Indiegogo campaign tries to crowdfund legal fees for Rob Ford
Does a guy whose family members can afford to hand out $20 bills to crowds need charity from the internet? The creator of this Indiegogo campaign—entitled “Stop the Bullying! Help Pay Mayor Ford’s Legal Costs”—definitely thinks so.
Iain McLaren, the person behind the crowdfunding campaign, said in an email that he has no affiliation with Rob Ford, and is acting completely on his own. “The personal wealth of the Mayor has no bearing on principle,” McLaren wrote. “Do we want to live in a society where people are deterred from running for office in fear of constant harassment? How many people have been put off running for office because of the unprecedented bullying they have seen the Mayor face?”
The alleged harasser, in this instance, is Star reporter Daniel Dale, who started the process of bringing a defamation suit against the mayor and Vision TV on Thursday. McLaren believes Dale’s lawsuit is politically motivated, and that it sets an ugly precedent.
The mayor—whose family owns a successful label company, and whose personal net worth seems to be considerable—has already paid his own way through several costly legal proceedings. The fees related to his 2012 conflict-of-interest lawsuit alone are believed to have been in excess of $116,000. When this was written, the Indiegogo campaign had raised $225 of its $50,000 goal.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/indiegogo-rob-ford-legal-fees/&title=Indiegogo campaign tries to crowdfund legal fees for Rob Ford&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/rob-ford-daniel-dale-indiegogo-624x395.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_251175" align="alignnone" width="656"] (Image: Indiegogo.com/Screenshot)[/caption]
Does a guy whose family members can afford to hand out $20 bills to crowds need charity from the internet? The creator of this Indiegogo campaign—entitled "Stop the Bullying! Help Pay Mayor Ford's Legal Costs"—definitely thinks so.
Iain McLaren, the person behind the crowdfunding campaign, said in an email that he has no affiliation with Rob Ford, and is acting completely on his own. "The personal wealth of the Mayor has no bearing on principle," McLaren wrote. "Do we want to live in a society where people are deterred from running for office in fear of constant harassment? How many people have been put off running for office because of the unprecedented bullying they have seen the Mayor face?"
The alleged harasser, in this instance, is Star reporter Daniel Dale, who started the process of bringing a defamation suit against the mayor and Vision TV on Thursday. McLaren believes Dale's lawsuit is politically motivated, and that it sets an ugly precedent.
The mayor—whose family owns a successful label company, and whose personal net worth seems to be considerable—has already paid his own way through several costly legal proceedings. The fees related to his 2012 conflict-of-interest lawsuit alone are believed to have been in excess of $116,000. When this was written, the Indiegogo campaign had raised $225 of its $50,000 goal.){kind=link}
The elitist crack-smoking big mouth mayor gets no money of mine. Now if the common man Daniel Dale starts one? I’ll chip in for his fight for justice against the super rich bully. Do we really want a country where the likes of rich crack smoking Ford can intimidate our media and citizens ? This is the kind of stuff you would see in banana republics. Canada must take a stand and fight the good fight. Never Again !
Did Dale write someone somewhere along the line that destroyed some of your beliefs or something Iain? Maybe you’ve found the perfect way to show how little support Rob Ford really has.
Great way to run a scam. Have Fordites fund it.
He brought everything to himself. He can’t expect people to help him clean up his own mess…
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152049428271422&set=a.10150227580941422.355844.561666421&type=1&theater
“Stop the Ford Family Gravy Train”
I will never contribute to those who are worth more than $1,000,000.00. My money goes to the local food bank.
Ironically, if this crowd-sourced campaign is successful, then the Mayor could be charged again under the Municipal Conflict of Interests Act by accepting gifts from anonymous sources and unregistered lobbyists.
McLaren’s Twitter feed reveals him to be a real mouth breather. It’s frightening how aggressively stupid people can be.
Is it possible to “donate” a negative amount?
This will send the lefty elitists and liberal media party into a real tizzy… They thought crowd-funding could only to be used to fund lefty causes… I love it when the pendulum swings both ways….
I have a subscription with The Star. I guess I consider that to be of some help., since The Star is backing Daniel Dale.
hmmmm……’ian’ calls in on oct 31st to a radio show, turns out to be ford himself trying to backup his case…. now ‘ian’ starts this campagin… come on rob ford you idoit! be a bit more creative, change the fake name you use from one stunt to another…
hmmmm……’ian’ calls in on oct 31st to a radio show, turns out to be ford himself trying to backup his case…. now ‘ian’ starts this campagin… come on rob ford you idoit! be a bit more creative, change the fake name you use from one stunt to another…
It’s a given Rob Ford is dim, but by not apologizing and settling the Daniel Dale lawsuit he proves it. Anybody who actually watched Ford in the Conrad Black interview will conclude he “implied” Mr. Dale was a pedophile — even if he did not come right out and use the “p” word. The Dale camp, as part of its case, will try to establish a pattern of lies and exaggerations from Mr. Ford’s mouth. That is very easy to do given so many lies and exaggerations are in the public record. Meanwhile, the lawsuit gives The Star additional cover to parade every lie and exaggeration Ford has ever made. The police report of the incident states that Mr Dale was not in Mr. Ford’s backyard and neither were Mr. Ford’s kids, so combine that with his record of lies and it is hard to see how Rob Ford can win.
Rob Ford supporters, by setting up an online fund, may think they are helping, but in truth are only making matters worse. They have now set a precedent for an equivalent fund to be set up in support of Daniel Dale and The Toronto Star. Who is in a better position to win such a war — Ford or Dale? Rob Ford has gained notoriety globally as the “crack smoking mayor of Toronto”. The late night comics love the story and will do anything to get more dirt. I can see it coming: SNL, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien, and Jimmy Fallon all ask people to contribute to the fund to dig up dirt on Ford.
I can’t see how this game ends well for Rob Ford.
Everbody is not so narrow minded to let the star control their thought process and what Ford meant.
Really… so there are a lot of other single words to describe what Ford was implying?