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Rob Ford's Toronto

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sarnya said:
It echos what a lot of people have been saying here. What I find disappointing is that it seems like you can't win with so-called Ford Nation. If you hold Ford accountable for his actions and errors, his voter base digs their feet in ... and if you ignore what he's doing and let his actions slide, his base is satisfied with the job he's doing. It's a shame all too many voters are willing to stick their heads in the sand and blindly support a terrible politician. More and more, I truly believe Ford Nation does not even like really Ford, they simply like that he ruffles the feathers of left-wing people. It's spite-based politics and it's not getting us anywhere.
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And the funny thing is that it has a heavy base in "New Canadians"--and I've been thinking about that: a lot of them coming from places where a lot of stuff is done by underground/black market means and where "official" government is viewed sneeringly at best. In a way, they've carried some of that mindset to Canada with them; and to them, Rob Ford is an "anti-government" People's Hero, a rumpled Lech Walesa vs the evil, oppressive, deluded Soviets....

Ah, yeah. Ford's "sins" being some trumped-up thing like Pussy Riot's "hooliganism".
 
BurlOak said:
This article in the sun hints that Council can choose anyone to be Mayor (pending clarification from the judge) - so why not Rob Ford.
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Riverdale Rink Rat said:
Hahahaha... so, the city solicitor says he can't run in the by-election (pending clarification on the application for a stay), the judge has just vacated his seat, AND YOU THINK A LEFT-LEANING COUNCIL SHOULD PROPOSE HIM AS HIS OWN REPLACEMENT?????

I'm sorry, I was taking you seriously before. Forgive my other comments about your lack of any sort of knowledge as to Toronto politics or the Canadian legal system, as you've obviously had your tongue in cheek the whole time and I missed it.

Darn the lack of emoticons!
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I guess you did not read my post. That was my understanding about what the author to the sun article (Worthington) was saying. Maybe you have a different explanation on what the point of his article was. The article that talks about Ford paying back the money and getting his job back.
 
canmark said:
"whereas Chicago and other American cities have turned their waterfronts into attractive, accessible public areas, Toronto’s is hidden by a wall of apartment towers and separated from the city by an elevated expressway."
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It's funny how whenever newspapers write their obligatory two sentence summary of Toronto's waterfront problems, they slip in a reference to Chicago as if it's the typical North American waterfront.
 
BurlOak said:
I guess you did not read my post. That was my understanding about what the author to the sun article (Worthington) was saying. Maybe you have a different explanation on what the point of his article was. The article that talks about Ford paying back the money and getting his job back.
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The column you linked is Worthington's own opinion. It doesn't say anything about Ford being able to get his job back, but rather laments the fact that he is too stubborn to understand this all started with a picayune amount of cash. Ford was convicted - at this point he cannot get his job back, although he can appeal the conviction, which he seems to be doing. Council cannot appoint him as the caretaker for his vacated seat, as that would flout the judge's ruling (even if they wished to do so, which they don't).

Furthermore, the city solicitor's opinion is that he cannot run in any byelection, but will be able to stand in 2014 if he wishes.
 
sarnya said:
Steve Paikan has an interesting blog post on The Agenda's website: Why Rob Ford Could Win Again.

His points are...
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Yep. Exactly my points. 45 days is not enough for a consensus candidate to emerge. For some councillors this is their do or die shot. Carroll will not step back this time. She has too many times before. Vaughan thinks he can win this unless Chow steps in. John Tory knows deep inside that this is his mayoralty dropped ready made in his lap. Sarah Thomson is also strongly considering. Then you have all these other councillors who have nothing to lose and a possible shot at becoming the mayor. Mr. Opportunity Gino Boy himself wknt resist the temptation.

All of them will be in the race at the same time and none of them will have to drop out early because its just a month long campaign. It'll be the Keep Fords versus the Everybody Elses; left/centre/right all fighting for the not Ford vote.

Unless a big name candidate with a high enough profile to overshadow the other candidates shows up, Rob or Doug have a more than decent chance at getting re-elected.
 
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The latest on #busgate

Toronto Star: TTC driver’s protest at being diverted for Ford’s team: ‘Do you want these people to lynch me?’

TTC Transit Control wanted Carol Holgate to declare her Finch West bus out of service, kick about 50 passengers to the curb, and hurry to an Etobicoke high school.

“I can’t,” Holgate responded. “I have a full bus. Do you want these people to lynch me?”

The Transit Control staffer told her there were three buses right behind her. She was unswayed. “Why me?” she said. “Why you pick my bus?” Told that her bus was the only option, she said, “Can’t I refuse?”

“No,” the staffer said. “It’s a shelter (bus), it’s an emergency, we have to do it right away.”
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Most Toronto residents support judge’s decision on Mayor Rob Ford, poll suggests (Toronto Star)

I have to admit, I thought Ford was going to get a bump in the polls after being thrown out of office. I figured that people who were on the fence about him earlier would rush to stand by him. As it turns out (at least according to this poll), the opposite has happened. 49% STRONGLY support the court decision, and another 20% somewhat support it. The poll indicates that the so-called 35% of core Ford Nation supporters is probably less than 35%.

Also, a few things RE: Parkin's case for why Ford could win another election. First, he's not considering the very real possibility that the right could split the vote (a lot of people are saying Tory, but maybe they should also look closely at Holyday). He also jumps to the conclusion that Chow cannot unite the anti-Ford votes without giving much reason. Poll after poll has shown Chow leading in hypothetical races. Political junkies will remember her as part of the NDP-wing of council (the one that Ford's election was supposedly a permanent refutation of), but I suspect most of the electorate will see her as an MP in a popular federal party who left council less than halfway through Miller's term. This will give her some ability to play the adult who's been "fighting for Toronto" in Ottawa (a platitude, but it's an election) while council has been squabbling over ferris wheels and plastic bags. And Parkin's point that Liberals will never vote for her? Because she defeated Tony Ianno in an obscure federal riding in 2006? I'm pretty sure most Torontoians have no memory and no concern about that. Even if Olivia Chow is ideologically to the far left, her temperament could potentially be played to the centre in a way that Adam Vaughan cannot. It would be a lot harder to peg a minority female so closely associated with "everyman" Jack Layton as an out of touch downtown elitist. Finally, I'm sure I'm not the only person out there that would have a warm feeling about electing the first visible minority mayor in the history of Toronto, and the first female mayor since amalgamation. And as Mitt Romney learned the hard way, a warm feeling is one of the most powerful and most difficult to achieve political advantages.
 
Holgate, who could not be reached for comment on Thursday, warned her colleagues that she would not tolerate any poor conduct from the players.

“They better behave themselves,†she said. “They better, ’cause if they don’t behave themselves I’m putting them off the bus. I don’t take no behaviour.’â€
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Please tell me she snapped her fingers in the air after saying that. Somebody find this woman and interview her!
 
Breaking news: Ford eligible to run in by-election

In a huge victory for the administration Mayor Rob Ford is eligible to run in a by-election.

Justice Charles Hackland has agreed to remove a portion of his decision that suggested Ford would be ineligible until 2014.

This news came in a conference call with lawyers for both parties acting in the conflict-of-interest case Friday morning.
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CFRB 1010 9:30 news - Rob Ford is elegible to run in a bye-election says the Judge in reply to lawyers query about his intentions in sentencing.
The fat is in the fire.
 
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