UWindsor Lance
Issue 13, Volume 85
Sept. 26, 2012
Jon Liedtke

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Did you hear that one about Rob Ford and a bunch of pissed off Windsorites?

Toronto mayor Rob Ford proved yet again that he has a proverbial ability to stick his foot far up his mouth without realizing that he is doing so.

Yet this time, it wasn’t due to subways or streetcars, nor football teams or This Hour has 22 Minutes.

This time, Rob Ford proved that geography clearly wasn’t his major in neither high school nor university when he emphatically made clear that he didn’t know where Ontario ended: was it Windsor or was it Winnipeg?

While visiting Chicago last week, Ford chatted with people as he walked the streets with a camera crew. While talking to one couple who said they had been to Canada, Ford asked where they had visited. The couple couldn’t remember, but said, “The part where you go across Detroit and the river” Obviously Windsor, but Ford replied, “Oh, Manitoba. Have you ever been to Winnipeg?”

Now, we should go easy on Ford, it’s not as if he is the premier of the province; that spot is reserved for McGuinty. While Ford may wish that he had more power and responsibility, he made it clear to Ontarians, Canadians and international media, that he incapable of governing outside of his own backyard.

And thank the stars for that.

Ford has made blunder after blunder. Whether it be his attempt to run a campaign on a mantra of ‘ending the gravy train,’ or whether it be when he illegally used his position as a city councillor to solicit donations for a football team, while after the fact, claiming ignorance and repeatedly stating that he had done nothing wrong.

No matter what he does, nor apparently where he goes, this man taints the image of both Toronto and Ontario, and ultimately, Canada as a whole.

This man is the mayor of a global city. Toronto is not a small nothing of a town; it is city on the world stage that represents the biggest in Canadian financial, entertainment, sport and political interests.

For far too long, Ford has sullied the image of Toronto, my birth city, without any repercussion. The time has come for Torontonians to stand up, make their voices heard and boot this ignoramus from office.

QUOTABLE ROB FORD

“I can ‘t support bike lanes…Roads are built for buses, cars and trucks. Not for people on bikes. And my heart bleeds or them when I hear someone gets killed, but it’s their own fault at the end of the day.”
— March 2007, during a council debate.

“If you ‘re not doing needles and you ‘re not gay, you won ‘t get AIDS, probably”
— June 2006, during a council debate on public health grants for community-based AIDS prevention programs.

“Giving the mayor more power for this council is like giving criminals free guns. “
— December 2005, during a debate on a new structure for city government. The comment drew a chorus of demands, ultimately unsuccessful, that he withdrew
the remark.

“To me, if you are going to water plants, water all the plants. You just don ‘t pick and choose what plants you ‘ve got to water. “
— April 2004, as Ford alleged his plants weren’t being tended by staff. His poinsettia died. Ford called it “plant discrimination.” He later tried to scrap the watering service.

“You called me a fat (expletive). You did, you just did! Are you going to lie about that Barb, are you going to lie about that? You just said that.”
—June 24, 2004, after an interview with Globe and Mail columnist John Barber at city hall.

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Jon Liedtke was the Features and Opinions Editor, Advertising Manager and Deficit Consultant at the UWindsor Lance.