The problem with all this isn’t Rob Ford…it’s Ford Nation. Ford Nation is simply the manifestation of greed, NIMBY-ism, and selfishness wrapped in a political movement. They are the closest thing we have to a “tea-party”. I had a friend actually say to me, “Ya but he took on the unions, and went up against waste in government.” He took on one union, garbage workers in the West end and it resulted in a whopping 10% savings. However those “saving” came out of the salaries of the men and women who perform this essential service.
And as for cutting waste at city hall, that has yet to be seen. By selling off the city’s assets (Toronto Hydro, Enwave, TCHC property) he has paid off some of the debt, but also put a serious dent in the municipal cash flow so we will need to see where that nets out.
But that is besides the point. What Ford Nation is saying by continuing to support Rob Ford is that you can consort with criminals, lie to the public on camera, engage in illegal activity and as long as you keep a few dollars in taxpayers’ pockets then you’re off the hook.
The longer I live in this city the clearer it becomes that it needs a mayor who actually loves the city (shoot I would settle for one that likes it) and that we need to de-amalgamate. The concerns of the suburbs are not those of the urbanites. Ensuring that everyone makes a living wage in Toronto is more important to me than saving$40 a year on a garbage fee. Making sure that libraries are open for inner city youths is more important to me than ensuring Donny Brosco High school has a football coach.
One idea I had was to enact a rule that would force every elected official, whether municipal, provincial or federal to be audited by the CRA. You see Doug Ford, Rob’s brother is on all sorts of boards and committees for groups that run (some at arms length) the development of Toronto. Like Build Toronto which develops and sells city property, or the Toronto Transit Infrastructure Ltd. which was set up to finance the Sheppard Subway.
Considering the company the Ford’s keep, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more than a few under the table dealings. We already know they will lie to the public and the media when it suits them.
I wonder if stealing from the Ford Nationers would be enough to get them to withdraw support…let’s find out.