The Toronto Mayor thread

Eric T. Cheng · Nov 27, 2012

CFRB's John Moore's editorial of Mayor Rob Ford's downfall by his own hands.

Ford has never played by the rules. That’s his appeal. Perhaps he has been cribbing from a previous Toronto mayor, John Powell. Powell killed a man in 1838, three months before election day. The act increased his popularity. Much like with Powell, everything that would normally be considered fatal to a political career has been a boost for Rob Ford. He has been caught numerous times blatantly fibbing about such provable things as his presence at a hockey game where he verbally assaulted a couple. His very ignorance of the city charter and inability to work with his own council is seen as a badge of honour. Ford’s fans (and they are fans) love him precisely because he is a sloppy, marauding Clydesdale wagon.

Eric T. Cheng · Nov 27, 2012

madkevin · Nov 27, 2012

Rob Ford double downs! Doubles down? Whatever.

A subdued but still defiant Mayor Rob Ford blamed a left-wing conspiracy for his court-ordered ouster Monday, pledging to fight "tooth and nail" against a possibly unprecedented ruling that booted him from office for violating conflict of interest rules.

A LEFT WING CONSPIRACY made him create a conflict of interest! Truly, the gift that keeps on giving.

Charles · Nov 27, 2012

It's always a left wing conspiracy to enforce ethics; the right wing sure as shit isn't going to do it.

Charles · Nov 27, 2012

http://robfrusck.tumblr.com/

Eric T. Cheng · Nov 28, 2012

Now there's talk of some city councillors getting Doug Ford to run for mayor if Rob Ford isn't allowed to run again.

Eric T. Cheng · Nov 29, 2012

According to Mayor Rob Ford's itineraries gained from freedom of information requests, he took most afternoons off during football season.

The season began in early September. Between Sept. 1 and Oct. 26, Ford scheduled a grand total of one meeting or public appearance for later than 1:30 p.m. on a weekday: the Mayor's Ball for the Arts, at 5 p.m. on a Monday in October.

On most weekdays during the season, his itineraries listed nothing at all between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., a “private” appointment at 3:30 p.m. — at which time his Don Bosco Eagles practised in Etobicoke — and another “private” appointment at 5:30 p.m. The itineraries put him down for “calls/events” most weekdays at 7 p.m., but they gave no details about who he was calling or where he was going.

Eric T. Cheng · Nov 30, 2012

A Toronto Star article on all the warnings, advice, and fail-safe mechanisms the Mayor Rob Ford ignored that would have prevented him from getting into the legal trouble he got himself in.

tl;dr Rob Ford is an arrogant idiot.

For one, city letterhead paper isn’t city property because he paid for it out of his own pocket, Ford argued. Secondly, his fundraising falls within city business because it assists underprivileged residents. And, he maintained, the Toronto Community Foundation (TCF), which administers his charitable foundation, had approved the content of his fundraising.

He was wrong on all counts and Leiper told him so, Dec. 10, 2009.

Nebty · Nov 30, 2012

Eric T. Cheng said: ↑

tl;dr Rob Ford is an arrogant idiot.

An arrogant idiot who's eligible to run in the byelection.

He's already started campaigning.

Slimy bastard.

Canuck · Dec 1, 2012

Oh man can you imagine if Toronto actually re-elected Ford? I kind of think I want it to happen.

Nebty · Dec 1, 2012

Canuck said: ↑

Oh man can you imagine if Toronto actually re-elected Ford? I kind of think I want it to happen.

If he gets re-elected after all this then he's proven himself as the mayor Toronto deserves.

Eric T. Cheng · Dec 1, 2012

Nebty said: ↑

If he gets re-elected after all this then he's proven himself as the mayor Toronto deserves.

And the rich comedic vein will be continued to be mined and mocked.

Charles · Dec 5, 2012

Canuck said: ↑

Oh man can you imagine if Toronto actually re-elected Ford? I kind of think I want it to happen.

The only solution is de-amalgamation. Which is what everyone from 'Old Toronto' wants anyway.

Jason T · Dec 29, 2012

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/cit...wants-to-be-reappointed-not-face-a-byelection

Daniel Dale said:

Reversing his previous position, Rob Ford now says he wants council to reappoint him as mayor, not call a byelection, if he is forced out of office.

“It’s up to the council. They’re going to either appoint somebody or we’re going to have a byelection. They have two options, and hopefully I’ll get appointed — hopefully I’ll win the appeal, and if I don’t, then hopefully I get appointed. If not, then we have to go to the polls,” Ford said during an unscheduled call to Newstalk 1010 on Thursday.

Ford and his brother, Councillor Doug Ford, had both pressed for a byelection in the month since a judge evicted the mayor over a violation of the provincial Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.

“In my biased view, they should let the people speak: they should have a byelection and let people run,” Rob Ford said on his Newstalk show on Dec. 2.

“The people of this city should decide on who is going to be running this city, not politicians, not judges, not generals, but the people of Toronto,” Doug Ford said on Dec. 11. Asked a week earlier about the estimated cost of a byelection, now pegged as high as $9 million, he said: “What price do you put on democracy?”

The mayor’s spokesperson did not respond to a request to explain the change in his thinking. Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said Ford may now be more optimistic about his chances of being reappointed than he was early in the month.

What a guy.

Canuck · Jan 25, 2013

Appeal verdict to come out this morning.

Jason T · Jan 25, 2013

Ford wins. As far as I can tell the judgement is that Council's procedure for censuring Ford in CC 52.1 was inappropriate, meaning Ford's code-contravening behavior resulting from that decision was as null as it was. If it'd been the initial decision of the court I'd have cried hair-splitting sophistry in the name of avoiding a political shitstorm. Since the initial judge already put the shit in the wind at this point it just looks like a lame-ass honest best guess from three judges who hate Toronto.

madkevin · Jan 25, 2013

Apparently there's still some trouble brewing in the form of a audit of Ford's 2010 campaign finances that could still get him turfed, so stay tuned.

Charles · Jan 25, 2013

Welcome to the new ethics-free Toronto! Coming soon: A new waterfront casino!

Eric T. Cheng · Jan 25, 2013

I'm glad Rob Ford got to keep his job because he's comedy gold for the rest of Canada!

Eric T. Cheng · Feb 1, 2013

This mayor keeps on giving! (or is that receiving...?)

An audit of Mayor Rob Ford’s 2010 campaign spending has found a number of “apparent contraventions” of the Municipal Elections Act.

Froese Forensic Partners, which delivered its report to the city Friday afternoon, alleges that the mayor’s campaign overspent during his mayoral bid by $40,168, or 3%. Among the other apparent contraventions, auditors found 11 cheques totalling $6,000 that were made by corporations, which is both in apparent contravention of the act, and city bylaw that prohibits companies and unions from donating to election campaigns. In all of these cases, receipts were issued to an individual and reported as such but the auditors believe they are reporting contraventions.

Randissimo · Feb 1, 2013

Why is he still in power again?

Eric T. Cheng · Feb 1, 2013

Randissimo said: ↑

Why is he still in power again?

The voters in the suburbs.

Randissimo · Feb 1, 2013

Eric T. Cheng said: ↑

The voters in the suburbs.

I'm not sure if I should feel more depressed about the fact they voted for him or the fact he somehow managed to stay in office.

RyanMM · Feb 2, 2013

Randissimo said: ↑

I'm not sure if I should feel more depressed about the fact they voted for him or the fact he somehow managed to stay in office.

Yes.

Eric T. Cheng · Feb 28, 2013

The guy simply refuses to learn. He should just step down as mayor and become a high school football coach because it seems like that's what he enjoys doing more.

“If errors were made, they were inadvertent,” wrote Mark Towhey. “The Foundation will review and look for ways to improve its processes. In any case, it is our understanding that the Foundation has not received any donations from lobbyists and it is Foundation policy to return such donations if they were to be received in error.”

That isn’t good enough for Councillor Gord Perks, who said: “No elected official should solicit money from someone who does business with the government. Under any circumstances, ever.”

Mr. Perks believes it doesn’t matter that the mayor did not refer to his position as mayor in his request. “Once you solicit money you create an impression in the mind of a lobbyist or business owner that can be construed as corrupt.”

Macheath · Mar 1, 2013

Mistakes were made!

Eric T. Cheng · Mar 8, 2013

Mayor Ford has been accused of groping a political rival.

Sarah Thomson took to Facebook — and a subsequent wave of local media interviews — to complain about an encounter she says she had Thursday night with Ford at a Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee party when she asked why he had missed an event last week.

"He said, 'I was in Florida. You should have come with me, you know, my wife wasn't there.' And I'm looking at him going, 'What?"' Thomson told radio station NewsTalk 1010 on Friday.

"Then he said, 'Yeah, we could have had some fun.' And I kind of thought, 'OK, this is not him. This is weird.' And then I just turned and got my picture taken and he grabbed my ass and I'm thinking, 'What the heck is going on with him?'"

Rob Ford denies it.

I didn't know he touches non-football shaped objects...

Canuck · Mar 8, 2013

It's like he's trolling everyone, just to see how far he can go and get away with it. I fully expect him to have someone murdered eventually, just to see what happens.

Nebty · Mar 8, 2013

Holy shit. I knew he was an asshole but I didn't think he was that kind of asshole.

So why haven't we kicked this clown out of office yet?

MatthewF · Mar 10, 2013

You guys did. Then re-elected him!

Canuck · Mar 10, 2013

Techinally we reinstated him. I hope to god he won't be reelected but who knows.

pallas · Mar 10, 2013

I thought my mayor was bad.

Jesus Christ.

Omniscia · Mar 26, 2013

A friend shared this on Facebook this morning:

Rob Ford: ‘Intoxicated’ Toronto mayor asked to leave military ball.

The Star said:

Mayor Rob Ford was asked to leave a gala event celebrating the Canadian armed forces last month, because organizers were concerned he was impaired.

The request to leave the Toronto Garrison Ball came two weeks before Sarah Thomson, a Toronto businesswoman and former mayoral candidate, created a media storm when she accused Ford of groping her while acting “out of it” at a Jewish political group’s event.

...

Ford arrived late to the cocktail and dinner event. He was speaking in a rambling, incoherent manner that alarmed some of the guests, according to organizers, military reservists and a prominent Ottawa conservative who were interviewed for this story. Toronto Councillor Paul Ainslie, a strong Ford ally, confirmed to the Star that Ford was asked to leave.

Anders Hallin · Mar 26, 2013

Rob Ford’s ‘prehistoric comments’ prompt concerns at Richard Kachkar murder trial
Rob Ford, also the finest legal mind of our generation.

“One of our finest got killed, left behind a wife and a little son and we’re trying to find an excuse why this guy stole a tow truck, or whatever he did, or a snowplow, and killed a police officer,” Ford added.
“You can’t defend that. These people (police) put their lives every day in the line of fire. They jeopardize their lives and we’re trying to justify this?”
Ford disagreed with assurances from lawyers on the show that Kachkar would not simply go free if found not criminally responsible. “If there’s mental illness involved, then he’s going to walk,” the mayor said.

Canuck · Mar 26, 2013

Omniscia said: ↑

A friend shared this on Facebook this morning:

Rob Ford: ‘Intoxicated’ Toronto mayor asked to leave military ball.

Dammit, I came here to post that. I swear, he literally cannot run out of new lows

Omniscia · Mar 26, 2013

Well, he hasn't been identified as a member of NAMBLA (yet).

Eric T. Cheng · Mar 26, 2013

Eric T. Cheng · Apr 9, 2013

The Toronto mayor told reporters Tuesday that showers at the proposed hub for cycling commuters are a waste of taxpayer dollars.

The station will be in the Toronto Parking Authority garage below City Hall, which will lose 24 spaces to accommodate it. At capacity, the spaces would generate $70,000 annually in parking revenue.

“We’re taking away parking space down here at City Hall that is creating $70,000 worth of revenue, and — ready for this, folks? — they’re putting in showers for the bike riders to come down here, to a tune of $1.2 million,” Doug Ford said Monday. “That’s the gravy train. That is reckless spending — to put showers here at City Hall at $1.2 million. It’s disgusting.”

Cycle Toronto’s Jared Kolb disputed the lost revenue at the same meeting, showing photo evidence that many spots in the City Hall garage sit unused all day.

BlueJackalope · Apr 16, 2013

Enjoy!

Randissimo · Apr 16, 2013

Knopster, fuck you.

That is a beautiful gif, though.

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