In Toronto, the Rob Ford show is just getting started
Turn on the TV in Toronto. You鈥檇 be forgiven for thinking that Canada鈥檚 largest city has been transformed into a gigantic set for a well-cast TV show featuring the madcap antics of a man who has stumbled into the post of mayor.
The reason why you'd think that is because that is exactly what鈥檚 happening.
Rob Ford, the , , crack-smoking mayor beloved by both the and late night , continued to dominate newscasts and headlines Tuesday, a day after the premiere of his own TV show, 鈥淔ord Nation.鈥�
鈥淵ou鈥檝e heard the criticism. Now I want you to hear me,鈥� Mr. Ford said , which was taped Sunday and debuted Monday night on a small Canadian channel. 鈥淚 guarantee you鈥檙e going to see a change in the next few months.鈥�
鈥淚 know in my heart everyone has personal problems,鈥� Ford said later in the broadcast. 鈥淚 urinated in a parking lot . . . what does that have to do with anything?鈥�
Toronto鈥檚 largest daily newspaper, meanwhile, used a blaring headline in its Tuesday鈥檚 editions, to say this in response: 鈥淢ayor In Name Only.鈥�
Ford, who stunned Toronto鈥檚 political establishment by winning the mayoralty in 2010, has continued to stun with his off-color remarks and defiant rhetoric, even as many have assumed his tenure could not continue.
On Monday, the City Council to strip yet more powers from Ford, transferring more authority and budget responsibility from him to a deputy mayor.
Ford responded in his trademark belligerent style:
鈥淚f you think American-style politics is nasty, you guys have just attacked Kuwait,鈥� he was quoted as . 鈥淭his is going to be outright war in the next election.鈥�
Ford later got into a shouting match with audience members heckling him, and in an even more bizarre moment, with another councilor as he ran across the floor to yell more. With audience members yelling 鈥淪hame! Shame!,鈥� the council鈥檚 chairwoman then called a recess.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday in an on NBC鈥檚 Today Show, Ford again repeated that he could barely remember smoking crack cocaine: 鈥淚 was very, very inebriated.鈥�
In a separate with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., he vowed that he would stop drinking altogether.
"If you don't see a difference in me in five months, then I'll eat my words," he said in the interview. "I've had a come-to-Jesus moment if you want to call it that. I've let my dad down, I know he's upstairs watching this."
Despite the efforts to curtail his authority and pleas for him to take a leave of absence, Ford is under no obligation to step aside. Neither city laws, nor those of Ontario provincial government, provide for removing an elected official from office, barring a criminal conviction, persistent absence from office, or conflict-of-interest concerns.
The mayoral election is scheduled for October 2014 and Ford has vowed to run again.
For many Torontonians, at the heart of Ford鈥檚 staying power is a divide between residents of the city鈥檚 downtown, who tend to vote liberal, and those of suburban districts, who tend to be more conservative. A major reorganization of the city鈥檚 boundaries in 1998, called 鈥渁malgamation,鈥� united the outlying areas with the city鈥檚 traditional core, arguably setting up the 2010 vote and the continuing clash over Ford鈥檚 suitability for office.
have shown that while a majority of Torontonians disapprove of Ford鈥檚 behavior, a bloc of voters continue to stand by him, with his popularity figures remaining largely unchanged in recent months.
The most recent , released Monday by Ipsos Reid, found a sharp split over whether the city was 鈥渙n the right track,鈥� with 48 percent saying it is, and 52 percent聽 saying it is not. The largest percentage of people saying the city is not headed in the right direction are in the downtown/old section of the city, the poll found. Meanwhile, 62 percent of those polled said they would not vote for Ford 鈥渦nder any circumstance.鈥�
The weighted Ipsos poll, taken on behalf of CTV News/CP24/ Newstalk 1010 Radio, surveyed 665 city residents via the internet between Nov. 8-12. The margin of error was 4.3 percentage points.
Harry Vandekamp, who runs a fish and chips shop in a western part of the city, explained that the sentiment expressed in the sign he has in the window of his restaurant 鈥斅犫�淚 trust Rob Ford with my tax money鈥� 鈥� is shared by many in his working class district.
鈥淗e has blundered. He has spoken, he鈥檚 made some rude comments鈥� but that brings out the common man in him, he鈥檚 lacking as a dignitary, but he is someone that we trust with running business,鈥� Vandekamp tells the Monitor.
鈥淚鈥檓 not suicidal, I wouldn鈥檛 put up a sign for him if there wasn鈥檛 so much support for him,鈥� he says.
