Rob Ford's Toronto

[nfitz]

Well damn, I guess if you can't buy an english-only newspaper in a pocket of montreal that is almost exclusively french, you can't say that the toronto star is nationally circulated. GOOD WORK!!!

Okay then. I spend a lot of time in Vancouver. I frequently see the Globe and Mail, everywhere. I never see the Toronto Star.

 

[Bebop17]

For what it's worth, tomorrow's Maclean's cover story will feature Ford. To what extent it will be new information, I'm not sure...

http://www.680news.com/2013/05/29/ford-better-wake-up-and-get-healthy-or-hell-die-source-tells-macleans/

 

[nfitz]

If someone says the Star is Anti-Ford, they're a dumb racist and the Star's just doing their job.

I believe the Star is anti-Ford. Does that make me a dumb racist?

I can't follow your argument. I don't think anyone here thinks the Star isn't anti-Ford.

Good grief, it's hard to imagine anyone except the tin-foil hat crowd, or the white-wingers who aren't anti-Ford these days!

I'm not excusing Ford's supporters for not believing at this point, but the Star shares a lot of the blame for this.

I don't see how there's any blame for the Star.

 

[MetroMan]

Urbantoronto waits impatiently for an update from Metroman.

I don't have any new info on that but my source had told me that there several people mulling over resigning over the weekend and that they would do so on Monday. Two of them indeed did. The others? We'll see. The interim chief of staff no doubt isn't staying for long and if the Mayor is complicit in evidence tampering, he's the only senior person left there that isn't drinking the Ford kool-aid and he could be out if there's any hint of criminal activity going on in that office. The junior staff may want out because they can't handle the pressure and it's not worth the little money they're getting for this job.

 

[CN Tower]

I thought it was hilarious that CN Tower said he would block/ignore anyone that called him a Ford supporter one day, and the next day said "until we see the tape, i will continue to support Ford and his agenda". He made good on his blocking threats and never once addressed the people that called him out when he played the victim card (calling people names, then saying he gets pushed into the corner because of his political views), so I'm pretty sure he's existing happily in his cone of silence where he's only exposed to people who handle him with kid gloves.

I never blocked you guitar. What are you talking about? I only blocked that unfortunately rude fellow Voxpop and anyone else who thought it appropriate to hurl personal (well I am an avatar character on a message board but still) insults at my persona based on my stated political beliefs. I even left the Tiger guy off my list because I don't sense to venom in his comments. I think he's just having fun with the issue.

Let me clarify- if the allegations presented in the video prove correct I will no longer support mayor Ford. I realize that my friend AoD seems to not give 2 cents who I support but it appears that you and others do. I still feel he deserves the benefit of the doubt though it appears based on his conduct as of late that the doubt is rapidly receding.

Furthermore, I basically just ignore anything The Star has to say about anything beyond Toronto sports. I can't get past their ultra left wing agenda, both locally and on an international scale. If there's a local story worth reporting I'm happy to read about in other publications, the CBC, etc.

 

[nfitz]

I lived on Papineau Street, in Montreal's Gay Village, from 1991 until 2000 and I read the Toronto Star every single day while I was there. I bought the Star in the Gay Village, and it wasn't hard to find. I certainly had no problems buying it for the 9 years I lived there.

And I lived for 6 years in Montreal near Decarie and Sherbrooke, and have been visting family there for over 25 years since, and have never seen the Star outside of a speciality newsagent or bookstore. Including a period of time when I used to go down to Dominion Square to find such things for job ads.

 

[Dilla]

From:
http://www.newstalk1010.com/News/localnews/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10550836

Mayor's Office responds to destroyed information allegations
Posted By: Dave Bradley dbradley@astral.com · 5/29/2013 5:13:00 PM

While the Mayor was holding a press conference, talking about flooding in the city, the Toronto Star has come out with new allegations that there was information destroyed within the Mayor's office, dealing with the alleged video that shows the Mayor smoking crack.

Late on Wednesday, the office of the Mayor released this statement:

City has bylaws and policies in place to ensure that City records are not destroyed.

The Information and Privacy Commissioner recently confirmed in three separate decisions that councillors' personal, political and constituency information is not subject to MFIPPA. So it is only City business that is subject to MFIPPA.

With regard to the Mayor, City business would translate to his role as chief executive officer as set out in s. 134 of the City of Toronto Act. His personal, political and constituency business would be exempt from MFIPPA.

Only City records are subject to the records retention bylaw that governs the retention and destruction of such records. Council members' personal, political and constituency records are not covered by the bylaw and therefore those are records which they can manage as they see fit.

City information, regardless of where it is stored, is available to respond to specific FOI requests when they are made.

 

[MetroMan]

I will bet, at this point, that City Councillors are mulling ways of neutralizing Ford.

-- >>> I am also sure that whoever steps up first to lead the effort will be accused of grandstanding. This is the issue, when we ask ourselves "where's City Council on this?".

I myself am growing impatient. Why is city council so passive? Ford is destroying our city's reputation and getting in the way of real city business (such as the trade mission to Boston) all while council sits and watches while saying it's business as usual. It is not.

I had been hearing about an inquiry into Ford's office practices but when I asked a few councillors directly, they hadn't heard of it or were keeping it close to their chest.

Council has a few options at their disposal and Ford has given them plenty of strings to pull on.

 

[LowPolygon]

And I lived for 6 years in Montreal near Decarie and Sherbrooke, and have been visting family there for over 25 years since, and have never seen the Star outside of a speciality newsagent or bookstore. Including a period of time when I used to go down to Dominion Square to find such things for job ads.

can we stop with this bloody debate about the distribution patterns of various Canadian newspapers? its just an incredibly boring, completely irrelevant, eyeball glazing non-issue.

please start another thread if you want to carry on with it.

 

[Ex-Montreal Girl]

The Toronto Star reports on stories of importance to keep the local populous informed on the issues, they aren't "attacking" or "out to get" anyone, they are simply reporting on stories of merit as they arise. As I briefly noted 10 or whatever pages back I think the Star is fairly balanced, they investigate and do stories on a Rob Ford, a Barbara Hall or a David Miller. Compare to NOW (very, very left of centre!) that didn't have too many negative stories on David Miller (who they actually got to leather-up as their front page man) yet relentlessly go after Rob Ford. I enjoy reading NOW and the issues that they cover but one has to admit NOW is a fair example of local media obsessed with trashing Ford, not the Toronto Star.

For the record, it wasn't NOW but the now-defunct gay entertainment mag, Fab who got Miller to leather up.

And, as an ex-Montreal Girl who returns often, I can attest to the fact that the Star, in small numbers, is available in some west end depanneurs and chains such as Presse Internationale. But it is no national paper, not by a long shot.

Carry on ...

 

[allabootmatt]

From:
http://www.newstalk1010.com/News/localnews/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10550836

Mayor's Office responds to destroyed information allegations
Posted By: Dave Bradley dbradley@astral.com · 5/29/2013 5:13:00 PM

While the Mayor was holding a press conference, talking about flooding in the city, the Toronto Star has come out with new allegations that there was information destroyed within the Mayor's office, dealing with the alleged video that shows the Mayor smoking crack.

Late on Wednesday, the office of the Mayor released this statement:

City has bylaws and policies in place to ensure that City records are not destroyed.

The Information and Privacy Commissioner recently confirmed in three separate decisions that councillors' personal, political and constituency information is not subject to MFIPPA. So it is only City business that is subject to MFIPPA.

With regard to the Mayor, City business would translate to his role as chief executive officer as set out in s. 134 of the City of Toronto Act. His personal, political and constituency business would be exempt from MFIPPA.

Only City records are subject to the records retention bylaw that governs the retention and destruction of such records. Council members' personal, political and constituency records are not covered by the bylaw and therefore those are records which they can manage as they see fit.

City information, regardless of where it is stored, is available to respond to specific FOI requests when they are made.

So, the City is denying having been requested to destroy records (per Don Peat's Twitter), but the Mayor's Office is pointing out that if they did want to destroy records, that would be perfectly legal? Odd.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Dilla,

That sound like they've wiped the emails because it isn't "city business".

AoD

 

[Peepers]

For what it's worth, tomorrow's Maclean's cover story will feature Ford. To what extent it will be new information, I'm not sure...

It was previewed on CityTV . It was claimed that it will contain "aggressive" allegations by a former staffer of Mayor Fords substance abuse problems. According to the former staffer the Mayor has two options. "Resign or wind up dead in a ditch".

Sneak preview: http://www2.macleans.ca/tag/rob-ford/

 

[PinkLucy]

From:
http://www.newstalk1010.com/News/localnews/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10550836

Mayor's Office responds to destroyed information allegations
Posted By: Dave Bradley dbradley@astral.com · 5/29/2013 5:13:00 PM

While the Mayor was holding a press conference, talking about flooding in the city, the Toronto Star has come out with new allegations that there was information destroyed within the Mayor's office, dealing with the alleged video that shows the Mayor smoking crack.

Late on Wednesday, the office of the Mayor released this statement:

City has bylaws and policies in place to ensure that City records are not destroyed.

The Information and Privacy Commissioner recently confirmed in three separate decisions that councillors' personal, political and constituency information is not subject to MFIPPA. So it is only City business that is subject to MFIPPA.

With regard to the Mayor, City business would translate to his role as chief executive officer as set out in s. 134 of the City of Toronto Act. His personal, political and constituency business would be exempt from MFIPPA.

Only City records are subject to the records retention bylaw that governs the retention and destruction of such records. Council members' personal, political and constituency records are not covered by the bylaw and therefore those are records which they can manage as they see fit.

City information, regardless of where it is stored, is available to respond to specific FOI requests when they are made.

I don't believe that The Star reported that records were destroyed, but rather that there was a request/attempt to destroy some records, which met with resistance.

 

[PinkLucy]

So, the City is denying having been requested to destroy records (per Don Peat's Twitter), but the Mayor's Office is pointing out that if they did want to destroy records, that would be perfectly legal? Odd.

Kind of like talking hypothetically about a non-existent video, no?