Hey Gawker -- WTF -- Where's Your Drug Dealer Source?

Tabloid trash-talking website Gawker.com claimed they saw a video of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking a crack pipe, and the mainstream anti-Ford newspaper The Toronto Star ran with the story a week ago today.

The problem with using drug dealers as sources, is sometimes they make sh*t up.

Okay, that's a bit extreme. Even drug dealers are honest, hard working contributing members of society, right?

Yeah, right.

So it should be no surprise that the scoundrels at Gawker.com haven't been able to reach the drug lords that showed them the blurry, poorly shot iPhone video -- but wouldn't let them make a copy, or verify it's source.

The Toronto Star has been unable to reach the video's owners to verify its authenticity as well.

All of this hits as all things come to their inevitable end. Today, Toronto City Council's executive committee is sending a letter to their boss -- Mayor Rob Ford -- asking him to address the issue publicly. There are also rumours that the city's executive committee is asking for the Mayor to step down, and let the deputy mayor and the executive committee run the city until all the pressure from the media blows over.

And, Gawker.com itself is about set to reach it's drug-money-funding goal on crowdfunding website Indiegogo, to pay off the owners of the video behind this enormous scandal to rock Toronto, Canada.

Oh wait -- exactly who are they paying off again? Their "sources" have fled, just as they are about to make it rich.

Maybe money can't really buy happiness after all?

Or maybe the video was faked, by a couple of slimy druggies that thought they could bribe some gullible wanna-be American journalists with a poorly shot mobile phone video about some politician in another country.

Seems odd that legitimate sources would suddenly disappear, regardless of their chosen occupation. Especially sources about to hit the money load -- literally -- and be paid for their info.

Maybe they had a change of heart, and decided to come clean, and instead of using any profits from the video to further their drug trade, they'd donate it to a worthy cause, like the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health?

What are you, high?

The real damage ultimately is to the citizens of Canada, the residents of Toronto, and the business of running Canada's largest city.

Once again, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's lack of tact has put more than his left-foot in his mouth, and caused all the above to be made the fool on the world stage.

All because some slimy druggies that wanted to make more money.

And because technology allows anyone these days to claim to be a journalist -- even if they don't have what it takes to really do the job.

Like common sense for one.

Dealing with drug dealers as sources that ask for money up front?

Come on now Gawker.com -- is that how the game is played in your f*cked up world?

Why Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Needs to Resign

Unless you've been living under a rock on a secluded island in the middle of nowhere, chances are you've heard about some crazy Canadian big city mayor caught on video smoking crack cocaine.

Late night comedians Jimmy Kimmel and John Stewart both poked fun at recently on their late night talk shows. 

Major global news outlets, including CNN and the BBC have covered the story internationally.

Yet the only one speaking publicly about this is the media -- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, as of this writing, STILL has intentionally evaded the press, simply saying quickly when the story first broke that allegations of him smoking crack cocaine are "ridiculous" and simply untrue.

So, what is the story?

For those hiding under rocks on secluded islands, an American tabloid website called Gawker claimed to have been shown a video showing Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine. Later that day, one of Canada's largest newspapers, The Toronto Star, claimed that two of it's reporters had also seen the video footage, and ran with the story.

Neither Gawker nor The Toronto Star have validated the video, because the shady characters that have the video want a million dollars for it's release.

Since The Toronto Star -- a newspaper that has had a long standing war with Rob Ford before he became mayor of Canada's largest city -- broke the story, the media has been on a feeding frenzy, trying to get the mayor to address the issue.

Gawker did what many tabloid organizations do -- try to build buzz using social media's crowdfunding. They created an Indiegogo campaign, to raise funds through donations to secure the video footage, from what the accused brother, fellow Toronto city councillor Doug Ford, calls "drug dealers."

Regardless of whether the video is legit, or simply a sham falsified by people that just want to make a dishonest buck, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford needs to step aside by resigning his post as Mayor for the good of the city and the country.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has been embroiled in many wild and weird issues since taking over as Mayor of Canada's largest city.

From failing to acknowledge gay rights by being the first Toronto politician to not attend the annual city's annual Pride Parade (all local politicians usually attend the annual event), to almost making history by becoming the first Canadian mayor to be forced out of the job by court order over a conflict of interest charge (which he won, so he didn't lose his job).

Sometimes, sadly, Mayor Rob Ford attempts to do the right thing, but it ends up exploding in his face. Like the time he and his brother Doug held a weight loss challenge for themselves, to get Torontonians interested in fitness and health. Every week both would publicly weigh themselves, showing how much they had lost. As the pounds crept back on, they quickly and quietly stopped showing up for the weekly weigh-ins and the media had another field day trashing the mayor and his family, despite their good intentions.

The latest scandal to rock the municipal offices of the third largest city in North America, and the largest city in Canada, has disemboweled the office of Toronto's Mayor, Toronto City Council, the city, and even the country.

When you have late night talk show hosts poking fun at the mayor of Canada's largest city, it makes all Canadians look bad.

And it isn't just American talk shows which are shaping the minds of potential tourists to our great country -- the sordid story of Rob Ford and his legacy thus far have been trending on social networks worldwide, and told on legitimate news outfits from the BBC to NPR and beyond.

That's why, regardless of whether the allegations of alleged drug use are true or false, Rob Ford and his brother do the right thing, and resign for the good of the city and the country.

It's time to clean house, and have a new mayor in power in Toronto. Because the world has lost faith in Toronto, and to a degree in Canadian politics, and the only thing that will restore that faith is a change of the guard.

Toronto Wanna-Be Mayor Cries Wolf

Last week, International Women’s Day was tarnished by the brash sexually abuse accusations fired at a big city mayor by a woman he defeated in the last election campaign.

Sarah Thomson, claimed that Canada’s largest city mayor,Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, made lewd sexual slurs while grabbing her butt at a political function.

Thomson, who ran against Toronto’s Mayor and lost, didn’t follow the usual course of action by a victim of sexual assault and report it to police. Instead, she blasted Mayor Rob Ford publicly on social media, posting a picture of her smiling, alongside the accused on Facebook.

Mayor Ford denied Thomson’s whole story, claiming none of this happened, and that she was crying wolf.

Numerous people at the event, even those not traditionally supporting the controversial Toronto mayor have spoke out against Thomson, claiming they clearly saw that none of what she was claiming happened.

A handful of local politicians are even coming forward, saying they overheard Thomson talking about intentionally setting up Mayor Rob Ford, to further her own political aspirations.

Thomson claims if anything, publicly talking about this would hurt her political career, as she’ll be known as the “ass grab” politician.

Sarah Thomson – formerly Sarah Whatmough – unsuccessfully ran for a municipal council seat in her native city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1997. She then launched a monthly newspaper called the Hamilton Examiner in 1998, which shortly ceased publication. Since then, she moved to Toronto, ran unsuccessfully against Rob Ford, and failed again in politics, when she ran locally for the Provincial Liberal Party in 2011.

Her bold and potentially criminal charges – despite her lack of filing a police report – was the first time in a long time the 45-year-old Thomson had been in the public eye, with just about every news organization in the city clamouring for an interview.

Allegations of sexual abuse are traditionally he said, she said debates, hammered out in a court of law. And make no mistake, sexual assault is one of the most distasteful and disruptive of crimes one person can commit against another. 

Victims of sex abuse often endure years of therapy, as they overcome the horrible events of their past. Some never fully recover.

However, Thomson is acting more like a person with a mission, than victim, as of this writing, she still hasn’t filed a police report, laid criminal charges, or sought any of the traditional sources for assistance and recovery from sexual abuse which one would normally take in such matters.

All Sarah Thomson has done, is as Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has said, is cry wolf.

If what Thomson is claiming is true, than the mayor of Canada’s largest city should be held fully accountable for his actions.

If on the other hand, Thomson is just crying wolf to rally for her personal gain, not only should she be held fully accountable for her actions – which she will because no one will believe or trust her ever again – but she should also meet with and learn from actual victims of sexual abuse.

Because those who’ve been harmed sexually often have the longest road of recovery. And perhaps, if she learns from those who’ve got more than a Facebook page with unsupported allegations to cry wolf from, she’ll realize just how devastating sexual assault is on those who’ve actually been assaulted in this manner.

And that will make her – slightly – a better person, even if she just cried wolf.

Peace, Order and Good Governance? Not in Toronto

If you live in Canada’s largest city, today you are either breathing a sigh of relief or cursing at the fiasco of local government.

Since Rob Ford became Toronto’s mayor in Dec. 2010, the feisty outspoken – and edgy – Ford had caused uproar, controversy and today came close to being the first Canadian mayor to be fired by a court of law.

Lucky for Mayor Ford the court ruled in his favour, and he remains mayor of Canada’s largest city.

But through it all, the primary role of his office – of all elected municipal politicians at the City of Toronto – is to provide good governance of the city.

Good governance is a sacred right in Canada. It says so in the Canadian Constitution dating back to 1867, that we have a right to: “peace, order and good government.”

City of Toronto Councillor Joe Mihevc said himself on a local news channel that Torontonians haven’t been getting good government quite a while, and that they are frustrated because of it.

Damn right we are!

The whole notion of paying for a service which you don’t get is enough to make anyone’s blood boil. That this service is also a guaranteed right under the highest law in the land – the Canadian Constitution – makes it all the more serious of an offence to us all –or it should.

Because when politicians start to ignore the founding laws of the nation in which they serve, they tarnish the very fabric which makes that nation whole.

That’s why Toronto owes you money.

The City of Toronto should refund Toronto residents for their lack of governance.

I want a refund for the Mickey Mouse antics I’ve witnessed by our local politicians. And you should too.

It’s embarrassing to watch Canada’s largest city, with some of the most experienced veteran municipal politicians, failing to act professionally in their management of our city.

And management of our city, of our province and of our country is a fundamental law, ironed into the very weave which made Canada a country.

We have peace.

We have order.

We just don’t have good governance.

That needs to change.

The Politics of Democracy

You’d think political influences in a democratic society would be – well – democratic, right? 

Not if you’re a citizen in Canada’s largest city, where democracy rests in the hands of the well-to-do.

Just before the Christmas holiday season, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was brought to court, under a conflict of interest charge. He lost. Not only did he lose the case, he lost his job. The court ruled that the Mayor had shown so much disregard for the laws governing governance, he didn't belong in the mayor’s chair.

Sounds like a fair, legal ruling – logical down to the core.

Though the people responsible for bringing down Canada’s largest mayor weren't those who elected him into power – or at least not the majority of ‘em.

One man, wealthy enough to hire one of the best criminal lawyer in the country, brought the charges to light against Mayor Rob Ford.

You can smell the stink of political poop buried within – why would a criminal lawyer be tasked with a non-criminal case? Yes, the Mayor disobeyed the rules of conduct for his job – but that’s not a felony. It’s no different than you or I being late for work – one doesn't get a criminal record for that!

When you can afford the best lawyer in the game, you win – just look at murderer-or-not O.J. Simpson’s dirty gloves.

Clearly, this case brought against the mayor of Toronto was a politically motivated act, by someone that had it in for the person, not for what he did.

Rob Ford, a veteran politician, should have known better than to vote on a matter in council where he was in direct conflict. However, he shouldn't be forced out of office because one wealthy individual doesn't agree with his politics, his attitude, or his very being.

Yesterday, three judges heard both sides to the sordid tale, as Mayor Rob Ford appealed the ruling which threw him out of office.

He’s still the mayor during the proceedings which continue today, and as of this writing says he’ll run in a re-election if council votes to have one if his appeal fails. Council can vote for a by-election, or simply appoint someone, however a vote has yet to be tendered on which direction to take.

Either way, the politics of democracy isn't very democratic in Canada’s largest city. One well-to-do person shouldn't have the power to remove a person elected to lead by the majority of the citizens.

Yet in our so-called democratic society, money seems to buy one the power to control that democracy – and that certainly isn't democratic.

Regardless of whether you agree with a politician’s policies, performance or person, if that person has been elected into power, you alone shouldn't be the one to take away that power.

Because in a society where one can arbitrarily determine the fate of who ultimately makes decisions for the whole, that democracy ceases to exist.

Judge Fires Canadian Big City Mayor to Bully the Bully

Yesterday, a Canadian judge made international headlines when he fired the mayor of Canada’s largest city on a technicality.

Rob Ford, the now out-going Mayor of Toronto, was told he had 14-days to vacate his seat on council, giving up his leadership post as Mayor, because he violated a provincial conflict of interest law. The judge is said to have gone easy on Ford, because he could have also banned him for running for council – and in effect for mayor again -- for seven years.

There is no doubt that Toronto’s controversial mayor was in a direct conflict of interest. He voted ‘no’ during a council vote on whether or not he should pay back money to residents and businesses he had solicited to support the high school football team he coaches. He should have abstained from that vote, because it directly involved him – that’s the technicality which cost Rob Ford his job.

Whether or not he solicited donations to his high school football team inappropriately or not wasn't the issue which the judge ruled on yesterday. However, it’s been argued in Toronto council that the mayor used city letterhead in his dealings with donors.

So now, Rob Ford has two weeks to transition the power of governance of Canada’s largest city to – oh wait – who?

It’s up to Toronto council how they proceed, and this is where it becomes clear that the judgement against Rob Ford -- the first of its kind ever in Canada, and possibly in North America – was more political than practical.

By firing Toronto’s mayor, the judge opened up the barn doors to the political back-stabbing within the city’s council chambers. It’s no secret that many city councillors despised Rob Ford’s policies – some may question whether or not that hatred even became personal too.

Although every member of council is an elected representative of their local community on council, none of them were individually elected by the people of Toronto to be mayor.

And that’s the real issue left in the wake of this landmark decision – and worse – it shows how even our democracy has become infected by bullies.

For the brief two-years of Rob Ford’s leadership, he has constantly bullied council, businesses, and residents into following him – or else.

When the city’s public transit commission appeared to favour a different transit plan than his, Rob Ford fired the general manager of the Toronto Transit Commission – a post he had successfully filled for over two decades.

When there was public outcry against service cuts and user fees, the Mayor showed his lack of concern for the people directly affected. He held an unprecedented 24-hour public hearing, where anyone could come address him personally, making their views known. Problem was, people were rushed through their two-minutes to speak, and Mayor Rob Ford clearly wasn't paying much attention, often looking like he was about to nod off during the whole fiasco.

Bullies seldom care what others think – they just do.

When his advisers – hell even his opponents – advised him it was a conflict of interest to raise funds for his high school football team in the manner he was doing, he ignored them and continued on.

Then, when a well-to-do citizen had enough, he hired one of the most prominent lawyers in the country – Clayton Ruby – to file charges of conflict of interest against the mayor.

If there is anything a bully can’t stand, is another bully cutting in on his turf.

So instead of admitting he made a mistake, he defended his decisions, claiming he didn't know all the rules of conflict of interest – which incidentally are printed and distributed every year to all members of council – and the race to remove Canada’s biggest city’s mayor began.

It was a quiet race, rarely covered in the press, until judgement day yesterday. That was when one bully succeeded over the other. In true blood sport style, they got Rob Ford in their clutches, and crushed his proverbial political neck, leaving a twisted mess of destruction for the remaining city councillors to clean up.

It was like watching one of those dinosaur shows on Discovery Channel, where the giant T-Rex is swarmed and killed by a group of savage Raptors.

Only in this case, Toronto’s city council is breathing a slight sigh of relief, as now they don’t have Rob Ford in all his pig-headed arrogance to bully them into following his leadership.

However, it remains to be seen who will take the reins of Toronto council, and lead the city going forward.

And worse, a bullied environment creates a culture where being bullied is the norm. So the next leader of Canada’s largest city may follow in their predecessors footsteps, and be just as stubborn and arrogant as before.

Canada’s Largest City Mayor – In More Ways than You Think

Ah Rob Ford, you really do what you say – which is a wonderful rarity from politicians these days. 

For those outside the Greater Toronto Area, Rob Ford is Toronto’s mayor. And he really acts on what he says.

But from his actions, sometimes I wonder if he doesn’t always think first, before speaking or acting?

A once-great Canadian newspaper – The Toronto Star – has picked a battle with Ford, stalking him to the extent that the mayor has not only refused to talk to that paper’s reporters, but said recently that if any Toronto Star reporters are present during a press event, he’ll stop talking at that press event.

The Toronto Star used to be one of Canada’s great papers, until they started acting more like a British rag – maybe that’s due in part to some new editors over at their offices with British Tabloid blood in their veins?

The Toronto Star recently sent a young reporter to spy around Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s home, at night, in the dark, with just the camera on his phone. The mayor wasn’t called ahead of time, asked or even told that this would be done.

As the story goes, when Rob Ford heard someone was prowling around his family homestead, he went on the rampage, chasing after this young reporter.

Naturally, the headlines the next day were all about Mayor Ford, chasing a reporter off his property.

What the Toronto Star did was wrong and the mayor was the victim of a horrible form of harassment, unbefitting a so-called “professional” news publication.

However, what the mayor did was also wrong.

By chasing after the reporter, Mayor Rob Ford continued to feed the tabloid junk the Toronto Star – and the rest of the media that day – was to report on.

By acting without thinking, the mayor created a story which put him in the negative, despite the fact that he could have turned it around and made it quite positive.

Had the mayor slowly approached the sneaky reporter, offered him a chance to come into his home and talk as two reasonable adults, then the headlines wouldn’t scream in the morning about him chasing another person.

Mayor Rob Ford feeds the media by failing to act in his best interests all the time. Toronto’s mayor and his brother Doug Ford, aren’t slim. During the election campaign which got them elected, a person claiming to be a doctor stood up during one of the televised debates, and said to Rob Ford that he looked like a heart attack waiting to happen.

 

Mayor Rob Ford and his political partner now a fellow councilor Doug Ford, announced in the spring the “Cut the Waist Challenge” where the two of them would go on a diet to lose weight. Mayor Ford’s goal is to lose 50 pounds by June – next month.

Public Relations Fiasco or Good Politics?

From a public relations perspective this is a great thing – it shows a human side to Toronto’s mayor, and encourages people of all sizes to be healthy.

And when the first of the weekly weigh-ins started, the mayor and his brother had dropped a few pounds – way to go!

But lately, the mayor’s been gaining weight – he was up four pounds at his last weigh-in -- he’s cancelled previous weigh-ins, and recently announced the once weekly media events would take place every other week.

He’s avoiding the media, which again feeds the gossip and rumor machine, instead of managing it.

Health experts tell us it’s normal for people on diets to yo-yo up and down in weight. What the mayor and his brother should do, is admit their struggles during these weigh-ins, instead of running and hiding. 

Canada’s largest city has had a number of interesting characters run it. Mel Lastman was a great mayor, which was also outspoken and drew the attention of the media wherever he went.

 

Lastman occasionally got into hot water by acting without thinking too. But Lastman had a great media machine around him, and he eventually learned how to use the media to get what he wanted.

I remember, many eons ago, when I was a reporter covering city hall, and then-mayor of Toronto, Mel Lastman actually broke down and cried when a subway expansion he had promised during his last election campaign was defeated.

After pictures of the mayor sobbing, head down on his desk hit the streets in newspapers and on TV, an emergency session of council was announced and then after the meeting the subway expansion was back on the table, and construction would begin in the fall.

The councillors looked bad, by making the mayor cry. Whether or not those tears were real or forced for the cameras we’ll never know. But the then-mayor’s tears worked, and that subway is up and running today.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford should take a page out of Mel Lastman’s playbook, and learn how to use the media, rather than feed the media.

‘Cause anyone that feeds the media is made to look the fool – because they aren’t thinking before they speak.