Rob Ford's Toronto

[tiffer24]

Surely you mean Rob riding an ass (I know, it makes its own humour) while the Ford Cult throw palm leaves down in front of him as he rides around city hall. ;p

Yep. The only way to fight the kind of idiotic hypocrisy that has taken over our city is by laughing at them. We are all in trouble if we take the Ford brothers seriously.

 

[zang]

As bad as this past council has shown itself to be on multiple occasions, almost any incumbent councilor who choses to run (even Georgio) will probably be reelected, just like before.

I'm quite certain that a few councillors will be gone this time around. Mammo won with only a plurality last time, whereas in previously he won with a sturdy majority; he dropped nearly 20% between the two elections, and his recent financial issues haven't improved his image at all.

Peter Milczyn dropped from a majority to plurality between the 2006 and 2010 elections; nearly 15%. He only won by 0.5% over a newcomer. This ain't good for an incumbent. It seems like people don't want him there any more. I doubt his support for Ford has helped any.

A friend lives in Palacio's riding, and his knack for not being around unless a photo op or election pops up is becoming quite well known. Many had issues during the ice storm that went unanswered (my friend was nearly a week without power). One of Toronto's major flood zones is right smack in the middle of Palacio's riding, and plenty of houses had flooded basements during our two major floods this year, including that of my friend. Palacio was nowhere to be found. If what my friend and I have heard, his popularity has nose-dived. Ward 17 split the majority between Smitherman and Joey Pants in the mayoral vote, and Palacio's undying devotion to Ford has left a bad taste in the mouth of locals.

Doug Holyday and Mike Del Grande won't be back. Al together that's at least 5 of the top pro-Ford voters who aren't (or aren't likely) to be coming back. That's not counting the lack of trust that Ford has incurred amongst them over the past year. Even if Ford were to win, he'd likely have less support from councillors than previously. His plans to run a "stable of candidates" seems more out of desperation than a further power grab. Especially considering how much sway incumbency has over elections.

 

[MetroMan]

I tried for a few days but I haven't been able to get in touch with my Farah source. I'm still confident that my other two sources regarding a prominent judge being on video. One source says it's the second tape, the other is non committal. That second source however knows the name of the judge but is afraid to disclose it. I wouldn't either. Ford won't sue anybody for libel because he doesn't want his life exposed but a powerful judge knows how to work the system. I'm keeping my nose out of it. It'll come out in the Traveller trials.

 

[Silence&Motion]

They seem resigned to waiting on Olivia Chow, untested in a city-wide campaign against the likes of Ford and unlikely to appeal to many of the moderate suburban voters who backed Ford last election.

A lot of people are very excited about Chow. Where exactly would you find a candidate who is "tested in a city-wide campaign against the likes of Ford"? Smitherman?

 

[Cooper]

I tried for a few days but I haven't been able to get in touch with my Farah source. I'm still confident that my other two sources regarding a prominent judge being on video. One source says it's the second tape, the other is non committal. That second source however knows the name of the judge but is afraid to disclose it. I wouldn't either. Ford won't sue anybody for libel because he doesn't want his life exposed but a powerful judge knows how to work the system. I'm keeping my nose out of it. It'll come out in the Traveller trials.

I don't understand why the issue is which video is the "second" video is important. Lots of phones and computers were confiscated during the police investigations. I'm sure they have many videos of all kinds of stuff. The Sun story sounds entirely plausible to me. The guy's excited and is boasting into his phone. It's a selfie. No surprise there. Maybe MM's right about this other video, too (there's no shortage of bizarre twists in the RoFo/Traveller saga). But why does it matter which one is the "second" video?

 

[euler]

But why does it matter which one is the "second" video?

Because Blair said they had recovered "a second video" that was related to the first. No other reason but that. Simply by how they were referred to in initial reports, those are now their nicknames - "the crack video" and "the second video". The existence of a second video that is called "the second video" doesn't preclude the existence of more videos, though.

 

[Cooper]

Because Blair said they had recovered "a second video" that was related to the first. No other reason but that. Simply by how they were referred to in initial reports, those are now their nicknames - "the crack video" and "the second video". The existence of a second video that is called "the second video" doesn't preclude the existence of more videos, though.

So, you're saying the significance of the question is how it relates to the scope of the Ford investigation, i.e. whether it involves others beyond Ford (as per some of the reported statements by the crack vid seller). Have I got that right?

 

[jje1000]

Yes, but unless the Ford haters vote for the same one or two candidates, much of their anger will be wasted in a massive vote split.

Perhaps this will be a theme of the election, like in the Beaches, where all the candidates but one bowed out to ensure Bunnysuit Bussin was defeated.

In the end, it looks like it could potentially be a three-way battle between Ford, Chow and Tory.

Chow still has to deal with the unfair tax-n-spend & social housing baggage, while Tory will likely shoot himself in the foot a couple times thoughout the campaign if he's not reined in. The problem still lies in what Typezed stated- there really doesn't seem to be a organized push to get the mechanisms building up a proper candidate. I personally think that everyone's holding their breath right now, and hoping to see if Ford gets arrested and permanently removed from the political landscape. If that doesn't happen (as could be a possibility), then they'll shift to their backup plans. As such, it'll be a campaign against Ford rather than between the right and left.

Soknacki, as much as I like him, likely isn't going to get the Tory and Liberal endorsement that he'll need. Stintz probably will weigh her options and decide that it's better to stay in council.

 

[euler]

So, you're saying the significance of the question is how it relates to the scope of the Ford investigation, i.e. whether it involves others beyond Ford (as per some of the reported statements by the crack vid seller). Have I got that right?

I, uh, have no idea that I said any of that... All I was saying is the reason it was called "the second video" is because Blair called it that in contrast to the first video which is understood to be "the crack video".

I wouldn't want to speculate on any other videos that may exist. Just trying to explain its nickname.

 

[Cooper]

I, uh, have no idea that I said any of that... All I was saying is the reason it was called "the second video" is because Blair called it that in contrast to the first video which is understood to be "the crack video".

I wouldn't want to speculate on any other videos that may exist. Just trying to explain its nickname.

Understood. Thanks.

 

[Long Island Mike]

Page 3000! page 2000 was Nov 11, 2013.
Let's hope there's an arrest before we reach 4000.

Kat: Interesting thoughts on reaching page 3000...and that 2000 was reached on November 11,2013 - just
over three months ago...Over 45,000 posts total and more than 4,278,000 views...Impressive!

Are these figures a record for a Internet forum or topic? Is there any way of finding out?

Over time "RF's Toronto" has become a very interesting run...LI MIKE

LI MIKE

 

[typezed]

A lot of people are very excited about Chow. Where exactly would you find a candidate who is "tested in a city-wide campaign against the likes of Ford"? Smitherman?

Just saying we don't know how she'll hold up over a campaign, although to read some people the Mayor's position is hers for the asking. Smitherman, to use an example, was last election expected at this point to take the election in a walk, he was the establishment man with the money and political backing, and we know what happened there. Now Chow and Tory are regarded as the first-tier candidates, and have been for the last six months despite their shyness in declaring their intentions. That Tory is still mentioned in this manner, despite his dithering and his tone-deaf advice that women need to learn golf to get ahead, might be a sign that the early handicapping is not that reliable.

Ford should have so many vulnerable points of attack that anyone who acts like a grown-up could defeat him. And we don't even know that he'll make it to election day without being arrested. But he has a special brand of resilience, like a cockroach after a nuclear storm. Don't know how any other candidate will hold up if they start tripping up on minor gaffes while the incumbent hogs all the attention and shamelessly coasts past incidents that should have him in handcuffs.

Mostly, I'm just not excited that the best the city can come up to combat the shock of Rob Ford is old party insiders like Chow and Tory. I had hope that opposition to Ford and all that he stands for might unleash some greater dynamism, bring fresh players to the stage. Instead, he's paralyzed us to some extent - we all stand around a slack-jawed audience to his Theatre of the Dumb.

 

[EagleEye]

Is Sue Ann Levy really writing a book? I was just reading her twitter feed and she seems like a horrible person. She made a comment to Robyn Doolittle about it. She seems to have quite a disdain for The Star and makes it personal.

 

[the lemur]

Is Sue Ann Levy really writing a book? I was just reading her twitter feed and she seems like a horrible person. She made a comment to Robyn Doolittle about it. She seems to have quite a disdain for The Star and makes it personal.

She attacks *everyone* personally. Was tempted to remind her recently that she met her partner while interfering with a media complaint about coverage of a property dispute. Seems she was okay with fraudulent use of a handicapped parking space.


Her 'point' was that everyone has skeketons in the closet, regarding Wong-Tam lending her credit card to QuAIA.

Didn't want to have her turn on me, though.

 

[the lemur]

I know I should be patient and that things like the sit-in are having an effect on awareness, but Ford's ouster can't come soon enough.

Maybe a Toronto spring to coincide with actual (early?) spring.

I'm even thinking it should be possible to nab Doug for something and get him to roll over on Rob ...