Enough is enough. Our city is taking one on the chin as news of Rob Ford smoking crack is making headlines worldwide.
I don’t care if he did, or didn’t. I want him gone, as Toronto is slowly becoming a laughing-stock, and our reputation internationally is flailing.
We need a new leader in this city, and it sounds like we won’t get one until Ford’s term is done.
So the question becomes: who is next?
Smoking crack must be cool these days.
How else do you explain Rob Ford’s approval rating has gone up 5% since the video surfaced?
I’ve written about Rob Ford a lot in the past three years, and what started with pro-Ford posts, and eventually moved into articles questioning his actions, has now turned into hatred, and disgust.
I can honestly say that I hate this man. I hate what he is doing to our city, and by association, I loathe him.
I don’t want to get into personal attacks about his appearance or his weight, because that’s reserved for the Toronto Star, and people who can’t formulate a better argument.
But even though I agree with his fiscally-conservative policies, I love the city of Toronto too much to watch this man embarrass us time and time again.
Rob Ford is a drunk, and apparently he is a drug addict as well.
If he’s not stumbling around on The Danforth drinking booze from a Tim Horton’s coffee cup while people videotape it to put on YouTube, he’s smoking crack with drug dealers in their homes, while making racist and homophobic remarks.
If he’s not being accused of corruption, extortion, bribery, and associating with known felons, he’s drinking Remy Martin, straight from the bottle, on the job.
True, or not, I don’t care anymore.
Rob Ford has to go.
He is ruining the reputation of our city, and the honorable thing would be to step down, and let us turn the page on a pretty pathetic time in our city’s history.
I have no doubt that Ford will go out fighting, as he feels his reputation (what’s left of it) is more important than the reputation of the city he is employed by.
Marcus Gee wrote an excellent column in Friday’s Globe & Mail, where he summed it up perfectly:
“Toronto stands at a turning point in its 180-year history. It is growing as never before, taking in hundreds of thousands of people from every corner of the globe. Its downtown is becoming a little Manhattan, sprouting scores of new office and residential towers. Its cultural scene is a marvel, drawing crowds to its film, art and music festivals. But its governance is a mess.”
Despite his apparent “surge” in approval ratings, we can all agree that Rob Ford is done in 2014, no?
So let’s not dwell on the scandal, and let’s not give Ford any more attention than is necessary.
Let’s talk about who is best-suited to lead this city out of the gutter, move it forward, and make it into the world-class city that we all know it can be.
1) Karen Stintz
Rob Ford says he is “salivating” at the idea of running against Stintz.
Ford also said the 2014 election would be a “blood-bath.”
Doug Ford said the fight between Stintz and Rob Ford would be “dirty.”
If they had nothing to worry about, and didn’t fear Stintz, they wouldn’t be saying these things. Yeah – I think they’re worried, and I think they know Stintz would whoop them in a fair fight.
So the question becomes: do we want Karen Stintz to be the next mayor of Toronto?
If she has one fault, or one fault that will be hammered over and over during an election, it’s that she is a notorious flip-flopper, and has gone back and forth on the TTC plans over the last three years.
But if you like Rob Ford’s politics, you might like Karen Stintz, as she recently said, “I believe in the fiscal agenda of Rob Ford, but I worry that another four years of Rob Ford may not move the city forward.” Stintz is modelling herself as a fiscal-conservative, in the mold or Rob Ford, but obviously without the turmoil that comes with it.
Stintz has already been endorsed by councilor John Parker, and she only made her plans to run for mayor public about a week ago.
2) John Tory
There are a lot Torontonians that believe the city needs a “business-person” to run the city, like a business.
This is where Mr. Tory’s name starts to get thrown around.
John Tory is a lawyer by trade, but he served as the CEO of and President of Rogers Media for four years, and as the commissioner of the Canadian Football League for four years as well.
I don’t think anybody would question his prowess as a business-man, but his record in politics reads like the Detroit Lions.
Mr. Tory ran for mayor of Toronto in 2003, and lost to David Miller.
Mr. Tory ran as MPP for Don Valley West in 2007, and lost to Kathleen Wynne.
Mr. Tory ran as MPP for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock in a 2009 by-election, and lost to Rick Johnson.
The only election Mr. Tory ever won was in a 2005 by-election after Ernie Eves resigned.
So as a politician, John Tory is 1/4.
I’m not saying that a three-time loser can’t win, or can’t lead our city, but I can say that I’m undecided on how I feel about Mr. Tory as mayor.
Some say that the’s the perfect answer to Rob Ford, since he is a model of professionalism. That is what I like about Mr. Tory the most, having been embarrassed by Rob Ford for three years.
3) Denzil Minnan-Wong
Mr. Minnan-Wong is a Ford ally, or at least he was, until everybody started to jump ship over the weekend.
Currently the Chair of the Public Works & Infrastructure Committee, Mr. Minnan-Wong is also a fiscal-conservative whose biggest move so far is contracting out garbage in 2011.
Like Mr. Tory, Minnan-Wong has a background in law, although he’s been in politics since 1997, and a City Councillor for Don Valley East for thirteen years.
The problem I see with Mr. Minnan-Wong’s chances of becoming Toronto’s next mayor is that there is way too much competition among right, or centre-right fiscal conservatives. If voters split between Karen Stintz, John Tory, and Denzil Minnan-Wong, it might open the door for somebody else….such as…
4) Olivia Chow
Ms. Chow is currently involved in Provincial politics as an MP, but perhaps if the opportunity presented itself, she would enter the Mayoral race in 2014.
I see no more suitable candidate from the left than Ms. Chow, and if the people of Toronto want change, perhaps a move to the left will gain momentum.
As the wife of the late Jack Layton, the association has to resonate with some voters. There was no bigger NDP’er in the last decade than Jack Layton, and Ms. Chow, being an NDP MP herself, will surely be linked with Jack in the minds of voters.
For the record – I’ve never voted NDP, but I thought the world of Jack Layton. I don’t think there was a more honorable politician in the last decade (or since I’ve been following politics) than Jack, and I only wish he was on my team.
Ms. Chow has the name and the brand to win votes. It just depends on whether or not Toronto wants to go back to the David Miller days…
5) Shelley Carroll
Another candidate from the left, Ms. Carroll’s biggest impact on municipal politics came when she was appointed Chair of the Budget Committee under David Miller in 2006.
She has been a City Councillor since 2003, and formerly a school trustee as she battled the Mike Harris budget cuts to education. Ms. Carroll actually refused to implement the Harris agenda.
I don’t know enough about Ms. Carroll, and I don’t know if other Toronto voters do either. Maybe it’s fair to say that she hasn’t made a big enough impact on municipal politics to have her name thrown into the mix?
6) David Soknacki
Mr. Soknacki officially announced on September 30th that he would run for Mayor as a fiscal conservative, and along with Karen Stintz (and I guess Rob Ford…) is the only candidate to officially announce his or her candidacy.
Mr. Soknacki is another “business-man,” like John Tory, who will gain support from voters who want the city be run more like a corporation and less like a high school with a group of grown babies making up City Council.
Mr. Soknacki last served in municipal politics in 2006 as a city councillor.
Personally, I find him to be a bit confusing.
Left or right?
He served as Chair of the Budget Committee under David Miller, but he was quoted as saying he’s running “as a fiscal conservative.”
I don’t know how I feel about people outside politics making a run at mayor…
7) Mike Del Grande
A Chartered Accountant by trade, Mr. Del Grande was a school trustee for nine years before earning a spot on City Council in 2003 as a right-winger, in a left-winger’s council. He was highly critical of David Miller, and once Rob Ford was elected and the council made a right-turn, Mr. Del Grande was appointed as budget chief.
His reputation took a hit when he was charged with assault in 2007, and accused of racism when he said that “a lot of white people are moving out” of his district in 2005, but maybe that pales in comparison to the crap Rob Ford has put us through?
I don’t know what to make of “comments” by politicians anymore. If you’re in politics long enough, you’re going to say something stupid. And if you read more in detail about his assault charge, you’ll learn that he confronted a woman who was tearing down all his campaign flyers, and the charges were withdrawn.
Call me crazy – but could we hear Mr. Del Grande’s name thrown into the mix in the coming year?
8) Adam Giambrone
Any chance this guy makes another run?
He was kind of fun to watch in the last election, and you have to give him credit for all the hard work he did while still finding time to have two wives and a fiancée that his girlfriends knew nothing about…
9) Doug Ford, Doug Holyday, Sarah Thompson, Adam Vaughan, John Parker, Ana Bailao
Any takers?
10 Rob Ford
Let’s be serious here, folks – this guy will probably be on the ballot in 2014.
He’s refusing to step down as mayor, and the only thing better than “not going out with a fight” is to continue fighting!
The only thing better than not stepping down, is to re-run in 2014!
Can you imagine?
–
While I have tried to make this list (somewhat) unbiased, I make no bones about the fact that I’m a fiscal-conservative and social-liberal.
If only I was talented enough to come up with a “ballot” on this blog – some sort of voting mechanism, maybe we could put some numbers to this game.
I’m curious to hear my readers’ thoughts, as well as any potential candidates that I may have missed.
The bottom line is: Ford has to go.
I’d (almost…) rather see Adam Vaughan as Mayor than see Rob Ford continue to embarrass this city…
A Grant
at 7:22 am
“I believe in the fiscal agenda of Rob Ford…” Of course, this is an agenda that saw Toronto’s long-term debt grow by $800 million in Ford’s first two years in office.
As an outsider looking in, I think it’s the complete arrogance of the guy that gets me. I mean, he’s one of the most visible guys in Toronto (insert your own personal attack HERE), yet he feels, in this day and age where everyone has a video camera on their phones and an instant online connection, that no discretion was required?
BillyO
at 8:40 am
John Tory didn’t just lose in 2007 as a MPP to Wynne, he was the PC party leader and initially ran with a ridiculous platform of funding religious schools. It was such a mind boggling clusterfuck.
Also, about the ‘running like a business thing’:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johntharvey/2012/10/05/government-vs-business/
Dan Dickinson
at 9:27 am
Here’s the thing: if, when news of the video had come out, he’d just tearfully resigned, checked himself into rehab, and run as the ‘underdog/second chance’ guy in the next election he’d have walked off with it. No question. It wouldn’t have even been close.
Even now, in spite of all that’s happened, I give him a 50/50 chance in the next election. He has a base which I literally do not understand, but which I cannot statistically ignore.
Geoff
at 9:36 am
The most clear comparison to Rob Ford is Marion Berry, former mayor of Washington DC. The man was literally caught on camera trying to buy sex and drugs, ran the city from jail, and then was re-elected a few years later.
The only thing people love more than pulling people down is a comeback.
As for Stintz, I just think that anyone who has been ‘running the ttc’ the past 5 years needs to go. As an aside, I believe that all Councillors on the TTC panel should be forced to take the TTC to get to their meetings, and if they’re late it should be of public record. After all, they’re in charge of the ttc and most of us take it to our work, and we get in trouble if we’re late.
Joe Q.
at 11:13 am
You are correct that Olivia Chow has a lot of visibility as an MP and as the wife of Jack Layton, but many people overlook the fact that she was a Toronto city councillor for 14 years (and worked with many people who are still on city council). To me, that is a major advantage, even if I don’t completely agree with her politics.
Tory is a bright guy but, as you note, his political instincts are not good. He was also campaign manager for Kim Campbell in the 1993 federal election — and you can see how well that turned out. I don’t think Minnan-Wong, Soknacki, or Carroll have the profile necessary to make a good run at the mayoralty. Even Stintz is on the edge here. Bailao and Vaughan are non-starters, as is Doug Ford, and if Holyday were to run it’d be the height of hypocrisy.
I had serious questions about Rob Ford’s capabilities and judgement even before he ran for Mayor, and unfortunately my suspicions have been proved accurate since that time. My greatest worry is not that Ford will run again (I have no doubts that he will), but that his opponents will split the vote and thereby ensure him another victory. (There is definitely something to be said for rank-preference voting in a multi- or non-party system like Toronto’s.)
David Fleming
at 11:46 am
@ Joe Q.
Exactly the point I was making earlier – if Minnan-Wong, Tory, Ford, Stintz, and Soknacki all ran (to the finish), they would split votes from the right, and it would open the door for ONE candidate from the left.
I think Olivia Chow has an excellent chance of winning if she chooses to run.
You’ve essentially removed all the candidates from the list! Who ELSE can we talk about? Rocco Rossi? George Smitherman?
Joe Q.
at 2:11 pm
I wouldn’t be surprised if Rocco Rossi rose from the political grave to fight this one. But essentially I think this is going to be a Chow – Tory – Ford thing come next October.
Kyle
at 11:54 am
I just can’t understand Ford supporter mentality, and their crazy zealot like belief in his BS dogma. It is clear (and as Joe Q pointed out, long before he ever became mayor) that anyone…even Kevin Clarke would be a better mayor, still he can do no wrong in the eyes of his die hard supporters.
To tie it in to Real Estate, in many ways Ford reminds me of Garth Turner. They both have some magical ability to tap into people’s emotions, and turn them into blind followers, despite both having a track record of utter failure and being an embarassment to their own camps.
Joe Q.
at 12:36 pm
The angle I find more interesting is real-estate community’s staunch support of Rob Ford (both during his campaign and since his election) and whether this will continue in light of the recent revelations.
Frido Bandito
at 12:51 pm
The best thing about Stintz running is she’ll have to resign her chair position at the TTC.
As for John Tory, can people shut up about him already? Every time there’s an election – for ANYTHING – his name is thrown about. The media loves him for some inexplicable reason, while the voters clearly don’t.
My prediction: Ford will win again because the opposition is too divided to produce a single star candidate. Nothing has hurt Ford so far, why should any of this? He’s like the Honey Badger, he doesn’t give a sh*t!
PGK
at 2:31 pm
Agree with Dan’s comment on Ford’s chances. What will be needed in the next election to get rid of this clown is to have a centre-right candidate who is not afraid to take their gloves off and take Ford’s reputation and image to task! Attack advertising, catchy sound bites, etc that put the optics surrounding Ford in the spotlight. This will make him all unhinged during campaign and will set him up for more public goof-ups at inopportune times.
The problem with Stintz (the one I would most likely vote for of the above) is that the average joe probably thinks she’s a “leftie” thanks to that branding from the Ford brothers and right-wing media outlets. And she hasn’t done anything to respond or defend her image as a conservative.
The problem with Tory is that attacking Ford will probably be “beneath him” and you know what they say about nice guys that try to play tough games.
Paully
at 8:42 am
The other choices are bad, terrible and worse.
The best commentary I heard last week was Mike Bullard saying, “if Olivia Chow becomes Mayor of Toronto, every homeless person would be given a diamond-crusted unicorn!”
If you want the supply in the Toronto real estate market to loosen up, you need someone to repeal the Stupid-Miller-Land-Transfer-Tax-Grab.
Ford is the only one on your list that wants to get that done.
Ford for Mayor 2014!
ScottyP
at 11:12 am
I don’t suppose your last name is Shore, by chance?
Ed
at 12:17 pm
If Olivia Chow runs for mayor then my vote is for whoever has the best chance of beating Olivia Chow. Sometimes when you’re left with no good choices the best thing to do is to prevent the worst one from winning.
Kyle
at 1:20 pm
It’s really starting to get interesting now. He has now admitted to smoking crack (not that there was ever any doubt), probably because he realized that the video will likely be played as evidence in court. What i wonder is when will he be forced to admit that he was directly involved in the extortion that Lisi is currently being charged with (again a no-brainer).
Being a crackhead may not be a crime, but hiring or putting someone up to extortion is. It’ll be pretty tough for him to run for Mayor of Toronto, when his address is in Kingston.
ScottyP
at 1:54 pm
Zing!
George
at 2:08 pm
I will vote for anyone who repeals the land transfer tax and replaces it with a more equitable form of taxation that targets all residents of Toronto and not just people who sell a property.
Also, I would love a brutally honest candidate as opposed to the usual smarmy duplicitous politician. I hope one of these people qualifies.
jeff316
at 7:22 pm
The problem is, a brutally honest candidate would tell you that the land transfer tax is the epitome of “equitable”, unless you don’t know what the word really means.
Schmidtz
at 10:06 pm
Chow is the satan spawn.
Horrido
at 11:26 pm
I am completely bewildered by Ford’s supporters. All they care about is fiscal policies, as if that’s the only thing that matters in government. The mayor’s job is NOT only about policies. There is another aspect to his job that these fools are in denial over: the mayor is ALSO the representative of Toronto to the world. He is our ambassador, as it were. As such, he must exhibit decorum and uphold the dignity of his office.
Look, I too am a fiscal conservative and a social liberal. I support Ford’s policies, and in this respect I believe he’s done a credible job. But he has failed to fulfill the complete requirements of his job. In the private sector, this would be more than enough to warrant termination.
However, in the political arena, he should be given a pass??? How f*cked up is that?! Ford’s supporters are truly mentally challenged. I defy them to argue otherwise…
JC
at 7:56 am
People have short memories (and lets face it, many of them aren’t too smart)
Remember when Ford lied about, or “misremembered” about his drunk driving charge in Florida? Or was it marijuana possession? Or both. I seem to recall that was brought to light before he was even elected. It’s not like the guy doesn’t have a history of being a flat-out, bald-faced liar.
Whatever happened to holding people in public office to a higher standard? Why is there no way to impeach this guy?
I would like to see a race with no more than 3 candidates. Otherwise, we are likely to have a repeat of what got us in this mess in the first place. It’s too bad we can’t de-amalgamate before then. What a colossal muck up that has been.
Rob Fjord
at 4:11 pm
“He is ruining the reputation of our city”
-what a lousy argument david, and the mindless media keep repeating it too ..”we are a laughing stock” blah blah- sounds like second city syndrome, insecure torontonians desperate to be seen as world class and caring what the world thinks of us. – i personally dont care about our reputation, and whatever our rep is, it will not cost us money, do you really think some korean guy who wanted to buy an investment condo in toronto is now reconsidering after he heard about our crack head mayor?
I wonder what crimes your listed candidates are guilty of, how many kick backs, greased palms, back room deals, how many affairs, drunken nights, and coke snorting have your stintz’s and chows partaken in- face it, 99.9% (solid statistic) of politicians are corrupt and deviant.
embrace fords gluttony, his need to escape, his power lust. lets own it…lets build our next tourism campaign around it!!!
Anthony Nguyen
at 3:09 pm
I couldn’t agree more. There is an insecure segment of the population that thinks people outside of Canada give a hoot about how great or not we are when they have their own crisis to deal with (economically and politically). Do Canadians go to bed laugh at the way the Democrats and Republicans take every decision down to the last minute of the last hour? It’s a joke that’s much worse then one guy with his personal problems. YET, Torontonian as always have this insecure complex thinking everyone is watching NOT Canada but Toronto (as Canada). And the mindless and sheeps that believe this make some sort of excuse that it’s affect business in the city? Business has not stopped. The ones that are interrupting City Hall are these whining Councillors who couldn’t keep out of the circus and want to be part of the ruckus instead of being a professional and keep their head down and work. But no, they want to be the circus.
It’s not that I accept his major blundering, but where were the reporters in front of Dalton’s house??? Come on!! He got away with a lot more and yet no one cares. He rips tax payers off directly and funds his Toronto house with our money. The media picks and chooses who they go after because they are controlled by their interest groups. Wake up people and see the double standard and stop being so damn insecure! When we feel insecure that late night comedians are laughing at Rob Ford, that’s embarrassing to be Canadian. I can be a comedian too make jokes too about the US like they found the new concept of being unproductive to be productive (shutting down the entire government to get something done). It’s BRILLIANT!!
The CN tower should be symbolic of a SPINE…the one we’re lacking.
Dewitt Lee III
at 7:09 pm
This is 2010 and 2014 Toronto Mayor candidate and I just wanted to inform the writer of this blog and it’s readers that there are other candidates that are gearing up for the race despite what popular media would like for us to believe. I, in particular, am very optimistic about my chances of contending and God willing, wining. Ever since my 12th place finish in 2010, I have steadily worked on connecting with the public to listen and to learn what is needed and I am ready from Day 1 to work on changing the perception of politics, forever.
http://www.facebook.com/teamtoronto http://www.twitter.com/leeformayor
Ecclesiastes 9:11 – I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.