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50 comments

  1. AHHHH! Greatest day ever. Could we be witness to the downfall of the biggest douche to ever inhabit political office? Sure, it’s a big statement, but he’s a big douche.

  2. I don’t live in Toronto, but I just can’t understand how a person like Rob Ford gets elected and re-elected. He seems to be such an embarrasment for the city, and he doesn’t seem to do anything but complain about the other councillors.

  4. He’s only been charged with death threats and assault.

    I’m sure the debate will/should now be about whether he stays on as a councillor between now and his court/trial dates.

  6. “Roads are built for buses, cars and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it’s their own fault.”

  7. George> I didn’t know the staff of Spacing had been granted power to enforce the Criminal Code, anywho…

    Yes, he’s only been charged and in the interest of preserving the importance of burden of proof – until he’s brought before the courts I’ll only make fun of him for hurling insults at hockey games and having the political insight of a rock. I will not cast aspersions on him for weight or style as those are both too east and are also issues with which I also struggle. I mean, I wouldn’t wear a black suit with a black shirt…but I’m not David Beckham either.

    Matthew: Sorry if I exposed the site to possible liability. Hopefully the hockey game joke won’t make it worse. I’m writing this from England so my sense of humour is a little askew and my above comment seemed too easy to pass up.

  9. Innocent until proven guilty maybe, but that tie’s a fashion crime.

  11. I heard the guy he beat up was “Cashman” Russel Oliver after he only offered Rob 3 bucks for his GOOOOOOOLLLD watch. If that’s true, then Rob should be promoted to Mayor.

  12. I wonder if he’ll be on the radio tomorrow. He usually has a spot Thursday mornings. I’m really curious about the details of this.
    I tend to agree with his fiscal conservatism, although I do think he picks the wrong battles to fight.

  13. Josh> I refer my statement to Matthew he knows what I am talking about here.Maybe he can bring some light to the situation at Spacing magazine and lawyers.

  14. Spacing’s lawyer reviewed a series of comments written by George Sawision that were viewed as potentially libelous to a politician, thus putting our magazine at risk. So we referred to our comment policy and edited out one line of one comment and asked George to make sure that if he makes outrageous statements that he backs them up with facts or sources.

    That is what he is alluding to but, for whatever reason, doesn’t want to address it himself.

  15. Well – the things one gets tangled up with when giving the public space to comment – and lawyers aren’t often pro bono.
    With Mr. Ford, time will tell. I’m conflicted in that he’s often a very very wide range of negatives, yet he can be reached, you know where he stands, and he’s voted against the Front St. Extension.
    I’m sure however, the news will have been racing about the city hall circuit even now, and I can think of one old adage about fire.
    Let’s hope the kids do okay.

  16. Peter,

    Total electoral indifference is how Rob Ford keeps getting elected. If you’re a municipal politician, or a councillor anyway, incumbency almost guarantees you re-election because voters are so disinterested in municipal politics.

  17. This incident fits the tired Rob Ford pattern.

    People always say how popular he is and we should remember that in politics sometimes popularity and ability are not the same thing. Everybody loved Lastman even though he was asleep at his watch while the city crumbled.

    I should add that my wife of Asian descent is still waiting for an apology as we all are.

  18. Is anyone else shocked he’s only 38 years old? I thought he was in his 50’s!

  19. Can’t we give the poor, fat, obnoxious slob a break!

    I am sure that he was so drunk and confused that he thought that he was at a Leaf’s game!

  20. Nothing new here. He brandished a pocket knife and threatened to cut me in grade 10 shop class at Scarlett Heights high school in Etobicoke.

    One must consider an individual’s moral fibre, of which, his has been missing since the 1980’s.

  21. He is only 38! You have got to be kidding me, I thought late 40s early 50s for sure. Wow, this guy is only five years older than me and he looks like he’s about to keel over and die at any moment.

  22. Yikes! to above.
    new term – schadenforde.
    though it is kinda sweet.

  23. Andrea> How people choose to live their lives has such an effect on how old they look. The obvious: healthy living keeps you young — but there is more to it, something less tangible.

    Think of how old Archie Bunker looked on All in the Family. Carroll O’Connor was only about 47 when the show started, but he seemed so much older, like a generation older. Lifestyle, class, education, a bunch of factors went into making that character.

  24. Although I do not live in his ward, Councillor Ford has always made himself available to assist anyone in Toronto and even beyond. My own councillor can’t even be bothered to return phone calls or emails pertaining to an issue in her ward yet Rob Ford called me back in less than an hour.
    He may be a politician but he’s stil human and as such, makes mistakes. I’m guessing everyone else who posted on this blog has never had any personal problems or have never made any mistakes.
    How lucky for you! You can go back to casting your stones….

  25. Lisa> good for you ,although I don’t support the politics of Rob I do admire just how dedicated he is to the people he represents I wish I could say the same about my councillor for ward 19.

  26. Matthew>I hope that when you police this site that you use equal criteria for ALL the posters here.From the above posts I really wonder if you do.

  28. He is an incompentent boob. Saying that Ford does a better job of representing his ward than Pantelone could be the stupidest comment I’ve read on this blog.

  29. If you define representation by ignoring constituent phone calls and only meeting with ward residents at election time, then yes, joe pantalone does do a wonderful job.
    Ford is continually called out by Miller and his NDP cronies for exposing their wastefulness and corruption. His personal life should have no bearing on his civil service; he has been elected numerous times with an overwhelming majority, indicating that he does serve his constituents well.

  30. Lisa, I sympathize with that sentiment.

    But give some examples please. When where how? To back up your claims, lest you appear like a lunatic-ranter like George who says a lot, but never has examples or proof. Please provide some, thank you — it’s too easy to take swipes as you have, but hard to take seriously without the proof.

    And I agree his personal life should not be a factor — as Trudeau said, the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation — but if he has a criminal life, then that’s an issue, and we wait to see if it’s proven in court.

  31. Some of you people seem to think that its great that he goes door to door to help his constituents. But, as a city councillor, THAT IS NOT HIS JOB. That’s the job of staff who are supposed to be out in the field fixing things.

    Ford’s job is to help govern and set policy. By ging to each residents place he meets a City staff person there, they tell the resident what they can or can’t do, Ford stands around and listens (or in many cases ridicules staff) and then repeats this 10 times a day.

    His job is to go over policy, read reports, sit in committee meetings, meet with BIAs and try to make life better for people in his ward. All he ends up doing is looking to save $10 here and $50 there, which just demeans citizens.

    let’s remember what a majority is in his ward: winning 60% of a ward when only 30% show up is only 18% of the ward voting for him. I know this is the case in many other wards, but during his reign, Ward 2 has gotten worse and worse and gets the poorest service in the city.

    In the private sector, or even in the bureaucracy, he’d have been fired or suspended for his litany of actions.

    For those that want to defend his type of politiking, you are showing just how little you value local government or how little you seem to know how the City works.

  32. Get off the guy’s back people!
    He’s young, he’s human, he makes mistakes.
    So did lovable ol’ Mayor Mel…Who has done more damage to Toronto than 100 Rob Ford’s.
    But Rob Ford fights for what he believes in, he responds to ALL calls within 24 hours, even if you are not in his ward. I believe he honestly thinks he represents his ward by challenging the games at City Hall. Imagine yourself being Rob Ford: hated and baited at every meeting, but doing what he believes to be right. Sure, you can judge him by the vote (if you live in his ward), but let’s stop the glee at seeing someone fall.
    Or when YOU fall…maybe the glee will be at your expense.
    I’ll wait to see what the courts say, and in any case, wish him well.

  33. Ford chose the role of being a public figure so he has to deal with the fallout from that. He is not just some guy at work with a few issues. He is an elected official — someone who is supposed to represent our concerns. Someone you share values with.

    with that in mind, let’s consider what he’s done and what most of us DO NOT do:
    • go out in public (and on TV) and make racist speeches (and be oblivious to it)
    • hand out biz cards when were drunk and yell and swear at the people around us
    • perpetuate factually wrong assumptions about AIDS and AIDS victims
    • insult fellow employees to their faces or in front of other colleagues and large audiences
    • supposedly make death threats and assault his wife

    And these are just the things the media has reported on!

    While, many of us do make mistakes in Life, most of us don’t get charged with assault or death threats. He is supposed to me an example of what a good Torontonian is. He is an embarrassment. Assaulting someone is much worse than what Client no. 9 did, and look where Spitzer’s career has landed.

    Just by knocking on people’s doors does not make up for a litany of reprehensible actions.

  34. Molly let me start by saying that I actually work for the city so I am incredibly well versed as to how it works. There is no council mandate that determines what the exact duties of the councillor are. It is up to them to decide how they would like to perform their duties.
    Jen, I totally understand your need for examples. I’m hoping Molly can provide some examples and proof backing up her claim that ward 2 has deteriorated since Rob got elected and is currently receiving the poorest service in the city.
    I am acquainted with someone who used to work for him and therefore have heard firsthand accounts of Rob’s willingness to help everyone in Toronto, not just those people who helped to elect him. He returns every single phone call that comes into his office and if someone has a problem with the City, not only will he personally attend the meeting at their home, he’ll ensure that the appropriate City department attends to make sure they are held accountable to the taxpayer.
    I am privy to a lot of the bureaucratic bullshit within municipal government and Rob is one of the few people who does not play that game. He is known for being very honest and straightforward and just someone who is very easy to deal with because you know exactly where he’s coming from. This is according to people within the City who have had many dealings with him over the years.

  35. Lisa, thank you for understanding my need for examples. So i’ll ask again, provide some for your original claims.

    You work for the city — did you learn how to answer a question by not answering the question there? Like you just did?

  36. I guess Lisa is part of that small group of City employees who was found by the auditor to be abusing their internet privileges.

    So, Lisa, how about getting back to work instead of commenting during the work day on a topic that no self-identified bureaucrat should be saying anything about publicly.

    Ironically, if Ford found out about Lisa’s use of Internet, he would probably be first in line to call for her to be fired.

  37. I’m actually on vacation at the moment and using my home computer. But thank you for your comment Norma.

  38. Is that true Lisa? Can we ask the Spacing people to check out your IP address?because that would reveal which server you are connected to, and if it’s a Toronto.ca server you’d be caught in a lie. Unlike your hero….

  39. Apparently in Toronto one can be a councillor and make racist comments (or reckless comments about cyclists dying, or AIDS victims) and it is Ok because he goes door to door. Shame on everybody here who has defended him.

  40. Lief, we could check, and the IP might reveal the location, or not, but we don’t do that. Personally I like it when people comment with their full real names and identity, but we respect that people post as they do, and will protect their privacy by not outing anybody.

    It’s bad blog form to reveal a commenter’s IP information, and blogs that do that quickly loose the trust and respect of their readers.

  41. “Ford is continually called out by Miller and his NDP cronies for exposing their wastefulness and corruption.”

    Lisa I laughed out loud when I read this. Ford is one of the worst voices for fiscal conservatism we could possibly have on council. He focuses on insignificant issues at the expense of broader, more complex solutions that would genuinely save the city money.

    I hope the extra attention the media has given to local issues lately encourages more smart people with fresh ideas (of ALL political persuasions) to enter municipal politics. We need them to replace the more narrow-minded councillors.

  42. I’m not trying to offend anyone at all. I just think he takes a lot of heat and not all of it is warranted. He seems to really try and make a difference and although the spending he goes after is on a smaller scale, he is genuinely passionate about saving the taxpayer’s money. That’s all.

  43. “Vacationing Lisa” may not want to offend, but she still hasn’t backed up her initial accusations of other councillors.

  44. This isn’t a black and white world. We can admire Rob Ford’s commitment to dealing with casework, and still despise his public comments, and the acts he’s been accused of.

    That said, most councillors do casework. I’d actually go out on a limb and say they all do. Pantalone certainly does. Despite Lisa’s claims he doesn’t meet with constituents, he actually meets with them all the time, including the same Saturday morning office hours in the lobby of the CHIN building that he’s been doing for two decades. He advertises the fact right on the City website:

    http://www.toronto.ca/councillors/pantalone1.htm

    He deals with whatever problem comes to him, not just city business. Immigration, welfare, even doing taxes for old italian seniors who ask for help. It’s laudable, but again, it’s what most councillors do, each in their own way. Even Jane Pitfield did casework.

    They just don’t play it up like Rob does. So be it.

  45. I’m actually out of the country (not “allegedly” pretending to be abroad) so due to the time difference and my work schedule today I seem to have missed a real corker (Something the English say…well, the old ones) of a match in here today. Libelous comments (I got that going, thank you), accusations of misrepresentation against fellow bloggers and worse, the obvious use of one-time posting names by douches to make snarky comments.

    As much as I “allegedly” dislike Rob Ford, one thing even I can’t ignore is that his “alleged” bad behaviour at home (if it was at home) or the hockey rink haven’t got a lot to do with him being a bad councillor.

    Listen to him in a council meeting, when he isn’t being horrible offensive (no “allegedly”…it’s all written down), he isn’t really doing anything to contribute to the discussion. He’s a black hole of negativity where even the sun couldn’t look on the bright side of life.

    The rest, if proven true, just makes him a bad person and there have been plenty of those in office.

    p.s…I hope that by putting “allegedly” near any comment that is as yet unproven I’ll be safe.

  46. This is an actual question and not an attack: Molly where did you find the voter turnout numbers/ward for the last Toronto election. I’ve actually been looking for this information and can’t seem to find it through internet searches.

  49. We’ll see what happens after his ex wife is investigated. She tormented me and my boyfriend for about six months or so, GAWD only knows what she is capable of. Good luck Mr Ford.

  50. I have to add, she said she was his ex, if it was really her at all.