Pro-Leafs road closures on Yonge Street: Ford campaign politely silent
Planning on travelling down Yonge Street tonight? Don’t bother. In celebration of the Maple Leafs home opener, Yonge will be closed between Gerrard and Richmond. As Toronto gets ready to celebrate the beginning of another probably-losing season by closing down a major thoroughfare, we have to wonder: what does Rob Ford—famously against shutting down streets for sporting events—think about this? (We’re not alone.)
Ford has struck a blow against all forms of traffic obstacles, whether they’re streetcars or for charity marathons. (Ford isn’t above participating in some marathons though.) So the fact that almost a kilometre of Toronto’s spine is going to be blocked to cars to watch the Leafs game poses an interesting dilemma—what will win out, Ford’s love of sport or his hatred of road obstructions?
We asked Ford campaign spokesperson Adrienne Batra, who said, “I’m not going to wade in to that.” We’d like to know if there’s a hard and fast rule for what kind of road closures Ford is for and against, but it looks like the campaign isn’t going to comment, especially with the risk of alienating Leafs fans so close to election day.
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