To be clear, I know FA. And what I am saying should be regarded as BS. This is all second hand from people who inhabit the region north of T.O., who, FWIW, seem to regard us all as morons who can't see what's plainly in front of our faces. I would prefer to outright reject their insinuations and observations. But that wouldn't be rational.
Hyper, I think your initial assessment was completely dead on. Your bullshit meter was buried in the red for good reason. I wondered after reading your words if I knew the person who was the source of those comments. I have property in the Huronia Detachment area and I've heard the baloney about "
Taranna" from people who should know better. Most locals are good people but there is definitely a bullshit factory with bored locals who like to believe things in the city are corrupt beyond repair - or who are determined to make others believe so. Whether or not your friends have a close friend in the OPP, it sounds so typical of what I know of smaller towns.
As corrupt as I believe Ford and friends are, it is doubtful that any intel the OPP get up there is anything more than salacious gossip, and if someone is acting like they have inside info, it's probably just so that gullible people will hang on his every word. We already know that the Fords are known to police and it's likely that the OPP are aware but I'll bet their ability to escape conviction has more to do with that on-retainer criminal lawyer than any special connections who are willing to risk their own careers for small players like the Fords.
When I was doing some campaign work for a Simcoe-Grey candidate, I met a guy who claimed to be a retired Toronto policeman with all sorts of "inside" knowledge and connections to "everything". To listen to him, you might as well just slit your wrists and check out early because everyone is corrupt including your own mother. Trust no-one. By the end of the election I had heard enough of him and more just like him that I didn't know what to believe. It was rather depressing. I had a conversation with a a lifelong area resident friend about all the horrible things I was hearing and we concluded that 9/10ths of what people say about politics is unfounded nonsense. It's easier to disseminate such garbage in a smaller community because politicians, police, town officials etc., often grow up nearby and have a long local history which can be debunked by people who have intimate knowledge of who they are - and who they were.
I think the reason outsiders believe Toronto is run by gangs, mobsters, bikers, unions and corrupt politicians and bureaucrats is because it is difficult to know someone's history in the city. It comes down to a deeply ingrained mistrust of the unknown. Cops share the same beliefs and prejudices as other locals but that rant sounded like a typical "everything in Toronto is bad" speech like I've heard a hundred times. These conversations are distressing simply because of the conviction of the story-teller, but sometimes it's that forced conviction which raises red flags for me now. Good call on the baloney factor of that story.
