City
Judge rules Rob Ford can run in a byelection
The Superior Court judge that ousted Rob Ford from office has ruled the mayor is able stand in a byelection before 2014 if his appeal is rejected in the new year. Justice Charles Hackland ordered the mayor removed from office at the end of a court case that Ford found spoke and voted on an item at council in which he had a financial interest.
This morning, Hackland decided to delete a portion of the ruling that suggested Ford would be blocked from running for office or being appointed mayor by council before the end of the current council term in two years.
The advice goes against what city solicitor Anna Kinastowski and her legal team told council on Tuesday based on the original wording of the document. Ford and his inner circle believed the ruling left the door open for a new election campaign should a panel of three judges decide to reject an appeal in January.
Alan Lenczner, Ford's lawyer, will request a stay next week that would keep the mayor in office until his formal appeal can be heard. In the unlikely chance he's unsuccessful, Ford will have just over a week left in office before being removed, perhaps temporarily.
It was rumoured earlier this week that Doug Ford might take a crack at the top job if his brother was prevented from doing so. It's not clear yet whether any of the other rumored contenders, councillors Karen Stintz and Adam Vaughan among them, will decide to step back.
UPDATE: 12:30
Looks like a group of Ford supporters are starting to organize a campaign. A video entitled "Respect Democracy" that began circulating online last night urges viewers to sign a petition to get the mayor reinstated and calls into question the fairness of the judge's decision, describing the origins of the court case as "politically motivated."
It's not clear who's behind the site at this stage, the company that registered the domain tells me the owner has opted to hide their details, but it doesn't seem to carry any official endorsements from the mayor or his team.
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.
Photo: "Rob Ford" by Oliver Plante in the blogTO Flickr pool.
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Ford running in the byelection can go both ways. His undying fans will vote for him and he may have just won some sympathy votes from people who thought the 'punishment' was too harsh. Then again, he may have lost a lot of his supporters who regret having voted him into office and doesn't like what they've seen in the last 2 years.
This is pretty much the theme I get from people who voted for Ford last time with the best of intentions. These people wanted to see spending and taxes lowered, but not at the cost of the shitshow we've had to watch.
As long as there is no effective opposition speaking to the moderate vote, they are unstoppable.
vote his ass out, whether its now or in 2014. lets end this shower of shit.
Why would he change his mind after a verdict without anybody going back to court? The justice system is a kangaroo court, nothing more.
Say no to Ford in 2014
"Booted from the Mayor's position, stop the gravy on any act of contrition!"
On the other hand, the weekly blunders that made Ford and Toronto the laughingstock of North America would be a lot harder to recall in 2014 whereas they are fresh in the mind now.
Chow would have been well prepped to run in 2014 - I don't see her running in an immediate byelection with no prep work.
So who will actually run in this thing? Ford is certain to lose, but it's unclear to me who will win.
Remember, this is a judge appointed by Harper.
Awesome legal system we've got here in Toronto.
It's oh so simple to you isn't it?
Either you were wrong and you get punished,or you weren't.
Why is the City being punished with the possibility of having to pay for a by-election so that a man just removed from office can run again right away?
I can understand people's attachment to an idea of Ford as a small-town/suburban man of the people, but don't you think that the whole city...a city that is facing bigger problems than many countries...need someone who is pragmatic and level-headed and doesn't court controversy with literally everything he does?
Ps. - if I got fired for violating a code of conduct - agreed to when I signed my contract - I would be fired and not likely able to get another job with said company. I'd hope politicians are held to a higher standard than most when it comes to law and integrity… it's kinda part of their job.
He'd do more, but those darn lefties are holding him back. He'd be King of the Universe by now if it weren't for those lefties! It's true, I heard Don Cherry say it!
world newspaper coverage (and blog comments) of this 'thing':
http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21567383-city-and-its-government-are-stuck-gridlock-model-t-ford-breaks-down
...and BBC ...and NYT.
illegally using Toronto letter head to get money for his (his) football charity is a step backwards. his stubbornness is a sign that he is not fit to run a city. his disgusting appearance is a sign that he can't even take care of himself.
he has even said that he didn't read that rules of being mayor.
he is internationally embarrassing. the fact that he is on international news should show people that he isn't fit for mayor of this city. who's the mayor of portland? seattle? tokyo? sydney? i don't know, but i bet the citizens of those cities know who our mayor is.
the funniest part is that he is all for breaking up the super toronto, removing the 905 from the 416 (the way it should be). if that happened, he would never get voting in.
i guarantee that he will not be reelected and if the people were smart, they'd get his brother, the puppet master, out asap.
as least Mel had a personality.
vote for anyone but Ford. save yourself, and your fellow Torontonians (?)!!!!!!
Yeah!, and while you're at it let Rob Ford vote for himself to be re-instated. That's what started this mess in the first place.
If Rob Ford plans to run again, he better read the rule book this time regarding conduct, learn to be accountable for his actions, and he better learn to represent ALL of the citizens of this great diverse city. He's great at accusing others of misconduct, but looks the other way when he is the one found guilty. This action wasn't a breach of the democratic process. He broke a law, and when you do so there is always a penalty. Don't call it a political move. Don't want to lose your position, follow the rules and stop acting likes it's beneath you to have read and follow them. Really! GROW UP!
And I don't know what the hell you're talking about when you say "if you're good enough to criticize, let's hear the solutions". First off, pal, I'm a voter and a taxpayer, so I'll criticize ANY politician if I see fit. And you've got the right to criticize Vaughan, Chow or any other politician for that matter.
But while I'm at it, here's a solution: let's get a guy in office who actually WANTS to be mayor, is more intelligent than a six-year-old, understands actual issues without resorting to meaningless slogans, LISTENTS TO HIS OWN STAFF when they give him advice, doesn't blame others for his own mistakes...the list goes on and on.
I'm sick of this "looney left" garbage that gets parrotted here. Rob Ford has been by far the biggest municipal failure and embarassment in modern Toronto politics and I just can't get my head around people who support this guy regardless of what he does.
To everyone saying he hasn't done anything bad as mayor, how about delaying the LRT lines by years? That is much needed infrastructure that has been delayed, and it will cost us a lot of money in lost productivity during the delay.
What the city has to be concerned with (like any private business needs to be) is any possible image of taint or corruption. We aren't saying Ford is corrupt. We are saying he swayed too close to that line, which is absolutely unacceptable, especially since this is the city where the MFP scandal went down.
If I asked for donations with my company's letterhead, I'd be fired on the spot, even if it was a mistake. The image taint is too risky. Ford was lucky because council was going to let him get away with it, but he blew that too because of his stubbornness.
The polls say the majority won't vote for him but we don't have anyone running against him yet.
Don't get me wrong. I agree with you 100%. I just worry about the cesspool that will erupt when everyone and their brother (see what I did there?) will throw their hat into the ring. If anything, it might dilute the votes for Ford keeping him out. We just have to live with whatever person does get in.
If only we ranked ballots in place. *sigh*
I thought Conservatives were all about accountability, and not being corrupt?
There are a lot of idiots like Leah, and they'll probably band together to reelect Ford. A conspiracy? Are you for real? You DO know what a conspiracy actually is, right? Ford not only openly admits to having broken the conflict of interest rules, he admitted to not even understanding what a conflict of interest IS. The punishment is quite clear and straightforward. Booted from office. Any councilor found guilty of the same offence would face the same.
I thought you Ford zealots were all about rooting out government corruption. But I guess when it's your guy abusing his power, it's a different story.
http://www.aux.tv/2012/11/12-songs-to-summarize-toronto-mayor-rob-fords-removal-from-office/
'This is a rule for all public sector employees: you cannot identify yourself as a civil servant for the purpose of acquiring funds to support any social, political or other activity that is not for sanctioned fundraising out purposes to support the organization or patrons of the organization with which you are employed. If you do, you get fired. It's the law.'
Understand now? Or are you actually retarded on purpose?