Rob Ford claims that he’s kept “90 per cent” of his campaign promises. Try 23 per cent
If there’s one thing Metro‘s Matt Elliott excels at (other than rocking shoulder-length hair), it’s informational charts about Rob Ford. And so when the mayor said that he had achieved “90 per cent” of his campaign promises during a speech for the Economic Club of Canada last month, we were sure it was only a matter of time before Elliott explained, in chart form, why that’s not true. He didn’t disappoint.
By his reckoning, even if the mayor is given half credit for promises he has partially kept, like extending the Bloor-Danforth subway into Scarborough (the project is approved, but not yet underway) or contracting out garbage collection (he’s only managed it in the western half of the city), Ford has still only finished 23 per cent of the tasks he set out for himself during the 2010 mayoral campaign. Among the unkept promises are some big ones, like slashing $3 billion from the city’s budget over the course of his term, and overhauling city hall’s customer service culture.
The especially stunning part about this isn’t the disparity between the two numbers—a 67 per cent difference between Ford’s number and Elliott’s—so much as the fact that Ford put forward a number to begin with. Almost any mayor in the world would look weak if their accomplishments were measured in this way, because no politician is able to keep all of his or her campaign promises. Then again, most politicians don’t routinely go on record with exaggerated figures that are easily fact-checked.
You can view Elliott’s chart right here.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/rob-ford-campaign-promises-percentage/&title=Rob Ford claims that he’s kept “90 per cent” of his campaign promises. Try 23 per cent&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/rob-ford-promises-624x395.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_261222" align="alignnone" width="656"] (Image: Christopher Drost)[/caption]
If there's one thing Metro's Matt Elliott excels at (other than rocking shoulder-length hair), it's informational charts about Rob Ford. And so when the mayor said that he had achieved "90 per cent" of his campaign promises during a speech for the Economic Club of Canada last month, we were sure it was only a matter of time before Elliott explained, in chart form, why that's not true. He didn't disappoint.
By his reckoning, even if the mayor is given half credit for promises he has partially kept, like extending the Bloor-Danforth subway into Scarborough (the project is approved, but not yet underway) or contracting out garbage collection (he's only managed it in the western half of the city), Ford has still only finished 23 per cent of the tasks he set out for himself during the 2010 mayoral campaign. Among the unkept promises are some big ones, like slashing $3 billion from the city's budget over the course of his term, and overhauling city hall's customer service culture.
The especially stunning part about this isn't the disparity between the two numbers—a 67 per cent difference between Ford's number and Elliott's—so much as the fact that Ford put forward a number to begin with. Almost any mayor in the world would look weak if their accomplishments were measured in this way, because no politician is able to keep all of his or her campaign promises. Then again, most politicians don't routinely go on record with exaggerated figures that are easily fact-checked.
You can view Elliott's chart right here.){kind=link}
Just another reason to have TPS lock him up. Any day now?
“Judge me by my record.”
Words that will come back to haunt Ford.
Though we should be judging Ford on his political record, his personal record and soon to be criminal record. Now that’s a hat trick!
criminal? or political? Your choice, Rob. Eventually it won’t matter.
23% is a far cry from 90%.. But there is a potential he will be re-elected. He has a loyal base and his negative coverage by the media seems to bolster his support, He is a phenomenon
as much as a Buffoon.
Yeah, don’t underestimate the stupidity of the Crack Village People. It knows no bounds.
Funny how you would judge him as a criminal, when he saved Toronto taxpayers millions.
Yet Wynne and the Liberals stole and wasted Billions which hurt every person in the province. Both in the pocketbook and for future generations.
Isn’t this the height of hypocrisy?
Not at all, I’m not the hypocrite here, you are. You’re the one turning a blind eye to Ford’s crimes, while I’m neither blind, or deaf. FWI, I think the Libs should be in jail too. I’m not blinded by partisan bias, prat.
The sad thing is there are stupid people believe everything he says. How can you elect a racist, homophobic lying criminal as a leader? Get it together, Torontonians!
If you use Rob Fords creative method of judging “savings” then you have to contend with the fact that applying the same metric reveals David Miller to be over twice as successful as Rob Ford at saving tax payer money.
I mean you want to avoid hypocrisy, right?
You actually believe that liar and big, fat lie?