He’s baaaaaaaaaack.
What’s that? You thought that Rob Ford’s tacit admission that he has no idea what his job entails, or the fact that he quite clearly violated conflict of interest laws and used ignorance as an excuse, would be enough to have him ousted from office? Well the answer is no. He’s still our mayor. And no matter how you frame it, that’s not good for us.
In the decision, which was released Friday morning, a panel of three judges write that Hackland was wrong: “we conclude that the application judge erred in finding that Mr. Ford contravened the MCIA [Municipal Conflict of Interest Act],” says the judgement.
The judgement found that council didn’t have the authority to make Ford pay back the $3,150 that he has supposedly solicited with the aid of city resources, and which was the topic of debate during the February 2012 meeting. Instead, the judges wrote, council could have considered ”reprimand or a suspension of remuneration.”
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No matter how you try to frame this — whether you actually like him, or think his ousting would have rallied his support base, or if you just think the guy is good joke fodder. — this isn’t good for Toronto’s image.
Let’s examine the facts, shall we? Already, Gawker’s devoted a post to the dumbest things he’s ever said. The guy’s an internet punchline to the point where he has his own (NSFW) Encyclopedia Dramatica page. Right now, the internet thinks that we’re being lead by their vaguely-bigoted drunk uncle who thinks everything is the government’s fault, but has no idea how to actually fix it. It’s like we elected a Bobby Moynihan character, except it’s real.
And even worse, now we look like a bunch of spineless jag-offs because we let it slide out of convenience. Thankfully, next week will see an audit of his campaign finances, so I’m sure that’ll be enchanting to watch, but fact of the matter is, we’re enabling him by letting him do a job he has no understanding of, and it’s tarnishing Toronto’s global image.
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