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| Rob Ford in an undated photo [Torstar News Service] |
The social media monster pummelled the pudgy politician more than usual and I was right along for the ride.
My own distaste for Ford aside, the man was, and continues to be bombarded by virulent and humorous deriders alike and he deserves ever bit of it.
The facts speak for themselves. Ford is a man who abused his power on numerous occasions and while none of his antics were particularly vile, they amount to an abuse of power all the same. From emptying TTC buses for the use of his Don Bosco Eagles football team to driving while reading and texting the mayor never apologised and regularly offered lack-lustre explanations for his actions.
Sorry Mr. Ford but being a "busy man" doesn't make it ok to endanger other drivers on the road.
But this is all besides the point. I don't need to outline what Rob Ford did do and what he ought to have done. Instead I'd like to use Ford's loss of office over a conflict of interest as a segue into a broader topic... Canadian mayors in general.
1991 was a bad year to be a communist if you lived in Russia and 2012 is a bad year if you are a Mayor of one of Canada's major cities.
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| Former Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt [JaquesNadeau - Le Devoir] |
Add John Madden...oh... sorry... Rob Ford to the mix and that's 4 Mayors of major Canadian metropolitans up to their armpits in guano.
The individual mayor's reactions to their respective situations differ as do the allegations against each one. In both cases of the French connection mayors chose to leave politics at the first sign of corruption allegations. While the two southern Ontarians have chosen to be defiant.
In fact Fontana has refused to step down following last weeks criminal charges. In response a London ON council committee on Monday passed a motion requesting that he resign until the charges are dealt with. In an ironic "lesson learned" moment Fontana declared a conflict of interest at Monday's council meeting abstaining from the vote. Ford famously chose not to do this on one infamous occasion which is precisely what led to his sacking.
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| Joe Fontana speaks to the press on November 22 regarding the charges levelled by the RCMP [The Canadian Press - David Chidley] |
All things considered there are a lot of people here in good ol' Upper Canada left scratching their heads and wondering just how we have allowed ourselves to get to this point.
Is it a problem with the system? Is it us? Are politicians inherently devious and shady? It's enough to make anyone put Montreal rocker Sam Robert's track "Where have all the good people gone?" on repeat.
Fear not fellow citizens, I bring good news though its always hard to see it at times like these.
Remember when Paul Martin's government fell to the Harper Conservatives over the sponsorship scandal? The conservatives nattered on and on about accountability and the masses ate it up. The liberals had been naughty and the conservatives pledged to bring honesty back to Ottawa.
Odd that no one mentioned that the whole reason we had a sponsorship scandal was because in the spirit of accountability and transparency the Liberals blew the whistle on themselves and took themselves to task.
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| Former Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay [Robert Skinner - La Presse] |
Well guess what folks where there is smoke, you can always find the fire. Then, as now, the fact that the actions of these politicians are being exposed, and at least in the cases of Ford and Fontana, the courts have been invoked proves that accountability is alive and well!
Let's not be naive, corruption, manipulation, and conflicting interests are always going to be a clear and present political danger. That is good news because it forces us to be vigilant, and vigilant we have been.
4 mayors are being forced to confront their egregious selfish actions and the constituents that they have taken advantage of.
Yes it was a long time coming, but a pot needs time to boil. And when the pot boils the scum will rise!
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