Kristyn Wong-Tam blasts Rob and Doug Ford for shooting down the Toronto Olympics bid—but do the brothers deserve it?
Downtown councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam released an open letter yesterday calling out Mayor Rob Ford and his brother Doug for, among other things, rejecting a bid for the 2020 summer Olympics without so much as a nod to council. We also noted the Ford’s dismissal of the Olympics at the time, but we have to point out that we agreed with the Fords on this one. Of course, Wong-Tam’s argument isn’t simply about wanting the Olympics—frankly, we’re a little puzzled about why she chose that decision as a springboard for her diatribe—it’s about wanting a better, more democratic process for council.
I am concerned with the health of our local democracy. The decision about the Olympics is only the latest in a worrying pattern. On your first day in office, you declared “Transit City is dead” despite the fact that a Council decision declaring it our first priority has never been revisited, and have since been operating on the premise that your unilateral decree overrides the democratic processes of civic government.
Media reports also reveal that detail financial and technical plans are not required by the IOC until February 2012. There was sufficient time to engage all Members of Council and even more broadly the general public about the feasibility of hosting the 2020 Olympic Games.
The thing is the Fords’ tendency to assume that their opinions are as good as law in this city isn’t entirely irrational. With council only tentatively starting to exercise the slightest of a spine when it comes to disagreeing with the mayor, it’s difficult to blame Ford for assuming that he’d get his way (which is probably why the activists who were trying to get his blessing for an Olympic bid didn’t go to wider council). Ford can be fairly accused of not bringing this issue to council—but then, neither did the Olympic hopefuls.
One last note: we applaud Wong-Tam’s use of the word “fiat” in her letter. We encourage other councillors to get in to the habit of employing it. We suspect there will be plenty of other opportunities in the future.
• Councillor Wong-Tam slams Fords over Olympics “decision by fiat” [Toronto Star]
• Ford blasted for shelving Olympics bid [Toronto Sun]
• Toronto councillor slams mayor’s unilateral decision on Olympic bid [Globe and Mail]
• Wong-Tam open letter blasts Doug Ford’s ‘special privileges’ [National Post]
• Councillor accuses Ford brothers of ‘decision by fiat’ [CBC]
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/kristyn-wong-tam-open-letter/&title=Kristyn Wong-Tam blasts Rob and Doug Ford for shooting down the Toronto Olympics bid—but do the brothers deserve it?&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/kristyn-wong-tam.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_87091" align="alignleft" width="320" caption="Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam (Image: JoeyS4B)"][/caption]
Downtown councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam released an open letter yesterday calling out Mayor Rob Ford and his brother Doug for, among other things, rejecting a bid for the 2020 summer Olympics without so much as a nod to council. We also noted the Ford’s dismissal of the Olympics at the time, but we have to point out that we agreed with the Fords on this one. Of course, Wong-Tam’s argument isn’t simply about wanting the Olympics—frankly, we’re a little puzzled about why she chose that decision as a springboard for her diatribe—it’s about wanting a better, more democratic process for council.
According to her letter:
I am concerned with the health of our local democracy. The decision about the Olympics is only the latest in a worrying pattern. On your first day in office, you declared “Transit City is dead” despite the fact that a Council decision declaring it our first priority has never been revisited, and have since been operating on the premise that your unilateral decree overrides the democratic processes of civic government.
Media reports also reveal that detail financial and technical plans are not required by the IOC until February 2012. There was sufficient time to engage all Members of Council and even more broadly the general public about the feasibility of hosting the 2020 Olympic Games.
The thing is the Fords’ tendency to assume that their opinions are as good as law in this city isn’t entirely irrational. With council only tentatively starting to exercise the slightest of a spine when it comes to disagreeing with the mayor, it’s difficult to blame Ford for assuming that he’d get his way (which is probably why the activists who were trying to get his blessing for an Olympic bid didn’t go to wider council). Ford can be fairly accused of not bringing this issue to council—but then, neither did the Olympic hopefuls.
One last note: we applaud Wong-Tam’s use of the word “fiat” in her letter. We encourage other councillors to get in to the habit of employing it. We suspect there will be plenty of other opportunities in the future.
• Councillor Wong-Tam slams Fords over Olympics "decision by fiat" [Toronto Star]
• Ford blasted for shelving Olympics bid [Toronto Sun]
• Toronto councillor slams mayor’s unilateral decision on Olympic bid [Globe and Mail]
• Wong-Tam open letter blasts Doug Ford’s ‘special privileges’ [National Post]
• Councillor accuses Ford brothers of ‘decision by fiat’ [CBC]){kind=link}
I’ve never been too thrilled with the idea of having the Olympics in Toronto.
However, just because I agree with them doesn’t mean I like the process. This should have been brought to Council or to committee. For the mayor and the councillor to make this decision on their own is contrary to the democratic process and contrary to Rob Ford’s campaign promise of more consultation. Maybe there is a good case to be made for bidding on the 2020 games (Wong-Tam makes a good point that there was a possibility of getting more bang for our buck out of the Pan-Am games developments). We’ll never know, now.
Toronto’s just too large a city for important decisions to be made by one person.
i agree, too, that maybe the olympics at this time wouldn’t be a good idea. however, she is completely correct that the mayor and one councillor should not have complete power over what should be a council decision! they’re all up in arms over communism but apparently dictatorship is okay.
Wong-Tam should go pass a motion to have it debated by council. Why would a mayor introduce a motion that could go down in history as the biggest boondoggle seen in Toronto and get the blame for it when the legacy debt is added to our children’s taxes for a circus.
Grandstanding and sour grapes for the pinko left NDP for not being able to tax and spend indiscriminately is what’s at play here.
Anyone who uses the word boondoggle can ever be taken seriously. This is not about the Olympic bid but the alarming erosion of due process and utter contempt towards constituents courtesy of mayors Ford.
Sure, bring the Olympics to Toronto and watch Toronto’s debt skyrocket. Let’s just worry about paying those bills “tomorrow” – just think of the incredible cost for the security bill alone. Rob Ford isn’t perfect, but he’s tying his best to make sure that Toronto doesn’t experience the financial crisis seen in the States. We should all be a little tighter with our wallets. We all want the biggest house, the best vacation, and we want it now. If you can’t afford it now, don’t get it. Especially don’t get it on a credit card. Good for you Mayor Ford.
Having Olympics in Toronto would be awesome. But history has proved itself that Olympic is too much of an expense for the host city. The only true benefit goes to the international developers and investors who take advantage of the situation by making our real estate even more unaffordable than it is now. Once the big players make their money, then it is the little guys (us tax payers) to pay for the debt. I can’t imagine how much higher our taxes can be! A HST of 20%??