In the wake of the budget defeat, Rob Ford compares his opponents to dogs
After a large portion of his proposed budget was dismantled, Rob Ford, ever gracious, did what any classy politician would do: he compared his opposition to dogs. Of his fellow, apparently money-hungry councillors, Ford offered this: “They see money in front of them, it is like putting food in front of a dog, they can’t just resist.” Needless to say, the mayor isn’t exactly thrilled with Josh Colle’s surprise omnibus motion—the product of some serious back-room politicking—to save $15 million in service cuts by digging into the city’s surplus.
We turn to our friends at Torontoist for a summary of what was saved:
• School-based childcare rent subsidy
• Childcare centre programming
• Priority Centre Youth programs
• Ice-rink funding
• Pool funding
• CPIP community grants
• Funding to shelters
• (Eliminated) proposed user fees for children, youth and seniors in priority centres
• $5 million to the TTC budget (to prevent service reductions)
• Mechanical leaf collection services
There were other major changes to Ford’s original proposal, too, like reversing certain cuts to the Toronto Public Library and saving the Immigrant Women’s Health Centre. Of course, council did vote in favour of a modest 2.5 per cent tax increase, which is a small victory for Ford, and the city’s operating budget will be smaller this year than it was last year—something we know Ford really, really wanted (he even proclaimed the feat “absolutely unheard of”). The larger story, though, is that there was a notable move toward the middle at council yesterday. We’ll be interested to see what that means for the Ford agenda moving forward.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/rob-ford-budget-defeat/&title=In the wake of the budget defeat, Rob Ford compares his opponents to dogs&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ever-gracious-rob-ford-624x388.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_112880" align="aligncenter" width="655" caption="(Image: Christopher Drost)"][/caption]
After a large portion of his proposed budget was dismantled, Rob Ford, ever gracious, did what any classy politician would do: he compared his opposition to dogs. Of his fellow, apparently money-hungry councillors, Ford offered this: “They see money in front of them, it is like putting food in front of a dog, they can’t just resist.” Needless to say, the mayor isn’t exactly thrilled with Josh Colle’s surprise omnibus motion—the product of some serious back-room politicking—to save $15 million in service cuts by digging into the city’s surplus.
We turn to our friends at Torontoist for a summary of what was saved:
• School-based childcare rent subsidy
• Childcare centre programming
• Priority Centre Youth programs
• Ice-rink funding
• Pool funding
• CPIP community grants
• Funding to shelters
• (Eliminated) proposed user fees for children, youth and seniors in priority centres
• $5 million to the TTC budget (to prevent service reductions)
• Mechanical leaf collection services
There were other major changes to Ford’s original proposal, too, like reversing certain cuts to the Toronto Public Library and saving the Immigrant Women’s Health Centre. Of course, council did vote in favour of a modest 2.5 per cent tax increase, which is a small victory for Ford, and the city’s operating budget will be smaller this year than it was last year—something we know Ford really, really wanted (he even proclaimed the feat “absolutely unheard of”). The larger story, though, is that there was a notable move toward the middle at council yesterday. We’ll be interested to see what that means for the Ford agenda moving forward.
• Budget 2012: The Cuts That Were Reversed [Torontoist]){kind=link}
This article proves that Rob Ford uses dogs in a negative, derogatory way. In this instance it was referring to councillors but a few years ago, it was concerning Koreans. I think Rob is the antithesis of this city and found a niche at the right time to miraculously become mayor. We’re so conservative but at the same time gullible. He used the mantra of saving tax payers money and it was the right platform compared to David Miller. Now, it’s just a joke. We (not me but overall) really shouldn’t have voted this fat boy into office but here he sits like Emperor Nero fiddling away important facets of Toronto. I’m not sure who is worse, fatboy or Mel but we certainly deserve a better mayor. A mayor that knows how to use metaphors without being politically incorrect. In Korean, we would call him a dayjee baabo. Which translates to smart swine. Thank you for listening.
This is funny. He could just as easily insulted them by comparing them to himself when confronted with food. He obviously does not resist.
Excerpt from new message from TPL
It hasn’t taken Ford and company long before launching a new attack on our public library.
Frustrated that we stopped him last month from wreaking massive reductions to open hours and slashing programs and services, such as the children’s literacy program and the Bookmobile, Ford and his allies have a new strategy to achieve their goal of off-loading our public library to private interests.
Today, they are targeting the librarians and other people who serve you at your neighbourhood branch, and the attack is playing out at the bargaining table. They want the right to get rid of experienced, career librarians and replace them (if at all) with lower-paid part-timers who, through no fault of their own, will not be able to serve library users half as well.
For Ford, it’s simple. If he can’t close your neighbourhood branch, he wants to make sure there are fewer people to serve you and a smaller collection of books to choose from. It’s a strategy to hollow out our public library from within.