Mammoliti on Atwood and the democratic process

It's probably not a great idea to get too caught up in what Giorgio Mammoliti says, but once in a while it sure is entertaining to pause and consider his soundbites. Well, maybe consider is too strong a word — but whatever.

Recent favourites come in the form of the Ward 7 councillor's comments regarding Toronto libraries, Margaret Atwood and today's executive committee meeting, for which over 300 speakers have signed up to depute. On Atwood's defence of keeping Toronto libraries open, Mammoliti used his business sense to disclose the author's ulterior motives. "If I made all the money she made from our library system I would want to defend it as well," he told reporter's yesterday. But, of course — it must be all about the dollars for Peggy.

Perhaps more problematic than this late-to-the-debate comment regarding the library, however, is the disdain the councillor shows for the democratic process at today's executive committee meeting. "It's always the same people [at these meetings], it's people that have a clear interest in terms of how they've done business at the city, and I've seen very few new faces at committee," he said, again echoing Doug Ford, who earlier theorized that the speakers list at today's meeting is stacked with union representatives.

Oh well. I suppose the best thing to do with Giorgio is to assume that the reason he believes others are solely motivated by self-interest is because that accurately describes his own disposition. And once one factors that into his comments, it's possible to see them for what they really are: half-baked attempts to take the attention off the Ford Brothers and the more serious matters at hand — namely the wide-ranging cuts under discussion today at City Hall.