Rob Ford invites Dalton McGuinty to hang out—at a community housing building
When the province decided to delay the city’s decision to sell 65 Toronto Community Housing homes, Rob Ford first took a formal approach, writing a displeased letter to Dalton McGuinty. The mayor’s latest move, however, is pure Fordian populism: he asked the premier to come with him on one of his regular visits to social housing buildings to knock on doors, talk to locals and see the problems firsthand (magnets and business cards will almost certainly be distributed). Ford seems to think if McGuinty sees the level of disrepair, he’ll green-light the sales, which are supposed to net an estimated $24 million to put towards repairs. While many politicians trot out the loosened tie, hey-I’m-wearing-jeans schtick for the campaign trail, Ford’s regular guy image is, like it or not, a huge part of his approach to governing. We’re curious to see if McGuinty will accept the invitation, given their differences in leadership style (for instance, it’s hard to picture McGuinty getting worked up over a giant pile of sand in someone’s backyard). [Globe and Mail]
Update: Whether or not it was due to Ford’s tactics, Ontario Housing Minister Kathleen Wynne has announced she will now allow the sale of the 65 single-family homes to go ahead. “I thought it’d be a good idea to bring those two stories together and see it in the bigger context. The reaction has been not positive,” she said.
(Images: Dalton McGuinty, Communitech Photos; Rob Ford, Christopher Drost)
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/rob-ford-dalton-mcguinty-visit/&title=Rob Ford invites Dalton McGuinty to hang out—at a community housing building&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/dalton-mcguinty-rob-ford-624x276.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_143438" align="aligncenter" width="642" caption="Two leaders, two leadership styles"][/caption]
When the province decided to delay the city’s decision to sell 65 Toronto Community Housing homes, Rob Ford first took a formal approach, writing a displeased letter to Dalton McGuinty. The mayor’s latest move, however, is pure Fordian populism: he asked the premier to come with him on one of his regular visits to social housing buildings to knock on doors, talk to locals and see the problems firsthand (magnets and business cards will almost certainly be distributed). Ford seems to think if McGuinty sees the level of disrepair, he’ll green-light the sales, which are supposed to net an estimated $24 million to put towards repairs. While many politicians trot out the loosened tie, hey-I’m-wearing-jeans schtick for the campaign trail, Ford’s regular guy image is, like it or not, a huge part of his approach to governing. We’re curious to see if McGuinty will accept the invitation, given their differences in leadership style (for instance, it’s hard to picture McGuinty getting worked up over a giant pile of sand in someone’s backyard). [Globe and Mail]
Update: Whether or not it was due to Ford’s tactics, Ontario Housing Minister Kathleen Wynne has announced she will now allow the sale of the 65 single-family homes to go ahead. “I thought it’d be a good idea to bring those two stories together and see it in the bigger context. The reaction has been not positive,” she said.
(Images: Dalton McGuinty, Communitech Photos; Rob Ford, Christopher Drost)){kind=link}
Doesn’t Ontario have more than its share of new immigrants just to Toronto alone?That might aucncot for voter apathy. How much do new immigrants pay attention to the issues? How much do new immigrants know about the provincial government and its leaders ? Seeing as they’re well cared for and many of them are living in the lap of luxury compared to the hell-holes they’ve immigrated from, why would they vote against the incumbents?The Liberal$, both federal and provincial, set this immigration scam up to result in exactly this impasse we’re experiencing in Ontario. (By God’s grace alone, the CPC managed to squeak into power, and has managed to stay in, since 2006 ) I’d like to see Tim Hudak and the provincial Conservatives quietly be a presence in the new-immigrant communities the way Jason Kenney has been. Kenney is out on evenings and weekends, getting to know immigrant communities, helping them to understand that the c/Conservative agenda is much more in keeping with their values than the Liberal one, a message the MSM wouldn’t allow in a thousand years. Kenney is tireless in this pursuit and I believe it may be paying off.We need a similar initiative provincially.