Rob Ford's Toronto

[Ramako]

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_900194_e.htm

RULE 57 COSTS OF PROCEEDINGS

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Factors in Discretion

57.01 (1) In exercising its discretion under section 131 of the Courts of Justice Act to award costs, the court may consider, in addition to the result in the proceeding and any offer to settle or to contribute made in writing,
(0.a) the principle of indemnity, including, where applicable, the experience of the lawyer for the party entitled to the costs as well as the rates charged and the hours spent by that lawyer;
(0.b) the amount of costs that an unsuccessful party could reasonably expect to pay in relation to the step in the proceeding for which costs are being fixed;
(a) the amount claimed and the amount recovered in the proceeding;
(b) the apportionment of liability;
(c) the complexity of the proceeding;
(d) the importance of the issues;
(e) the conduct of any party that tended to shorten or to lengthen unnecessarily the duration of the proceeding;
(f) whether any step in the proceeding was,
(i) improper, vexatious or unnecessary, or
(ii) taken through negligence, mistake or excessive caution;
(g) a party’s denial of or refusal to admit anything that should have been admitted;
(h) whether it is appropriate to award any costs or more than one set of costs where a party,
(i) commenced separate proceedings for claims that should have been made in one proceeding, or
(ii) in defending a proceeding separated unnecessarily from another party in the same interest or defended by a different lawyer; and
(i) any other matter relevant to the question of costs. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194, r. 57.01 (1); O. Reg. 627/98, s. 6; O. Reg. 42/05, s. 4 (1); O. Reg. 575/07, s. 1.

 

[canmark]

Hey, Rob Ford made Gawker: The Best of Toronto’s Insane, Terrible Mayor Rob Ford: an Introduction for Americans

 

[Automation Gallery]

"This is Madness", 667 Pages:, 1,836 Threads:, 82,422 Posts:... and counting

 

[TOperson]

Hey, Rob Ford made Gawker: The Best of Toronto’s Insane, Terrible Mayor Rob Ford: an Introduction for Americans

Not for the first time! Gawker LOVES Ford.

 

[jaycola]

10,000th Post. Congratulations to Rob!

He won on a point of law with a 3 judge panel deciding the outcome.
This entire drama from beginning to end is anti Ford coalition members doing what they can to smear the man. Never has a politician of any level of government been under such a level of negative scrutiny. From the claims of abuse at Football practice, to claims of spousal abuse to him eating a god damned bucket of chicken, the focus on this man's behaviour outside of his office has been relentless.

He is not a sophisticated individual, nor is he articulate or particularly visionary but he was duly elected by the citizenry and it's time to let him do the job he was elected to do. A job he has truly made honest attempts to do within the scope of the promises made.

In less than 2 years, the left or even the centre may bring forward a candidate that will put Ford and all his ideas in the trash heap but until that time, he deserves an opportunity to govern in the manner which he sees fit.

Ruby claiming he is taking this to the supreme court is ridiculous. This was not, as many here have claimed, an illegal act he committed nor was there ever any suggestion that criminal charges should be laid. This entire escapade has already cost the community untold thousands and it's time to drop the whole thing.

 

[LordWanker]

Ford's "Victory" speech -

Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
I’d like to begin by saying this has been a very, very humbling experience. I have enormous respect for the judicial system and I’m very, very thankful for the decision it make today.
I would like to thank my legal team, Alan Lenczner and Andrew Parley, for their brilliant performance. I’d also like to thank my loving family: my supportive wife Renata, my mum Dianne, my brothers Doug and Randi, my sister Kathy. This has been a very challenging time for all of us.
I’d like to thank the thousands of people who offered their support and encouragement over the last few months. Your kind words have inspired me to continue fighting on. At every restaurant, at every gas station, people in the city have given me phenomenal support. I truly, truly want to thank them for that.
Folks, two years ago the people of this great city elected me as their mayor. It is an enormous privilege and I’m thankful for it every single day. I’m very proud to say that over the past two years I’ve done exactly what I said I was going to do.
The job is not finished yet. I plan to spend the next six years on getting the job done. Moving forward we continue doing the work we were elected to do. We are doing a great job in turning the city around. We will build on the sustainable fiscal foundation we have established for Toronto’s future. We will introduce a new economic strategy to grow Toronto in the 21st century. We will also introduce a broad transit strategy that will serve our residents and their grandchildren for the next 100 years. We will improve customer service across every division—the service delivered by our city and its agencies—and we will continue to manage this great city by respecting each and every hard-earned tax dollar. Together we will build a Toronto that is hands-down the best city in the world to live, work, and invest in.
On election night two years ago I promised to do what I said we were going to do, and I am proud of how much we have done so far. Promises made, promises kept. And it is my plan to continue fighting for the great people of this city for the next six years.
Finally, I want to repeat what I said at the beginning: I can’t thank the people of this great city for all their support [sic], going out of the way, coming to my office, emailing my office, coming to my home, and wishing me the best of luck. My gratitude and appreciation to every single person in this city, and I truly, truly want to thank them for their support.
​

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[Lenser]

Can't say I'm not disappointed by the decision. Time to suck it up and move on. Be interesting to see what kinds of cooperation beween Mayor and various council factions there will be from here on in. I've a feeling that Rob Ford has just won a battle - a big one - but the outcome of the war remains an open question.

 

[Roy G Biv]

That is scare tactics used by Ruby and believed by the gullible. Lobbyists always could contribute to charities headed by councilors (MPs and MPPs as well). The only reason this was an issue is that Rob Ford made the request using his office letter head. If he had used Deco Labels, Personal or any other other letterhead it would not be an issue.

Yeah, I re-read the ruling and you are correct. My guess is Ruby won't be taking this anywhere.

 

[CN Tower]

Sure, why wouldn't Ford ask that? Should he have to cover the costs? No. This wasn't some baseless complaint. Ford won on an appeal based on the definition of "pecuniary interest".

The court has ruled that "pecuniary interest" = financial interest. Even if Ford's personal/political image and reputation were to benefit, this is not pecuniary. I am a bit puzzled how the courts can say Ford did not even have an in-direct pecuniary interest....

MCIA not contravened. It's a shitty, shitty law.

pe*cu*ni*ar*y

Adjective
Of, relating to, or consisting of money.


A victory for democracy, common sense & fairness.

My beloved Torontonians- may we please put this nonsense behind us?

 

[BurlOak]

"This is Madness", 667 Pages:, 1,836 Threads:, 82,422 Posts:... and counting

The posts here outnumber any of the transit threads. It just shows that it is more important to put down Ford than to create good transit. This has been at the heart of the transit debates for the past year and a half.

 

[11th]

Ford voting on his own issue at council was an obvious conflict. He's lucky a technicality has rendered that stupid action null.

I hope the council do something to avoid this stupidity or whatever we call it from happening again. If the issue smells of conflict of interest, why wasn't Ford's vote being voided in the first place? Why was he allowed to vote on it at all?

 

[PinkLucy]

Mary Walsh suggests Mayor Ford might want to calm down a bit: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/news-video/video/article7857408/

 

[MetroMan]

I'd like to hear Metroman's response to this. I brought up earlier that couldn't the fact that the COTA stated that Council did not have the power to make him payback the money, that the COI law infringement could be nullified.

Metroman seemed so sure that Ford's goose was cooked, and seemed to know what he was talking about too. The argument why this would not be the case was written in legalese, so I was hoping he could shed some light on the situation.

I think everybody is quite a bit surprised -- including Ruby. This wasn't a new trial but it was treated as a second chance, another shot for Lenczner pitching his argument to a new set of judges. Ford's lawyer presented no new evidence in the appeal as is the whole point of an appeal.

I believe that the deciding factor here is that no judge wants to over turn democracy and even Hackland attempted to find a way out for Ford who kept denying himself a save at every opportunity. Hackland had no choice but to find him guilty. The Divisional Court panel pulled the string on a technicality and ended once and for all this whole charade in the courts' unprecedented and unwanted role in dismissing an elected Mayor.

One can argue that despite this case being dismissed that Ford lost in the middle of all this.

He was forced to admit that he has no idea what's going on around him at City Hall. His defence relied on his incompetence. The mayor is now naked, exposed to many who voted for him and saw him during this trial as a bumbling lost man unqualified of the office he holds, willfully ignorant and forehead slapping stubborn.

Ford will be put to an election instead of booted from office by a law that while legitimate, is one that many don't understand. Ford's fate will be determined by Torontonians in 2014 as it should be.

In the meantime, the bizzaro world monster has been slayed. I'm no longer afraid of what Ford threatened do to the city because he has proven himself incapable of leading Council -- even towards damage. The most he has mustered are delays. Look who is left standing behind him in this press conference compared to a couple of years ago when Councillors picked sides...

Mammolitti is already crawling back -- as predicted -- but I can't imagine the sane voices on Council supporting Ford like they did early on in his term.

Two points that were made in the last few pages in this thread that I agree with: A) Ford will continue to hang around the Conservative Party's neck for the next two years likely again affecting the PC's chances at taking Ontario this year and B) we can just ignore him while Council leads the city and Ford continues to make a fool of himself.

By Fall later this year, we're going to start seeing the election campaign assemble -- the same point that was made against a by-election. I'm hoping for and frankly expecting an epic battle, for the best of the progressive side to really bring it in campaign creativity and policy, for a very entertaining and satisfying case to be made against Rob Ford. We were left waiting for Ford's faults to be pointed out and easy cases to be made against him in the last campaign and frustrated when the candidates couldn't get their shit together. I think we'll have a satisfying redemption this time around.

Can you imagine the incredible posters his "I'm too stupid to be Mayor" quotes from the trial will make in next year's election?

 

[Silence&Motion]

The posts here outnumber any of the transit threads. It just shows that it is more important to put down Ford than to create good transit. This has been at the heart of the transit debates for the past year and a half.

To be fair, transit issues advance at a snail's pace (we're still debating the Transit City strategy that was proposed five years ago and which has barely been implemented). Meanwhile, Ford provides new fodder for political junkies almost every week. If it wasn't for this court decision, we'd still be talking about how he voted against his own budget or one of the many other issues.

 

[ShonTron]

To be fair, transit issues advance at a snail's pace (we're still debating the Transit City strategy that was proposed five years ago and which has barely been implemented). Meanwhile, Ford provides new fodder for political junkies almost every week. If it wasn't for this court decision, we'd still be talking about how he voted against his own budget or one of the many other issues.

Almost exactly what I was going to write. Well said.