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)