海角大神

The streets of Toronto in early summer are a postcard vision of the world鈥檚 expectation of Canada: Friendly, sun-hungry Canadians lounge in the city鈥檚 plentiful parks, and stroll on the preternaturally clean sidewalks.

Yet the biggest news in Canada鈥檚 largest city veers dramatically from the boring-but-polite Canuck stereotype that Torontonians suffer from abroad. Last month, news broke that the conservative mayor, Rob Ford, making homophobic and racist comments 鈥� and smoking crack cocaine.

The uproar is far from the first that Mr. Ford has provoked. Other major incidents include and , reporting threats from Ford, when a journalist tried to interview him at home, and while driving, being kicked and for drunken behavior, and , among other highlights.

Yet, for his opponents, Ford鈥檚 most offensive behavior has been his polarization of the city, pitting the more conservative suburbs 鈥� full of Ford鈥檚 loyal supporters, who call themselves "Ford Nation" 鈥� against the more liberal downtown.

Urban-suburban divide

While American cities have had their Buddy Ciancis and Marion Barrys, the mayor of Toronto holds a unique level of responsibility: running Canada's sixth largest government and North America's fourth largest city, a dynamic, diverse metropolis where more high-rises are being built .

The city鈥檚 suburb-downtown family feud began before Ford鈥檚 political entrance, when his father was a conservative Ontario parliamentarian.

In 1998, then-head of Ontario Mike Harris forced what analysts have called a 鈥渟hotgun wedding,鈥� merging Toronto with five adjoining suburbs, which resulted in hikes in taxes and public transit fares as the city became responsible for providing services to a drastically larger geographic area.

Although residents, the Toronto mayor, and leaders of four of the five suburbs protested loudly, the "amalgamation" passed, granting conservatives a larger percentage of parliament seats 鈥� and the likelihood that the new gerrymandered version of Toronto would elect conservative suburban mayors.

That is just what happened in 2010 when Ford came to power by playing on the urban-suburban divide. During his mayoral campaign, Ford railed against taxes and 鈥渢he gravy train鈥� of public spending, a popular sentiment among suburbanites whose time spent downtown was often limited to commuting by car to work and cheering at hockey or baseball games.

Driving debate

And Ford has remained markedly anti-urban in office, which impacts daily life for millions. Despite leading a cosmopolitan city that imagines itself in a European mold, Toronto lags in walkability and quality of life for urbanites.

In particular, Ford has adamantly opposed public transportation funding, even though Toronto鈥檚 system is so outdated and underfunded that the average round trip commute is 鈥� and this in a city almost half the size of New York City, where the average commute is two-thirds as long. The gridlock caused by competing cars and streetcars costs the city $6 billion in productivity each year, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

And all but the bravest Torontonians can forget about biking to work: The city has . Only a small handful of streets have bike lanes 鈥� not including a major thoroughfare where Ford 鈥� and police often pass by taxis and cars parked in the middle of those lanes.

This spring, Ford with showers, and while a city councillor, he said that if bikers were killed on the road, 鈥�.鈥�

鈥淔or 25 years,鈥� according to University of Toronto civil engineering professor Eric Miller, 鈥渨e haven鈥檛 been building much in the way of new transit infrastructure in the city of Toronto. So we face a huge infrastructure deficit. That was the context in which Rob Ford arrived on the scene. He doesn鈥檛 believe that roads are for transit. Roads are for cars. They鈥檙e not for people. They鈥檙e not for bicycles. He has turned transit into a wedge issue with the electorate.鈥�

Ford Nation

Yet despite the boorish behavior and accompanying uproars, Ford鈥檚 loyal support base has held firm. After an initial post-election honeymoon phase and subsequent slides, Ford鈥檚 overall approval ratings .

In particular, compared to the descent in voter support downtown, suburban belief in Ford has stayed steady. His followers range from Somali and Italian immigrants who cite his support of their communities while a city councilor, to former opponents who approve of his hands-on approach to solving municipal problems, to Torontonians happy with Ford鈥檚 mayoral push against liberalism and in favor of lower taxes and smaller government.

Ford Nation is also a cult of Ford鈥檚 personality. Facebook supporters hail his chutzpah as much as his policies: 鈥淎nyone else would have 鈥榗aved鈥� under the pressure of those wild villains, Mr. Mayor! You have great strength,鈥� wrote one commenter, with another adding, 鈥淚f [R]ob wasn't in charge the city would just keep picking our pocket.鈥�

As the battle over the tarnishing of Toronto鈥檚 polite image and its urban future continues, the praise for Ford does as well: 鈥淔ord is the light!鈥� and 鈥淟ong live Rob Ford, greatest mayor ever!!!鈥�

Crack video

And when it comes to the alleged video of Ford smoking crack, Toronto residents are split, right down the lines Ford himself drew.

The video came to light last month, after a local drug dealer shopped the cellphone video to news outlets, including American website Gawker, which raised $200,000 on Kickstarter to buy the video. Since then, however, the drug dealer has gone underground, along with the video. On Thursday, reports surfaced that four days after the initial crack video news, , beating two inhabitants, one of whom was a high school classmate of Ford's.

The resulting climate in Toronto is circus-like. Ontario鈥檚 premier , anonymous city hall sources claim Ford does have a drug problem and knew the exact address of the video鈥檚 location, several mayoral staffers have resigned or been fired, and the Globe and Mail published allegations that Ford鈥檚 city councilor brother, Doug, dealt hashish in the 1980s. For his part, Ford denies smoking crack or that the video even exists.

According to , more than half of Torontonians believe the crack video 鈥渆xists and is real.鈥� Go downtown, and that number jumps to nearly two-thirds.聽

But for now, despite protests from city leaders and citizens, Ford insists he is not going anywhere. And critics say Toronto would suffer as a result.

鈥淲e won鈥檛 have effective leadership in Canada鈥檚 biggest and most diverse city," Ryerson University business ethics professor Chris Macdonald . "What we鈥檙e not going to see is the kind of vision that鈥檚 going to keep building us into a world-class city.鈥�