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Rob Ford's Toronto

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Peter Kent, former (Conservative) federal environment minister

WHENEVER A REPORTER FOR THE TORONTO STAR MIGHT WISH TO ASK FOR MY THOUGHTS ON AN ISSUE OF THE DAY, I STAND READY TO RESPOND.

HOWEVER, AND DESPITE YOUR “EXTENDED DEADLINE” I WILL NOT ANSWER THE DEMANDS IN YOUR LETTER OF DECEMBER 16TH, 2013, WHICH I CONSIDER TO BE A CRUDELY CRAFTED, VEILED THREAT THAT I (AND OTHERS) ENDORSE AN EDITORIAL COLUMN WRITTEN BY TORSTAR CHAIR JOHN HONDERICH . . . OR FACE CONSEQUENCES IN YOUR EVENTUAL STORY.

YOUR LETTER IS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF WHAT MIGHT BEST BE DESCRIBED AS CRUSADE JOURNALISM; A NEWSPAPER'S ATTEMPT TO IMPOSE ITS EDITORIAL WILL FAR BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF ACCEPTABLE JOURNALISTIC PRACTICE.

MR. HONDERICH IS CERTAINLY ENTITLED TO HIS OPINION.

I WILL NOT BE BULLIED INTO COMMENTING ON THAT OPINION.

YOUR MANNER OF NEWS-GATHERING IS, I BELIEVE, AN UNFORTUNATE EXAMPLE OF THE DECLINE OF A CRAFT I ONCE PROUDLY PRACTISED.
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I love how they left Peter Kent's caps-lock malfunction intact.

David Peterson, former Liberal premier of Ontario

I’m not going to participate and the reason is I’m a public servant. I’m chairman of the Pan Am Games. I’m not going to get involved in partisan stuff. My job is to build relationships between the city, the province and the federal government and all the various parties they’re in.

I wouldn’t be serving my number one public responsibility getting involved in a partisan way. When I signed up for this, I don’t have the freedom of expressing my point of view on anybody anymore. My job is to build bridges not to tear them down.
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You can tell that he REALLY wants to give his opinion, but knows nothing good will come of it. What a shame.
 
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Jim Cuddy, from Blue Rodeo, says it best:

You cannot raise a people up by dragging others down. We are in the midst of a total standstill in our complicated city because of an elected official who is trying to do just that. There are many things I object to in the leadership of Rob Ford.
The Metrolinx (Transit City project) should never have been cancelled and remains the single best way to improve transit in Toronto. I object to false claims of budget savings. It takes only 10 minutes on the Internet to dig up the real figures and realize that the mayor is selling a whole lot of fiction to his constituents and claiming them as real savings. I object to the lack of vision leading us. I object to the mayor picking fights with our police chief.
But mostly I object to the absence of dignity in the mayoral office. Mayor Ford labels his opponents lefties and socialists. He demeans the media by calling them maggots. He refuses to participate in Gay Pride. The list goes on and on. All but his most fervent followers are meant to feel tossed to the side. He lies and he blames and he avoids any responsibility for his actions. You cannot raise a people up by dragging others down and that is what the mayor attempts to do. His personal life is a mess and we are forced to be witnesses to the circus that surrounds him and that he seems to so enjoy.
Mayor Rob Ford was duly elected mayor of Toronto. He has, I believe, forfeited the right to continue in that office with his boorish bullying and criminal behaviour. The only sane thing for him to do is remove himself from office, retrieve his personal dignity and prepare to run again. The sanctity of the office demands it.

From this star article:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...break_their_silence_heres_what_they_said.html
 
adma said:
But you see, when it comes to the "fascist" question, the Fords are too dumb to know what it is. To them, it means something obvious like dressing up and goose-stepping and threatening to kill Jews like Hitler. Or else, it's that which tromps upon *their* rights--sorta like, those Council leftys are fascist in how they're stomping their jackboots on the Fords' right to be fascist...
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You missed the "trained bear" comment and its allusion to the USSR and Stalinism, dog and pony shows for the press, or in this case, Canada's answer to Pravda, the Sun News Network.
 
I'm glad the Star left PETER KENT in caps lock mode. It added even more humour to his already funny "I WON'T BE BULLIED INTO GIVING AN OPINION!" rant.
 
Crazy said:
I'm glad the Star left PETER KENT in caps lock mode. It added even more humour to his already funny "I WON'T BE BULLIED INTO GIVING AN OPINION!" rant.
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That's not what he said, read it again.
 
spider said:
That's not what he said, read it again.
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Kent said he wouldn't be bullied into commenting on the article, written by Honderich, about the conspicuous lack of commentary on the part of the influential voices in the city.

What's the diff?
 
With the downfalls of Pamela Wallin and Mike Duffy, prominent (TV) journalists in this country aren't looking that admirable. Being an anchorman for the least of our national broadcasters might not be as bright an achievement on the resume as it once was. Less statesmen, more Ted Baxter or Jim Walcott.
 
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Wow, is Joe Warmington ever on a Twitter tear. He keeps posting stuff about Liberal (and other non-con) misdeeds, and implying that there have been no articles are condemning them (at least, not in the Star). Except he's not really coming right out and saying "You did not make a big story of this, Red Star, damn you!!", he's being kind of evasive and coy. It's a bizarre approach. I really don't get what has happened to him.

Of course, any political party's misdeeds should be open to criticism and debate. Luckily we have four daily papers and a host of other excellent news sites so you're guaranteed to get coverage somehow, somewhere. Moreover you can't expect all papers to view a given incident, partisan or otherwise, equally.

What kind of burns me here, and in general, is that he's really whitewashing the extent of Ford's criminality in all that Ford has done. He has diluted the situation down to "you're picking on the Fords exclusively, they're not the only ones that have done wrong". Well guess what, Joe? Sure, Canadian/Ontario/Toronto politics at every level right now have plenty to answer for. But from what i can tell - and please do correct me if I'm wrong - there is no politician in Canada that has behaved in such a morally bankrupt, abusive, and dishonest manner WHILE AT THE SAME TIME performing his job with an effort so minimal as to be matched only by his ability.
 
Johnny Au said:
Peter Kent is so unprofessional. I wondered how did he become anchorman for Global News in the first place.
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He's more than unprofessional - he's corrupt and he's a liar. His title should have been Minister of blatant disregard for, and the Destruction of the Environment.

The guy is a first class POS.
 
atodaso said:
He's more than unprofessional - he's corrupt and he's a liar. His title should have been Minister of blatant disregard for, and the Destruction of the Environment.

The guy is a first class POS.
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There is a reason why Global is known as Fox of the North (from having blatant populist lies in their news to being the home of Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin to having Islamophobic and homophobic televangelists for much of Global's history).
 
spider said:
That's not what he said, read it again.
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"I WILL NOT BE BULLIED INTO COMMENTING ON THAT OPINION."

He will not be bullied into commenting on -- i.e. giving an opinion on -- someone else's opinion.

What in my post made you think that I misrepresented Kent? What do you think Kent is saying?
 
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