XPost: can.politics, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, soc.retirement
XPost: can.general, can.politics
From: Dizum_Users_R_Forging_Cowards@Dizum.com
On Mon, 14 Apr 2014 11:38:23 +0000 (UTC), Jim Dietrich
wrote:
>So who, after the past year, will vote for him?
>
>"He got elected on what Bob Dylan called an idiot wind. In
>every culture you're going to have an element of the idiot
>vote, and he's the candidate of the idiot party."
>
>Toronto's Rob Ford to face John Tory and Olivia Chow
>By Daniel Nasaw BBC News, Toronto
>Rob Ford, shown at City Hall on 19 March 2014 Just weeks into
>the race, Ford maintains what appears to be a solid base of
>support
>
>After a year of drunken antics, admissions of drug use, and
>crippling disputes with the city council, polls suggest Toronto
>Mayor Rob Ford could still win re-election in October. How do
>his challengers make their pitch to the city's typically staid
>voters?
>
>As regular as the frigid spring rain falling on Canada's
>largest city earlier this month, Mr Ford stood before a pack of
>baying reporters and waved off the latest allegations of public
>misbehaviour.
>
>The mayor had been denied entry to a luxury box at a Toronto
>Maple Leafs hockey game at the weekend, and the reporters
>pressed him whether he was intoxicated.
>
>"No, I wasn't. Not at all," the mayor said, declining to answer
>whether he was still using drugs at all.
>
>It was the latest episode in what his detractors describe as
>the circus sideshow at city hall in this sprawling, diverse
>city of 2.6 million people.
>A street corner in central Toronto Toronto is one of the most
>diverse cities in the world - with some of the worst traffic in
>North America
>
>Over the past year, Toronto and the world have seen Mr Ford
>turn the air blue in drunken rants, admit to using crack
>cocaine and to buying illegal drugs while mayor, and fend off
>allegations he associates with criminals. The city council has
>stripped him of most of his power and most of his staff have
>quit, rendering him effectively mayor in name only.
>
>In October, the voters will have their say.
>Continue reading the main story
>A candidate's Code of Conduct
>
>Excerpts from John Tory's 10-point pledge:
>
> "I will respect the law"
> "I will show up for work each day"
> "I will not compile an enemies list"
> "I will always treat city staff with respect"
> "Not one public penny will be used on personal matters"
>
>Source: John Tory campaign
>
>The race has just started but despite it all, early polling
>shows Mr Ford in strong contention against Olivia Chow, a left-
>wing member of the New Democratic Party (NDP) and John Tory, a
>centre-right Conservative, with about 30% of the vote.
>
>Analysts say Mr Ford has a loyal base of support in the inner
>suburbs, which were absorbed into the municipality of Toronto
>in 1998. Younger, less-educated, and poorer Torontonians in
>particular back him, according to a recent survey of 634 voters
>by Forum Research.
>
>"They're people who feel that they're talked down to by
>politicians," said Nelson Wiseman, a political scientist at the
>University of Toronto. "They can identify with Ford because
>there's little pretence about the guy."
>
>Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff said Mr Ford stacked up
>accomplishments before he became bogged down in disputes with
>the city council and later the drugs and alcohol woes. In
>particular, he privatised rubbish collection in a large swathe
>of the city and repealed a despised vehicle tax.
>Olivia Chow canvasses voters (3 April 2014) Chow (centre)
>campaigning at an Iranian-owned hair salon - she was a long
>time city councillor and MP
>
>"If the issue's about his accomplishments, he does well," Mr
>Bozinoff said. "That's what's been keeping him afloat."
>
>Neither of Mr Ford's two major challengers are shy about
>alluding to his behaviour.
>
>Mr Tory is a broadcaster, former CEO of Rogers Media,
>commissioner of the Canadian Football League, member of the
>provincial parliament, and leader of the Ontario Progressive
>Conservatives. He has released a "Code of Conduct", in which he
>vows to "respect and defend our laws, not break them", and to
>"show up for work each day".
>
>"We need change in the city," he told the BBC in an interview
>over a half-pint of beer in a crowded bar before the start of a
>Toronto Blue Jays baseball game.
>
>"If we want to have a liveable, affordable, functional city,
>then we need a change in leadership, because we're just not
>getting things done under the present leadership."
>
>He said the "sideshow" made it difficult for the municipal
>government to focus on easing congestion on the city's
>notoriously jammed roads, to keep taxes low, and to slash
>spending.
>
>"The city needs to have somebody who will mind the pennies but
>at the same time will be able to work with others, because our
>system requires you to do that to get results," he said.
>Prof Nelson Wiseman of the University of Toronto (3 April 2014)
>Wiseman says Ford will be hard-pressed to expand his support
>beyond his loyal base
>
>Ms Chow, a long-time Toronto councillor and NDP MP, immigrated
>to Canada from Hong Kong at age 13. Her late husband, Jack
>Layton, led the NDP from 2003 until his death in 2011. She says
>her story will appeal to Toronto's extraordinarily diverse
>population - 46% of Toronto metropolitan area residents were
>foreign-born in 2011, according to Statistics Canada.
>
>"I want to bring pride back to the city, respect and a sense of
>hope, because we have a great city," Ms Chow told the BBC in an
>interview in her campaign office in Toronto's Deer Park
>neighbourhood.
>
>"Toronto is really diverse, we are strong. We have people
>coming from all over the world enjoying the city and living
>here quite harmoniously.
>
>"Under Mr Ford, our city hasn't really moved forward. We're
>stuck. We're mired in scandal. I've seen other mayors -
>Vancouver, Calgary - out there selling their cities, talking
>about economic development, encouraging investment. We're not
>doing that, not only because of the scandals, but because Mr
>Ford's performance as a mayor is a failure."
>
>Mr Ford's campaign declined repeated requests for an interview
>with the mayor, with his brother and campaign manager
>Councillor Doug Ford, or any representative of the campaign.
>
>Meanwhile, on the streets of Toronto, the incumbent seemed to
>offer something for everyone to fault, even among people who
>said they supported his politics.
>
>"I don't think he's doing a very good job," said a woman who
>gave her name as Maureen. "As for his personal record, that's
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