Rob Ford literally calls himself a king

Rob Ford made his first post-rehab debate appearance on Tuesday night at an event hosted by the Canadian Tamil Congress, and he didn’t disappoint. Under withering criticism from the other four major mayoral candidates, the mayor at one point referred to himself, literally, as a king. After Olivia Chow had finished responding to a question about funding for social housing (she pointed out, correctly, that today’s massive funding shortfalls are in many ways a direct consequence of provincial budget cuts implemented by the Mike Harris government in the nineties), Ford responded with equal parts arrogance, indignation and third-person sentence structure. “Well folks, talk to the people at Toronto Community Housing, and they will tell you that Rob Ford visits them every single week,” he said, referring to his practice of touring TCHC properties, often with media in tow. “People know, I am the king of helping people at Toronto Community Housing.” A healthy fear of the guillotine prevents most elected officials from referring to themselves in this way. Meanwhile, Toronto’s social-housing repair backlog stands at about $860 million.