picard102
Senior Member
Ford didn't create a divide, that would be giving him to much credit, he just capitalized on the one already there. His rise to power is a testament to the elitism on both sides, and the previous administrations.
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Rob Ford's Toronto
- Thread starter MetroMan
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Ford didn't create a divide, that would be giving him to much credit, he just capitalized on the one already there. His rise to power is a testament to the elitism on both sides, and the previous administrations.
Bennett000
Active Member
I think this is worth sharing again. People are willing to let this man abuse himself to death so they can save $60 is vehicle registration, and $0.05 on plastic bags.
Then again, this is Ford Nation. Somehow they think killing transit projects, and raising transit fees will help them on their daily drive to work. We really need to figure out how to educate people better.
SFO
Active Member
Bang-on. Been thinking exactly the same. Another case of Ford telling an improbable-sounding lie (he "probably" smoked crack one time while he was drunk but he can't remember??) right before more of the truth is about to come out. Why does he keep doing this? Why can't he stop lying? Part of addiction, some would say, I guess.
pattycakes
Senior Member
Copy of an interesting quote from Don Cherry, I believe he said this at Ford's inauguration:
https://twitter.com/BigGoats11/status/397909450394054657/photo/1
https://twitter.com/BigGoats11/status/397909450394054657/photo/1
Riverdale Rink Rat
Senior Member
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Hahaha... the man is a CRACK SMOKING DRUNK who does not work but uses City resources to coach high school football! What could I possibly say about him that was WORSE than that?
arksi
Active Member
Always is a bit of an overstatement. Speculation, especially when based on second or third hand information has a tendency to not lead to the truth. Even our beloved Metroman gets it wrong now and again. You can call it a false equivalency if you want, but I think it's important to not get carried away with the vitriol that sometimes takes place in regards to both Ford and his supporter
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SFO
Active Member
Actually, let's revise this a little. It's not like he was "offered" crack, like it was a party at the Basso house and he was wasted and said what the hell. He contacted those dealers because he wanted crack. I can't accept any shred of the idea that this was somehow accidental or circumstantial. He made this happen, 100%.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
Maybe I missed it but I never saw a divide prior to that d*ck-for-brains getting elected as "Mayor". Who started all this nonsense about [paraphrasing] "bicycle riding downtown elites", "the war on the car", "rip out those bike lanes", "get rid of street cars to ease traffic", "we want some of that section 37 "shake-down" money in the suburbs", "Scarborough deserves subways"/"there are enough subways downtown"? ...and more. Rob Ford did. He divided the city on issues that we never needed to be divided over and that no previous Mayor did since amalgamation, or prior.
TJ O'Pootertoot
Senior Member
The anti-suburbs stuff going on is the worst. The Star and Huffington Post have both written articles it as, like, a way of blaming the suburbs for forcing this guy on downtown, which is were all the awesome, clean-living, open-minded people. It's the worst kind of stereotype and the irony is that it's EXACTLY the same kind of stereotype that got Ford elected. Instead of talking about all Torontonians, he talked about how there was this alienated group that needed to be brought into the fold (not that he uses big words like that - he just says Taxpayers! Subways!) and all those people who felt ignored by Miller (who was elected based on an airport issue that affected like 500 condo dwellers) jumped on it. (The fact that Transit City was designed to serve suburbia far better than the half-brained transit "plan" Ford has pushed is immaterial when you feel left out.)
If people like "kicked it in the sun" were more inclusive, and treated Scarberians, North Yorkers etc. like fellow Torontonians instead of looking at them based on old, ill-informed stereotypes, the whole city will be better off. THAT is the challenge for the next Mayor and I suspect John Tory will be able to do it much better than Chow.
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Conrad Black
Senior Member
Miller was hardly elected by only 500 condo dwellers. Say what you want about Miller and his politics but I can't recall one Mayor that was so decisive as Ford from day one. Crombie, Sewell, Lastman, Hall and more. All tried to work with the others. Ford on the other hand brought in Don Cherry to put a stick in his opponents eyes from day one.
Jado
Active Member
Assuming you mean "so divisive"...
blahblahblah
Active Member
http://savetoronto.ca/pressrelease See press release. See you there today and next Wednesday.
TJ O'Pootertoot
Senior Member
No - I said his main issue was an issue that only affected 500 condo dwellers, which is obviously a bit of hyperbole. I don't think Miller was intentionally divisive but don't tell me anyone in North York cared about the island airport. Obviously he was elected by having a broader appeal than just one issue but when you compare the airport bridge to the "gravy train" rhetoric, you can see what Ford was doing.
Dubster
Active Member
With regard to the suburbs/downtown "war," I think it should be stated that Ford didn't win with suburban support alone. That's just not true. Nor can he win election without significant support in the downtown either. The numbers just aren't on his side.
I'm a pretty left wing person, but the last election infuriated me for a number of reasons. First, Ford's opponents ran against Miller's record in order to take advantage of the complete made up controversy over the garbage strike in which it was ENTIRELY the doing of Miller and not a labour issue that went well beyond the confines of City Hall (you can thank the Sue Ann Levy brigade with an assist from the middle right Thomson-owned GAM for that). But they were also nervous of alienating the middle left, so as a result, Smitherman and co. didn't have a coherent message whatsoever.
Ford, whose populist, contrarian candidacy wasn't bound by any such delicacies, ran a simple, clear message: I will stop the big spending at City Hall and fight for the taxpayer. He didn't need a specific plan or set of promises, just: "if the left likes it, it's bad, I'm against it." After years of Miller and the recent garbage strike, that message resonated.
The thing is, the left had a golden opportunity to fight them on the other flank to win suburban votes, but all they had was Joey Pants. The message could have been: "Transit City will make your commute to work faster, and because of that, raise the property value of your home. It will open up businesses in the suburbs, too. And the best part is the plan is already in place and agreed to with the province!" Instead, the left did what it always does in this town: parrot the same old bullshit about bicycles and yell stammering in Ford's face, "This guy is a maniac!" I mean, they were right, but that was never a strategy to win votes.
My biggest fear is that Chow will fail to learn the lesson of the last election, and just run on the same old tired crap without even bothering to reach out and take suburban issues seriously on terms suburban voters care about. And that will pave the way for Ford to get re-elected as the vote is yet again split by weak-kneed opportunists on the right of the spectrum like Stintz and Tory.
I'm a pretty left wing person, but the last election infuriated me for a number of reasons. First, Ford's opponents ran against Miller's record in order to take advantage of the complete made up controversy over the garbage strike in which it was ENTIRELY the doing of Miller and not a labour issue that went well beyond the confines of City Hall (you can thank the Sue Ann Levy brigade with an assist from the middle right Thomson-owned GAM for that). But they were also nervous of alienating the middle left, so as a result, Smitherman and co. didn't have a coherent message whatsoever.
Ford, whose populist, contrarian candidacy wasn't bound by any such delicacies, ran a simple, clear message: I will stop the big spending at City Hall and fight for the taxpayer. He didn't need a specific plan or set of promises, just: "if the left likes it, it's bad, I'm against it." After years of Miller and the recent garbage strike, that message resonated.
The thing is, the left had a golden opportunity to fight them on the other flank to win suburban votes, but all they had was Joey Pants. The message could have been: "Transit City will make your commute to work faster, and because of that, raise the property value of your home. It will open up businesses in the suburbs, too. And the best part is the plan is already in place and agreed to with the province!" Instead, the left did what it always does in this town: parrot the same old bullshit about bicycles and yell stammering in Ford's face, "This guy is a maniac!" I mean, they were right, but that was never a strategy to win votes.
My biggest fear is that Chow will fail to learn the lesson of the last election, and just run on the same old tired crap without even bothering to reach out and take suburban issues seriously on terms suburban voters care about. And that will pave the way for Ford to get re-elected as the vote is yet again split by weak-kneed opportunists on the right of the spectrum like Stintz and Tory.
Hype
New Member
Is Vice the only one running with the Massoudi story?
I hate that all the ooooohs and aaaaahhs are about the admission, as if that were it, and everything else surrounding it seems lost...though the Globe does cover it all in their editorial today.
I hate that all the ooooohs and aaaaahhs are about the admission, as if that were it, and everything else surrounding it seems lost...though the Globe does cover it all in their editorial today.
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