If ye ask and still don't receive, the obvious next step is to threaten and intimidate until you do. At least that's how it goes in Ford Nation. In an interview with Jerry Agar on Newstalk 1010 Wednesday morning, Mayor Rob Ford said that if Premier Dalton McGuinty does not give him his requested $150-million for road repair and transit projects, amongst other things, then, "I'll have no other choice but to call on Ford Nation, and make sure [the Liberals are] not reelected in the next election. But I do not want to do that." In the same interview, Ford confirmed the TCHC's board failure to resign. "They're basically just being defiant so I'll have to go down another path," said Ford, acknowledging "I can only ask, I can't force them."

Environmental sustainability to Vancouver's Olympic Games is diversity to Toronto's Pan Am Games. That's how organizers are centralizing their planning for the up-coming games, involving business, employees and subcontractors from under-represented groups. What does that exactly mean though in a city where seven out of ten people belong to one of the groups targeted by the committee? Well, nobody knows how to answer that exactly. But Ian Troop, CEO of the 2015 games, does say: "We see this as the right thing to do. If we can make these games a platform for social transformation, regarding how we look and engage with our diverse communities, we think that's a terrific social legacy."

This seems to be the trend amongst former Toronto mayoral candidates. First Rocco Rossi, now Sarah Thomson. According to sources, Thomson is guaranteed the Liberal nomination in Trinity Spadina for the upcoming provincial election, says the Star. Apparently the Conservatives met with Thomson as well but couldn't ensure her a seat without a fight. I guess it's fair to say she's tired of losing.

This week's EYE has an interesting discussion on our mayor, arguing that the Rob Ford we knew and loved to hate has all but disappeared since taking office. This Ford is quiet, and amongst other queries, the article asks why his regular rants (which had shades of Charlie Sheen about them) have disapeared.

IN BRIEF:

• Despite defiance TCHC will meet today
• Leafs beat Pens in OT
• Gas prices could go even higher this spring

Photo by Phil Babcock in the blogTO Flickr pool.