogan put a finger in his face and say "Straighten up and get off the drugs, brother!!!"

 

[Marko]

The Marion Berry situation is the closest comparison, considering it has specifically to do with crack. Do people from around the world really think any differently of the city of Washington DC because of the actions of the mayor?

I AM NOT SAYING IT'S OK to do crack or whatever else. I am commenting specifically about the "reputation" that this apparently causes and question if people from other parts of the world really end up thinking less of a city because it's mayor is getting negative/mocking publicity. I'm not so sure.

Do people really think less of San Francisco because of Willie Brown's corruption accusations?
Do people really think less of Chicago because of the criminal activities of several past mayors?
Do people really think less of Montreal because their mayor is up on over a dozen criminal charges?
Do people really think less of Miami because of a couple of their mayors are facing extortion charges?

It's certainly not positive pub, but there are many who will say that ANY pub is good pub. I mean, how many times does Toronto otherwise get mentioned by talk show hosts to their millions of viewers? How often does Toronto otherwise get mentioned in newspaper blurbs in Asia or Europe or South America and have no mayors in those places ever done anything wrong? Would international companies really make their decisions about doing business here based on these reports?

 

[PinkLucy]

Sure, Toronto may be getting mentioned, but it's as the butt of a joke. I'd prefer not to be mentioned.

And I'd say that at least in the case of Chicago and Montreal, people do think less of the city. Or the people I know do

 

[guitarchitect]

Marko - if people around the world are mentioning the Mayor and his crack habit when they hear about Toronto, then it's clearly affecting our reputation. Most of the transgressions you talked about didn't happen in the age of social media, when a simple clip/soundbite can spread across the world in a matter of days, if not hours. And Montreal, while it's worse, just doesn't have the same laughability/headshaking factor to it so it gets a lot less press.

No one is saying this is going to affect the city's business potential - but it's certainly not what we want to be known for, is it? Time will tell what we're known for, but for the moment we're known for our crack-smoking mayor. Hopefully all of the upcoming TIFF coverage can help wash it away, though I'm sure it's going to get a few mentions.

 

[animatronic]

Oh jeez. Who wants to bet that Ford will "Win" - I'd much rather see Hulk Hogan put a finger in his face and say "Straighten up and get off the drugs, brother!!!"

At least they'll have something to talk about.

As far as the Ultimate Warriors claim that Hogan was also a cocaine user? Well it’s his word against the Hulkster’s. However, there might be more to Hogan’s alleged drug use than just the words of a clearly angry man... Shults's friend Randy Culley, who wrestled under the names the Assassin and Moondog Rex, confirms: "Me and Hogan ran around together. He was real bold about the steroid use. And he also did Placidyl [a sleeping capsule], Quaaludes, cocaine."

If anything, Rob should be happy that he doesn't have to go up against Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, who's position on illegal substances was somewhat less ambiguous:

On reflection they could probably talk about a shared love of mullets, so at least there'd be that.

 

[Blovertis]

Sure, Toronto may be getting mentioned, but it's as the butt of a joke. I'd prefer not to be mentioned.

And I'd say that at least in the case of Chicago and Montreal, people do think less of the city. Or the people I know do

It's a mixed bag. Sure, nobody wants to live in the "city with the crackhead mayor", but on the other hand, it does let the world know that we're a big, complicated city. The Ford narrative counters the world's stereotyped view that Canadians are boring and the rest of Canada's perception that Toronto is populated exclusively by effete, CBC-listening latte-sippers.

 

[ChesterCopperpot]

If anything, Rob should be happy that he doesn't have to go up against Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, who's position on illegal substances was somewhat less ambiguous:

Until this happened

In February 2004, Leslie caused an anthrax scare at one of Boston's MBTA stations, Downtown Crossing, where he was working at the time. He had left a bag of cocaine in his booth, which a subway rider spotted and assumed to be anthrax. The building was evacuated as a precaution. Leslie checked into a drug rehabilitation facility after admitting that it was his cocaine

 

[OSS 117]

I

I have to call bullshit on this. It would have been OK if the mayor hadn't been viewed on video smoking crack by what by now must be a quite a few people (when will our turn finally come?). It may also have been an accurate article had the mayor not been outted as hanging out with criminals, thugs and drug dealers. I can't imagine how people are OK with this and I'm not sure why Elliott overlooked it in his article. Of course we should look at what he does outside of office. It advises us as to his ethics in office. In public life, particularly political life, there is little separation. One may say something like "you can't have your cake and eat it too", but looking at Rob Ford...

Anywho...I live in Hong Kong and travel a around Asia for work a fair bit. As a Torontonian, I have to say that a once respected city is getting laughed at every where I go. This sucks. Toronto doesn't deserve it. Besides the bruised ego, I have to imagine it impacts Toronto's image and hence its competitiveness versus other North American cities. Only a socio-path would continue to cling to power given these circumstances. Fuck Rob Ford. </end rant>

That article is from last March. I've learned the hard way that it's important to look at the dates on these links.

 

[RC8]

The Marion Berry situation is the closest comparison, considering it has specifically to do with crack. Do people from around the world really think any differently of the city of Washington DC because of the actions of the mayor?

Yes.

 

[evvabeing]

That article is from last March. I've learned the hard way that it's important to look at the dates on these links.

it doesn't matter that the article is from march. the city of toronto act hasn't been changed since then... and ford has violated it again since then, so my questions stand...

what's supposed to happen if someone violates the city of toronto act?

would a private citizen have to once again take ford to court?

 

[voxpopulicosmicum]

^Since we're talking about Bloor-street strip bars, cocaine, prostitutes, drug-abusing Conservative politicians and corrupt businesspeople from Etobicoke, I wonder if now is a good time to ask if Ford has any connection to Nazim Gillani? Paywalls and laziness are preventing me from posting minute details drawn from actual reportage, but there's more than enough rattling around in my brain to cite the following remarkable similarities to the current RoFo brouhaha:

-Gillani lived on Kipling, a few minutes from RoFo's house

-Gillani and his (then MP) buddy Rahim Jaffer very much enjoyed blow, booze, prostitues and conservative politics

-Jaffer skated on DUI and coke possession charges under dubious circumstances; Gillani skated on fraud charges under less-dubious (but still dubious) circumstances

-Gillani called Club Paradise "his office" and is rumoured to have conducted business meetings there and taken clandestine pictures of his associates (aka "marks")

-Gillani's "street name" was "Big Daddy G"; I wonder what RoFo's street name is, other than "Slurpy Jr."

 

[voxpopulicosmicum]

it doesn't matter that the article is from march. the city of toronto act hasn't been changed since then... and ford has violated it again since then, so my questions stand...

what's supposed to happen if someone violates the city of toronto act?

would a private citizen have to once again take ford to court?

If there's no remedy in the act for the particular breach, then I suppose one could try to get a judicial order mandating compliance, but it looks like the provision you're talking about is pretty vaguely worded, so it's highly improbable that any judge would treat such an effort seriously.