City
Are Rob Ford's views on immigration actually racist?
At Tuesday's CP24 mayoral debate Rob Ford made his latest controversial statement. "We can't even deal with the 2.5 million people in this city. It's more important that we take care of the people now before we start bringing in more," he remarked when the candidates were probed about their opinions regarding the recent Tamil migrants who arrived on Canada's west coast this last week.
His political opponents quickly pounced, though this is only the latest in a series of intolerant sounding remarks. Let us recall his comment that "Orientals work like dogs," or the misinformed notion that "If you are not doing needles and you are not gay, you wouldn't get AIDS probably, that's the bottom line"?
This is great material for candidates trying to score points against a candidate who might just be the frontrunner.
So is Ford a racist? It does sound like it sometimes. And who knows? He might be. But what about Tuesday's comments?
Ford's platform is based on the premise that this city is broken, in chaos, and incapable of taking care of itself as currently constituted. If you subscribe to this diagnosis, then you'd probably see any new people coming to this city as a problem.
A careful look at the transcript reveals that Ford never said anything specifically about Tamils. He said he opposed Toronto's Official Plan, which foresees the city growing by a million people in the next 10 years. His point, as I understand it, was that more people in general are the problem -- not specifically Tamils or foreign immigrants.
Questioning the wisdom behind these words is something that should (perhaps must) be done, but the statement itself is not, strictly speaking, racist.
I don't often agree with Ford, but he's right to claim that the framing of his comments as prejudicial is mostly "spin and political gamesmanship."
On Wednesday, in what seemed like something more out of reality TV than a serious political campaign, Rocco Rossi tried to confront Ford live on TV at City Hall about his statements. Ford fled the scene as Rossi began speaking, calling the encounter a "political game."
Rossi and Sarah Thomson even staged a joint "rally" on Wednesday to denounce Ford -- though it was more of a press conference scattered with their political supporters holding pro-immigration and anti-Ford signs.
"How many times are we going to let him show his intolerance and true prejudice?" Thomson asked.
Both candidates were careful with their words. They never directly called Ford a racist, but their speeches certainly suggested it.
On Wednesday George Smitherman said Ford "should hang his head in shame." And Joe Patalone said he wants him withdraw his statement.
Ford is anything but a smooth talking politician who always knows how to express himself in a crowd pleasing way. But it's silly to exaggerate his remarks and use them to say he's a racist -- at least not until there's a real smoking gun. I think this not only for honesty's sake, but because the publicity is only raising his profile.
Photos by the author.
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But how come nobody is taking on the utter stupidity of the statement?
Nobody can control where an immigrant decides to unpack his suitcase.
Is this statement racist? Not necessarily. It depends on what Ford's intentions were when he said it. Is he concerned about an increased population or that new groups of people who he feels would mooch off an already strained system?
Based off of his history, he probably didn't have the best intentions in mind when he uttered that statement, but are we able to tell other than just assuming?: No.
He was simply stating that Toronto's services are already stretched to their limit.
By the way, the 2.5 million Torontonians he spoke of...you know, the ones we need to TAKE CARE OF...include every race, sexual orientation, gender and religion under the sun...
This guy is interesting as a city councillor side-show, but as mayor he would be another embarrassing disaster.
Vote.
As for the debate comment, Toronto does have a hard enough time taking care of its own people and providing services for people to the point that the 905 is forced to pay into Toronto's social services program.
However, immigration is federal jurisdiction and thanks to the mobility rights in the Charter, not even the feds can tell people where to live.
I think this particular part of the Charter is problematic. For example, back in the early days of Confederation the government essentially bribed immigrants to live out West to help populate the country.
It would be cool to find a way to get around this part of the Charter and get new immigrants to settle in other parts of the country instead of just Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.
I also think such a scheme would probably have to go hand in hand with a revamped immigration system (and working with the provinces) that brings in qualified people and finds immediate work in their field away from the larger cities.
I also think it's very easy for the other candidates to jump on one guy to deflect attention from themselves. Instead of lamenting about Ford why not show us what you would do as Mayor with social services....take the higher ground. Don't settle for scoring cheap political points. Doing stuff like this only galvanizes Ford supporters and his campaign.
This man is a complete moron and anyone who thinks he has even half of what it takes to run this city is a moron as well.
That's what any Ford supporter should be asking themselves before they vote for him. If Ford wins, the Provincial and Federal governments are going to run as far away from him as they can, for fear of catching foot in mouth disease. And with them will go a lot of the city's funding. No matter how successful Ford is at cutting cost, he will NEVER be able to save enough to cover that short fall. So much for "FIXING" the city.
So can all you gullible Ford supporters please try voting with your brain, instead of with the jerk of your knee?
It's seldom heard that Toronto is over-populated because it's not. In fact, especially in the periphery (Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough), density is arguably too low to sustain. Toronto's Official Plan reflects this.
Just to compare hard municipal services for a 40-foot lot (typical suburban residential frontage) with a 20-foot lot (typical "downtown" lot) we need twice the water/sewage line, twice the paving, sidewalk, snow-clearing, twice the hydro lines - whatever...
Higher density neighbourhoods (and we've generally accepted this from brilliant observers like Jane Jacobs for more than 50 years) is helpful in sustaining public safety, community-cohesion, and general economics - including small business growth.
So to suggest that Toronto becomes a "refugee-free zone" - especially to curb population - is absurd or at least short-sighted. What's next? How about baby-limits? Commuter-limits? Tourist-limits? Or let's just arbitrarily banish a few people (Mr Ford would probably know how many)...
Frankly, it's not stuff I personally want to hear from the Mayor's Office.
If you accurately comment on a particular group's work ethic, you might be unfairly generalizing, but wouldn't necessarily be all that racist.
But the Tamil's aren't even one of those groups that come from an area with a different type of work ethic. In my experience, Tamil's have a great work ethic and make every opportunity to learn the language and contribute to society.
Ignorantly claiming that a group of hardworking individuals would be a burden on society so you can make a comment against immigration is just flat out racist.
Ford said that Toronto's house is not in order. That is correct. If 1 million newcomers arrive in Toronto and there are no meaningful jobs for them, then we have failed them. That means we need to build this city back up so when newcomers arrive, they have real job prospects in a city that's growing and prosperous.
The statement was racist. If you can't see past the fact that he didn't explicitly say "I hate members of ethnic minority X" then you have a simple mind.
That being said, the more IMPORTANT problem with the statement is its utter stupidity. I mean, so what if you think the city has too many people? What are you going to do, put up a "LOT FULL" sign at the city limits? How about we get a mayor who actually tries to plan for city growth rather than pretending that it's possible to stop it.
Ask a non-SouthAsian or non-black person, why don't you move to Brampton and most of the time you'll get an "are you crazy?!?!" look. Why is that?
...because Ford's sleazy competition brought it up in hopes of him saying something "controversial", and it worked!
This is a mountain out of a nonexistent molehill.
The point is, while answering questions at the mayoral debate someone asked directly for the panelists to comment on the role of refugees in the city. He was asked an honest question, and (whether you agree or disagree) he gave an honest answer. Whenever these two line quotes are used to disparage people in the media, context is always critical.
So yeah I'm going to go ahead and stick with my original assessment: his comments were pretty racist.
Just because the f'ing refugees they were talking about happen to be Tamil doesn't mean he's racist for saying Toronto's services are already stretched to the max.
"most of the refugees that Ford wants to ban from the city aren't white"
wtf are you talking about?
"s far as I know Ford has never said he wants to stop the tide of predominantly-white immigrants from Australia."
what ludicrous straw man bullsh*t this is.
People like you who shriek racism based on flimsy non-existent evidence like this really pis* me off
Ford speaks his mind and I respect him for that. I'm "oriental" and gay, but I'll still be voting for Mr. Ford.
See, I can pretend things are racist, too.
What do you mean, what am I talking about? Rob Ford has literally called for a "refugee freeze" and the vast majority of refugees in the world today are non-white. Meanwhile he has never expressed a desire to stop people from moving here from within Canada or from other first world countries.
The day Ford says he wants to stop some white dude from Brockville from moving to Toronto is the day I start taking his "we can't handle any more people" comments at face value. Until then, they are what they are: thinly veiled racism.
I am not a racist, I am a realist and am tired of being walked on and seeing people jumping the queue. It may be by boat, plane or just overstaying. Why should refugees get all the breaks that Canadian Citizens have to wait years to get re: subsidized housing. I think this boat load and the next and the next should all be sent back.
As we all know, Smitherman had a " substance " abuse problem. It's the " substance " that would be worrisome in his case. Which substance?
Most Torontonians over the age of 12 have tried pot. It's not that uncommon. But most Torontonians over the age of 12, have not tried a " substance. "
In the end, I imagine the majority will vote for a pot head rather than someone who plays around with " substances, " and never actually says anything concrete.
If anyone should step out of the race at this point, it should be Smitherman and Rossi.
Sarah Thompson is the only legit alternative to Rob Ford.
In fact she will make a great deputy Mayor.
Now he's racist because of something he didn't say.
Ford claims the Official Plan will bring in 1 million new people in 10 years - but the actual plan claims only 60k increase for the City of Toronto.
"But the document projects that Toronto’s population will be 2.855 million in 2011 and 2.915 million in 2021, an increase of only 60,000 people in 10 years."
-http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/toronto-mayoral-rivals-pounce-on-fords-comments/article1677364/
So he's fudging the numbers on that one.....
Just like he fudged the numbers on the Jarvis bike lane - he said it cost $6M but that's for EVERYTHING being done to the street...the bike lane cost about 85k.
This man lies and misrepresents and his supporters don't give a damn because all they want to see is CUT CUT CUT.
And he's probably racist, probably a homophobe, and doesn't have the mental capacity to run a city of 2.5 million (at least he got that right).
More and more stuff will come out and his campaign will eventually fold. BYe BYe Ford
Plus, even if he did become Mayor, council wouldn't let him do anything as he's pissed pretty much everybody off at one point or another.
That said, I think the way Ford comes off is pretty indicative of what it'd be like if he had more power. He's like the obligatory uncle/grandfather who means well but says it stupidly or just messes it up in general. He's a better candidate than Dalton McGuinty Junior (Smitherman), but he'd be my second last choice for mayor of the City.
Its a shame that the two front runners for Mayor are two of the worst choices.
Rob Ford gives fat people a bad name.
As a side note, how can anyone who is daft enough to say something such as, "If you are not doing needles and you are not gay, you wouldn't get AIDS probably, that's the bottom line" be taken seriously on any account?
The media is playing up this guys numbers, no way in hell this man will become mayor, he is a complete nut with no sense of reality. This race would be a complete snooze( already kind of is) if it didn't have Fords constant gaffes.
And lastly I really love when people try and pounce on immigrants. People really fail to see the hard work they put in to make this city work.They do the drudge work none of us don't want to touch... they live in the substandard housing none of us want to... they work the bad hours we choose not too. Yet people like to complain about how these people 'max' out the cites services when they benefit very little from them.
We do a disservice to all that ARE here by bringing more before we are ready...
I think more importantly, anyone who thinks that slowing the flow of immigrants into Toronto (if that were even possible) would solve the problem is either dim witted, has no understanding of the issues, or both. If Rob Ford's best answer to the stretch on social services is to close the gates of the city to immigrants then we have worse things coming. We should be looking for a mayor who can recommend proactive - not reactionary - measures to fix this 'broken city.'
Ford might not be a racist, but these remarks make it clear that he's a populistic mental midget. It mostly just amazes me how many people actually so quickly and readily agree. Those who keep saying that he's "realistic" clearly have a distorted view of reality. If you knew anything about our system of government, the nature of our economy, and our city's history you would know that it is anything BUT realistic.
So why should we vote for Ford? Because he "tells it like it is"? Please. This city needs someone who knows how to run it properly, not someone who's good at pointing out the faults of others.
Why should we vote for smitherman? Because if you don't, you're a second rate human.
Why should we vote for Rossi? Because sometimes a mayor needs to be someone with real ideas and not someone who fills the news with catchy sound bites.
Is ford a racist? Who cares.
What we know for sure is that 50% of the current population of Toronto are "immigrants." And many "immigrants" choose to become Canadian citizens. In 2006, more than 85% of "immigrants" were Canadian citizens. So once they become Canadian citizens, they are exempt from this prosecution? Probably not, if the colour of their skin isn't "white" or they speak with "accents", or both. This persisting stigma on "immigrants" is what Toronto reeks and that's what tarnishes Canada, sadly.
Turning our eyes on visible minorities, 47% of Toronto's population were visible minorities, according to 2006 census. And majority of them are Canadian citizens. Many of them are born in Canada even, so they are not immigrants even though they appear to be so.
Toronto declared as the city that respects and thrives upon diversity. City of Toronto's motto is "Diversity Our Strength." It is inevitable as a city that has absorbed waves of newcomers to have declared it. If you are to deny this, how far are we going to go back? all the way when "white people" came to this land?
Another fact. More than 90% of immigrants to Canada choose to iive in either Vancouver, Toronto, or Montreal. So, if one of those cities would deny receipt of immigrants, that's a major national and international issue. Does Rob Ford realize this, I wonder?
We all know that there are so many immigrants who worked hard to create jobs and pay taxes in this city. What is there to blame? And if you are to blame regugees under financial protection, are we to question the entire social security of our city including support for low-income population? Where does Rob Ford stand on this?
While immigration is a federal matter, it is also true that immigration is placing a strain on this City and hampering our ability to meet the needs of people who are already here. This is something that long-time residents (whether they be native born or immigrants) recognize ... and it's also something that most immigrants recognize after they've been here a few years.
Whether or not immigrants eventually contribute to the Canadian economy is not the issue. The issue is whether current funding models recognize the burden placed on Toronto from the high influx of new immigrants. Statistics show that new immigrants who move to the GTA tend to reside in the City of Toronto during the years when they require the maximum in social supports -- but then move to other parts of the GTA once they become more established and self sufficient. That places an unfair burden on City of Toronto rate payers ... and in fact the current Mayor has called attention to this issue frequently in the past. In other words, the current municipal funding model PENALIZES Toronto. Given their attacks on Ford, either the other candidates don't know this OR they are being dishonest.
Yes, we all know that Canada has benefitted greatly from immigration. But that doesn't mean that current rate of immigration is benefitting the average person given the high unemployment rate. Yes, business groups are always saying that we need to maintain high immigration rates or we will have a shortage of workers... but then these groups have a vested interest in making sure there is a constant supply of cheap and desperate labor. Also, their arguments are looking pretty ridiculous given how high the unemployment rate is.
Plus his previous comments are, no doubt, blunt and ignorant (I know of many asian slackers) but I don't think it was meant as purely as a racist comment.
Attempts at character assignation against Rob Ford is not keeping with the beliefs of Canadian Christians, Jews, Islam’s, Hindus, Buddhists, yet media continues down this road that they alone are morally correctly perfect which is one of the biggest lies throughout history.
These types of people with their own flawed personal prejudices have a character flaw themselves as they are not willing to forgive, forget and move on by accepting the reality in life that no one including themselves is a perfect human being.
Unfortunately these holier than thou types within society will take their hate and personal immorality to the grave as unwilling to accept the fact that as humans we are all equal and equally imperfect.
“Toronto One City, Your Vote, Our Future Together, Begins on October 25, 2010 with your support throughout the North York Community.”
A little at a time vaguely racist ideas or ideas that align with the agenda of racial bigots can enter into our politics, I think it might be better if he just said what he meant i.e. "Asians are taking over" and that bullshit could be dealt with directly, instead of pussy footing around with coded words.
For somebody to support this notion means they have something to gain from it or is a testament to the amazing accomplishment that they have been able to brainwash its citizens into serving them.
In addition to this, you may want to visit Triple” E” Immigration Services, a known for its expertise when it comes to immigration consulting. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, our company is acknowledged for its efficiency service in handling immigration concerns. Our team of competent and experienced Certified <a href="www.thecanadianimmigration.com/services">Canadian Immigration Consultants</a> (CCIC) is ready to answer any of your inquiries.
As for the comment regarding AIDS. Is that quote not true? How else does one contract AIDS? What do you expect to happen when you stick your penis up another man's bum? Even gay people know their sexual life is risky. The anus isn't even meant to be penetrated.
As for the comment regarding AIDS. Is that quote not true? How else does one contract AIDS? What do you expect to happen when you stick your penis up another man's bum? Even gay people know their sexual life is risky. The anus isn't even meant to be penetrated.
believe he is not fit to be Mayor for so many reasons to argue this
point looses the purpose of Mayor.
if you check his record -0 he has no idea how to spend the budgets
allocated to him. that is the most important criticism of him. if he
cannot spend his $30K allocation effectively for his constituents how
do you expect him to spen the billions under the direction of the
position of Mayor.
I think he should go back to little league football,or base ball or
whereever he thinks he can muster support for his perspectives.
if you vote for Mr Ford you are both wasting your vote , and
identifying with someone who is better suited for other jobs - any
other jobf.
Peace
Mitch Gold
go to nogeorgemayor.blogspot.com/
Smitherman scandals are political and have cost us BILLIONS, Ford scandals are personal and cost us NOTHING. anybody can run a city or anything for that matter when money is no object. Deliver results and efficiency.
Ford offering 2% efficiency at City hall makes perfect sense to me, We have to do allot more than that in the private sector and household to stay afloat, Its about time City Hall gets a taste of their own medicine.
No mayor can embarrass me, Voting Smitherman knowing his track record is embarrassing myself.
Send a message to city hall to smarten up VOTE FORD. T
No mayor can embarrass me, Voting Smitherman knowing his track record is embarrassing myself.
are these the choices? I heard rumour that there are others in the race. 35 if I am not mistaken?
spare us from the bliss of ignorance on all levels.
Peace
Mitch
It's hilarious!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn_Yhdav6ug