Even Levy and Warmington are beginning to move away. I recall see a video where they were stating that Rob Ford isn't a true Conservative in the social conservative sense but is "really a liberal". They were still supportive, but certainly seemed to be more cautious than they once would be.
I wonder if the premier could intervene and remove Ford from office. Cities are under the jurisdiction of the province, I think. But I don't know if the provincial government has the power to toss a mayor who's shown to be a problem.
As I understand it, cities have no constitutional status. Therefore Wynne could, with the support of an opposition party, pass a bill tomorrow that abolished the city of Toronto altogether, or made the mayor a provincial cabinet minister (something vaguely similar happened in Montreal a while back, where the province made the position of borough mayor of the downtown Ville-Marie borough automatically held by the Montreal mayor), or amalgamated it with Ottawa, or whatever. It's only political pressure that's stopping Queens Park from doing whatever it wants.
Am I the only one who's more interested in Doug than Rob at this point? As I posted over on enMasse: I wonder what that guy was like in middle school. He seems like a real-life version of Biff Tannen.
Am I the only one who's more interested in Doug than Rob at this point?
I see them as essentially the same entity. A Uniford, if you will.
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Thanks for the link to the article. I'm glad Ontario's transparency watchdog has taken this action, but it almost seems laughable in the too little too late category:
“Any inappropriate destruction of records has the potential to seriously erode the public’s trust and confidence in the City of Toronto as an accountable and transparent government institution,” Cavoukian wrote.
The public trust and confidence ship sailed long ago.
So once again the Ontario Liberals are blowing smoke, but it is popular smoke, over removing Ford from office, but my question is where is the ONDP leadership in all this?
Uniford! Hahaha... :)
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Yes, it does appear to be typical NDP strategy to refuse to do the right thing because of placing too much value their political standing to the detriment of everything else.
Interesting how Ford making a mess of Toronto could be seen by some as the NDP not doing the right thing. Only on Babble could such leaps be made.
Well, I don't know if invoking the code of omerta is appropriate under the circumstances. If the ONDP are a government in waiting, they have a responsibility to the citizens of Toronto under the governing principles contained in Part 1 of the City of Toronto Act, to at least voice their concerns pertaining to responsibility and accountability.
Personally I believe Wynne made a strategic error by wading into the Uniford scandal. Remember when your opponent is sinking their own ship one does not provide a "life line".
And that life line turns the attention to the Wynne Liberal govt and their own "accounting problems".
The NDP is right to stay out of it.
The "Uniford" ... lol ... (thx onlinedis!) ...
must surely be under pressure today, with the Premier making noises about stepping in to get Rob to step down.
Rob's been exposed as a bold-faced liar: He's known about the existence of the video all along, and where it was located.
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The National Post has a silly article that proclaims that even if the video exists, it will never be released because the Somali-Canadian community loves Rob Ford so much.
Only on babble would you find people using Uniford to describe corrupt right wing assholes on the same day as the new union Unifor announces its name.
I think it's safe to say for certain now that Rob Ford's gloating claim "There is no video." is a big fat LIE.
That's the main issue to me: FORD LIED.
Article in the Globe that speculates on how likely it is that Wynne would actually intervene in this situation. The opinion seemed to be that it's not very likely. If she did intervene somehow and had Ford removed, calling a by-election, would that possibly galvanise right-wingers to re-elect him in a by-election? Would it, as Jan suggests, remove the focus from how screwed up Ford is and replace it with debate over whether this action from the province was in Toronto's best interests or whether it was arbitrary and undemocratic? Might be best to have the focus kept on Ford.
Hard to tell. But, it's likely a waste of time debating it here, since the likelihood of Wynne taking this action is very remote. I feel it could only happen if a majority of Toronto council requested it. Could be something to write our councillors and demand.
She blowing Liberal smoke and milking it for all she can. And that is how you win elections!
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And Harper too, and which are the main reasons the Globe is cutting the Fords loose.
And where is the ONDP in all this?
Hopefully Mulcair can take a few shots at Harper over his participation, and close connections with the Fords, such as their summer Barbeque, as well if he can.
Michael Prempeh, one of two former University of Toronto football players to join Mr. Ford’s staff last year, is leaving his post as special assistant Friday – the sixth member of the mayor’s bare-bones staff to go in just over one week.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/sixth-staffer-from-mayor-rob...
Perhaps we should start a betting pool on how many staffers will leave Ford each day of the next week.
At least eight people approached Toronto Councillor Paul Ainslie with concerns Mayor Rob Ford was impaired at a military ball.
In an email Tuesday to fellow members of the Garrison Ball organizing committee, Ainslie explained how he took action that ended with Ford being asked to leave the Feb. 23 gala.
Ainslie wrote that he was “approached by at least eight people who were concerned about the Mayor’s state.” Ainslie said he went to speak to the mayor, found him “somewhat incoherent,” and told Ford’s chief of staff, Mark Towhey, “I think it would be a good idea for the Mayor to leave.”
Meanwhile, two other city councillors stepped forward Tuesday to urge Ford to get help for alcohol addiction problems. Sarah Doucette and Joe Mihevc said it is time the mayor sought treatment.
http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/03/27/ainslie_email_details_w...
Ford has enough material to start his own daily soap opera that would last five seasons.
So he only lost the one additional staff member today? How disappointing...but then, he must be running out of them by now. Have any of the new hires consented to be publicly identified so far, or are they just going to remain anonymous?
Meanwhile, Wynne's actual statements on 'Crackgate' (heh, heh) were pretty mild and measured, really. She's in something of a no-win (no-Wynne?) situation here: Given the ongoing circus sideshow this little mess has devolved into, it's not unreasonable to expect that a verifiable grown up is going to have to step in at some point and at least say something. And she's the Premiere, isn't she? (Was anyone expecting Harper to offer comment on how his good buddy Ford is so spectacularly self-destructing?) She can't well ignore the unignorable. If this sorry brouhaha ends with the cops dragging Ford out of City Hall in handcuffs, I fully expect the Tories to be shameless enough to demand, "Why didn't Wynne step in and do something?"
Even Levy and Warmington are beginning to move away. I recall see a video where they were stating that Rob Ford isn't a true Conservative in the social conservative sense but is "really a liberal". They were still supportive, but certainly seemed to be more cautious than they once would be.
This is the surest sign that he's lost the narrative. Progressives in the States have noted in recent years that whenever a formerly beloved figure falls out of favor on the reactionary right, the mouth frothers always make the claim that he was never really a conservative. There were people on far right blogs, and even in the media who said as much about George W. Bush towards the end of his Presidency, as incredible as that seems. The Sun itself took that tack with Mulroney back in the day. I used to read it when I was a kid in the 80's, and there were constant complaints of him not being a "real" conservative. If hardcore members of the asshole right like Levy are backing away, it's definitely not good news for Ford.
Several hundred protesters gathered outside Toronto city hall Saturday and called for Mayor Rob Ford to step down.
Many held up posters insisting Ford leave office and called the mayor’s ongoing video scandal a disgrace to the city.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Protesters+rally+demand+Toronto+Mayor+...
Hundreds Rally at Toronto City Hall for Rob Ford's Resignation (and vid)
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/hundreds-rally-at-toronto-city-hall-for-rob...
"...The event called 'Stand Up For Toronto - Let's Demand Rob Ford's Resignation,' started just before noon at Nathan Philip's Square in downtown Toronto. Attendee Jim Hedger said the latest scandal was the 'final straw', and it was time for the mayor to resign.."
and so say I.
Chris Selley: Why Gawker's Gonzo Reporting of Rob Ford Video May Point To The Future of Profitable News
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/05/31/chris-selley-why-gawkers-...
"Rob Ford, Toronto's conservative mayor, is a wild lunatic given to making bizarre racist pronouncements and randomly slapping refrigerator magnets on cars. One reason for this is that he smokes crack cocaine...I know this because I watched him do it, on a videotape...He was fu-ing hiiiigh!"
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seeing pictures of this protest, it appeared there were a lot more people than several hundred.
Yesterday, an Aljazeera reporter in Toronto estimated the crowd size as 1,000.
Just curious to know what is going here
I see a lot of maggots er.. Mainstream media around in circles shouting this and shouting that
I also see rob ford duly elected and not removable
Until at earliest next election and he may well
Be elected again
Is this actually that productive for people like myself
Who would never vote for him? I have my doubts
Just curious to know what is going here I see a lot of maggots er.. Mainstream media around in circles shouting this and shouting that I also see rob ford duly elected and not removable Until at earliest next election and he may well Be elected again Is this actually that productive for people like myself Who would never vote for him? I have my doubts
That's pretty much what I'm thinking too.
Basically, without the video being released, or another body turning up, this story is rapidly approaching its shelf-life. Once you get beyond the late-night comedians, the blustering mayoral tirades, and the thundering editorials, all we've really got is a video that the public hasn't seen, a supposedly insufficient response-time from Ford himself, and the possibly irrelevant fact that someone Ford once met was later murdered. That's not enough to keep the momentum going, either in terms of the story itself or the demands for Ford's resignation.
And public outrage will have no effect on Ford, who seems pretty impervious to that sort of thing. And in this case, I really can't blame him. I'd be very surprised if any of the people protesting at City Hall voted for him in the first place, so it's not like they represent the Lost Sheep of Ford Nation. And the Globe, Star etc are not going to keep running "Resign Now!" editorials when people have stopped paying attention.
That said, with a story like this, anything can happen, and if the video or another corpse turns up, it could very well be a game-changer. And I do disagree that Ford can win again. Yes, it's impressive that his numbers haven't dropped since the scandal broke, but remember: those numbers weren't all that great to begin with. I think the only possible hope for him in 2014 is if the centre-left vote is split. Not sure how likely that is to happen.
And public outrage will have no effect on Ford, who seems pretty impervious to that sort of thing.
But could it effectively stall whatever's left on his agenda for this term? He's lost the confidence of some of his allies on council. The Sun has started to distance themselves. He's lost some of the more experienced members of his staff. It's hard to imagine he gets much done between now and next year's election.
And public outrage will have no effect on Ford, who seems pretty impervious to that sort of thing.But could it effectively stall whatever's left on his agenda for this term? He's lost the confidence of some of his allies on council. The Sun has started to distance themselves. He's lost some of the more experienced members of his staff. It's hard to imagine he gets much done between now and next year's election.
That's a good point. I'm guessing that whatever faction of hardcore Fordites exists on council will probably continue to back whatever he does. But he might have some problems convincing the floating-middle to go along with things that they're not already commited to.
As for the Sun, I suspect they'll pretty much support most of what Ford supports, but probably be less likely to valorize the man personally(if indeed, that's what they were doing).
Megan O'Toole from the National Post interviewed an occupant of the same apartment Ford is said to have identified as the place where the video could be found.
This occupant confirmed that he had personally seen the video and that Ford's friends in the Somali community wanted to make a fake video to release to the press. They would pretend that this was the real video knowing that it would be quickly exposed as a fake, thereby vindicating Ford.
They tried to recruit a Ford look-alike named "Slurpy" to star in the video but unforunately Slurpy backed out.
Man, it just gets weirder and weirder, don't it? That Post story is like something out of a particularly kooky sitcom, complete with the new hilarious breakout comedy character, Slurpy!!! Such a pity the late Chris Farley is no longer with us; he would have been perfect for the dual roles of Slurpy and His "Honor."
Agree with voice of the damned that Ford isn't going anywhere, at least not voluntarily. You can't shame the shameless, and since our chickenshit political scene doesn't allow for the removal of a Mayor who's proven himself hopelessly corrupt or dangerously unfit for office (or both, as in this case), we're likely stuck with him until the end of his term...unless something even more outlandish happens, and it well might. That's the thing with Ford: It's only a matter of time before the next scandal or embarrassment or inappropriate behavior comes along.
Megan O'Toole from the National Post interviewed an occupant of the same apartment Ford is said to have identified as the place where the video could be found.
This occupant confirmed that he had personally seen the video and that Ford's friends in the Somali community wanted to make a fake video to release to the press. They would pretend that this was the real video knowing that it would be quickly exposed as a fake, thereby vindicating Ford.
They tried to recruit a Ford look-alike named "Slurpy" to star in the video but unforunately Slurpy backed out.
I get a kick out of this.
The damning video doesn't show up so now his Somali friends wanted to make a fake video knowing that it would be proven to be fake thus vindicating him, making him look like a good guy I guess?
Ford won't get any sympathy from me, or any of you I'm sure, but accusing someone of something like this without proof is pretty disgusting. The paper that reported this story should be held liable.
The phrase "Slurpy was unavailable for comment" may be my favourite thing in the history of things.
That Post article was about the strangest thing I've read in this story so far.
The guy thinks his apartment is possibly being used, against his wishes, by drug dealers who have a key(that he didn't give them), in order to stash the most expensive video in the country. And he invites a reporter in to chat about this? I think I'd be pretty paranoid if I thought that was going on, not giving casual interviews to the media.
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As Edward Keenan tweeted upon the revelation of this latest chapter in the Rob Ford saga: "At least this Slurpy angle provides a much needed injection of dignity into the developing story." I couldn't agree more, and with that in mind, I propose a sitcom starring the pair to be entitled the Pig and the Pauper. Here's a rundown of the first installments:
Episode 1, "Enter: Slurpy." Synopsis: When Mayor of Toronto Slob Ford is discovered rolling around naked in a pool of his own filth in front of City Hall, a crack pipe in one hand and an empty liquor bottle in the other, his brother Thug seizes upon a scheme to temporarily replace the subhuman moron with an idenitcal twin who's capable of staying sober for more than half an hour at a time!
Episode 2, "By Slurpy Betrayed!" Synopsis: Slurpy decides he likes being Boss of Toronto and refuses to follow Thug's directions, so Thug decides to have him killed. What a mix-up!!!! Meanwhile, Slob is photographed (naked again) chasing a squadron of $10 hookers down Yonge Street, with a half-full liquor bottle in one hand and a bullwhip in the other. Luckily, any potential scandal is avoided when the Sun publishes a front page photo of Premiere Wynne caught wearing an unflattering hat.
Episode 3, "The Quest For Slurpy's Gold." Synopsis: To finance their seperate crack habits (and various other addictions), Slob and Slurpy go hunting for hidden treasure...with hilarious consequences!!!!
Feel free to add any further installments as y'all see fit.
Gawker: [url=http://gawker.com/the-rob-ford-crack-video-might-be-gone-511254183]The Rob Ford Crack Video Might Be "Gone"[/url]
the intermediary called to tell me that he had finally heard from the owner. And his message was: "It's gone. Leave me alone." It was, the intermediary told me, a short conversation.
Gawker: [url=http://gawker.com/the-rob-ford-crack-video-might-be-gone-511254183]The Rob Ford Crack Video Might Be "Gone"[/url]
My first thought was, no copies?
But yes; considering the contacts the Fords have with both drug dealers and the police, I'd be surprised if the video ever saw the light of day.
A Forum interactive voice response telephone poll of 918 Ontario adults on May 28th, 2013 with a margin of error +/- 3% found that Ontario voters felt the Ford scandal was hurting the Ontario Progressive Conservatives and only one fifth felt Doug Ford should run for thePCs, while 50% felt the Fords have not been good for Toronto but 33% felt they have been good for Toronto.
One half (48%) agree the controversy surrounding the Ford brothers is hurting the Progressive Conservative party in Ontario. Just more than one third disagree (37%). One third of PC supporters agree the party has been damaged (33%), while 6-in-10 do not (58%). Liberals (60%) and New Democrats ( 45%) are more likely to think the PC brand has been damaged.
Just one fifth of Ontarians think Doug Ford would make a good MPP (19%), and as many as 6-in-10 do not (60%). Ford has higher support in Toronto 416 (28%) than in total, and higher still (but still not higher than a third) among PC voters (35%). Very few Liberals (11%) or New Democrats (14%) think he would make a good representative.
One half of Ontarians think Rob and Doug Ford have not been good for their city (50%), while just one third think they have been (33%). Belief the Fords have benefitted Toronto is higher among Torontonians (39%) and PC voters (69%), while Liberal supporters (15%) and, to a lesser extent, New Democrats (23%) are unlikely to think the city has benefitted from the brothers' presence.
"Rob Ford is popular in Toronto, although his brother is less so. Outside the city, however, Ontarians have a hard time seeing what the attraction of these two populist politicians is," said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President (of Forum).
http://www.forumresearch.com/forms/News%20Archives/News%20Releases/64312...
When the demographics of the poll were broken down by age, gender, region, religion, income, education, provincial party preference, federal party preference, marital status, and ethnicity there were no groups showing more support for Doug Ford running provincially than those opposed.
For the same demographic groups, only those aged 35 to 44, 40-60K income, provincial and federal Conservatives, Christians (Catholic and Protestant), and Europeans other than British, disagreed with the statement that the Rob and Doug Ford controversy hurt the Ontairo PCs. Males were tied on this issue.
For the same demographic groups, only provincial and federal Conservatives, Evangeiical Christians, and secondary or less education, had more group members supporting the statement that Rob and Doug were good for Toronto than those opposed. However, 20-40K income, 40-60K income, Europeans other than British, and other than Europeans were tied or almost tied on this issue.
Interestingly, 20% of federal NDP voters and 23% of provincial NDP voters think Doug and Rob Ford have been good for Toronto. For the Liberals those numbers are 17% federal and 15% provincial support that the Fords are good for Toronto.
Interestingly, 20% of federal NDP voters and 23% of provincial NDP voters think Doug and Rob Ford have been good for Toronto. For the Liberals those numbers are 17% federal and 15% provincial support that the Fords are good for Toronto.
Jesus Fuckin' Christ. If I had any faith in polls at all, I'd find that to be sickening.
Meanwhile, the beat goes on. It was apparent from their posturing over the past couple of days that our crackhead Mayor and his scumbag bro thought they were totally in the clear. But events are still in motion...and they're still being reported:
No doubt some of you have already noted this story, in which we find the pleasant little suburban home prominently featured in the notorious photo of Ford hanging out with - and with his arms familiarly around - two young punks who were later both shot, gangland execution style. This latest story (and some of its details are eye-opening to say the least) makes it crystal clear that the house in that photograph was, indeed, an out-and-out crackhouse.
The Globe's reporting on the house has a few more hair-raising details:
And Gawker sums it all up:
http://gawker.com/heres-the-house-where-rob-ford-hung-out-with-a-kid-who-511577757
No doubt Ford's idiot supporters will continue to insist that he's just being persecuted, that it's all a coincidence, and that there's nothing sleazy about any of the above at all. Ford can deny and bluster all he wants, but none of this is going away.
http://torontoist.com/2013/06/new-details-about-the-alleged-rob-ford-cra...
More info from Gawker re Rob Ford's crack binges at the house and big guys beating up the resident after the crack video story.
I don't think this is going away.
Interesting stuff from Gawker's source, but I'm gonna remain agnostic pending confirmation from other outlets. I mean, Gawker's an American gossip rag, with little credibility invested with its Canadian readership, and likely doesn't have a lot to lose by publishing stories that may turn out to be false.
Absent further confirmation, I think it's just as plausible to think that Ford was walking through the neighbourhood(which I believe is near his house) and someone said "Hey, there's the mayor, let's get a photo!", as it is to think that he went there to smoke crack, and then agreed to being photographed with the suppliers immediately after smoking up.
Junkyard wrote:
Interestingly, 20% of federal NDP voters and 23% of provincial NDP voters think Doug and Rob Ford have been good for Toronto. For the Liberals those numbers are 17% federal and 15% provincial support that the Fords are good for Toronto.
Jesus Fuckin' Christ. If I had any faith in polls at all, I'd find that to be sickening.
Nothing too unusual about that. In late 80s/early 90s Edmonton, the mayor was an eco-friendly New Democrat, most of the local MLAs were NDP(after '93, Liberal), but the city overwhelmingly sent Conservative/Reform MPs to Ottawa. There must have been at least some overlap between the people voting left at the municipal/provincial levels, and the ones voting right federally. I'm assuming you see similar discrepancies in voting habits in other places as well.
