POLL: Is Rob Ford being a robo-call bully?
Speeches, radio shows and fridge magnets are no longer enough for Rob Ford, who on Friday found a new way to broadcast his message: the heretofore demonized robo-call. After councillor Paul Ainslie slammed Ford’s cherished Scarborough subway extension at last week’s council meeting, the mayor—via telephone robot—called residents in Ainslie’s Scarborough ward. “It was extremely, extremely unfortunate that your councillor, Paul Ainslie, was the only Scarborough councillor who did not listen to his constituents and voted against the Scarborough subway,” says Ford during the minute-long message. Ainslie called the tactic “political thuggery” and plans to file a complaint with the city’s integrity commissioner. The Toronto Sun’s Mike Strobel called Ainslie “Councillor Cream Puff” and says that he “wimped out.” Ford, meanwhile, remains unrepentant: “That’s my job—to tell taxpayers how their money is being spent. I don’t know what [Ainslie] is so upset about.”
Do you agree with the mayor?
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/poll-rob-ford-robo-calls/&title=POLL: Is Rob Ford being a robo-call bully?&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/rob-ford-phone-624x304.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_175557" align="aligncenter" width="656"] (Images: phone, Frédéric Bisson; Rob Ford, Christopher Drost)[/caption]
Speeches, radio shows and fridge magnets are no longer enough for Rob Ford, who on Friday found a new way to broadcast his message: the heretofore demonized robo-call. After councillor Paul Ainslie slammed Ford’s cherished Scarborough subway extension at last week’s council meeting, the mayor—via telephone robot—called residents in Ainslie’s Scarborough ward. “It was extremely, extremely unfortunate that your councillor, Paul Ainslie, was the only Scarborough councillor who did not listen to his constituents and voted against the Scarborough subway,” says Ford during the minute-long message. Ainslie called the tactic “political thuggery” and plans to file a complaint with the city’s integrity commissioner. The Toronto Sun’s Mike Strobel called Ainslie "Councillor Cream Puff" and says that he "wimped out." Ford, meanwhile, remains unrepentant: “That’s my job—to tell taxpayers how their money is being spent. I don’t know what [Ainslie] is so upset about.”
Do you agree with the mayor?
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I’m not sure if bully is the right word. I think asshole is a better fit.
How does Ford know what the constituents want? Did he poll them all? If Ainslie is the rep for the region and represents the people based on them voting for him and his agenda, then by default, doesn’t that mean that the people in his ward didn’t want the subway?
I think Ford is taking too many liberties on what the people want. I think he just assumes that the people want what he wants and doesn’t truly listen to them.
Ford does not speak for me or for any of the citizens of Toronto. The person he speaks for is Rob Ford. Toronto is not a toy, Rob. Grow up.
If Rob Ford sees nothing wrong with Robo-Calls to fellow councillors’ constituents–calls aimed at demeaning colleagues who disagree with him–then I say, “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” Councillor Ainslie is well within his rights to Rob-o-call Ford’s constituents to remind them of the sketchy company he keeps (and of course the increasingly credible allegations that surfaced about him & Doug in the Toronto Star & Globe & Mail reports, which were just upheld by the Ontario Press Council as having been reported & published according to the standards of professional journalism). When Rob-o whines about it, Ainslie could ape the mayor’s own defense: “That’s my job–to tell taxpayers how their money is being spent by a mayor who has mingled with criminals & thugs, misrepresented the identity of a friend with a criminal record so he could co-coach a high school football team & flipped the bird at a concerned citizen who had caught him gabbing on his cell while driving. I don’t know what Rob-o is so upset about.”