Rob Ford tries to explain what he loves about Toronto, only to fail miserably
Rob Ford made his triumphant return to CBC Radio this morning (of course, nothing tops his previous appearance). In an interview with Matt Galloway, Ford discussed the Liberals’ minority government (“It’s excellent”), restated his belief that Bill Blair will find 10 per cent efficiencies or else, and reminded everyone that the city’s financial troubles are not his fault. Galloway was tough on Ford, responding to one of the mayor’s attempts to feign ignorance with “Well, you’re the mayor.” The interview also included the continued evolution of the word “gravy”—what was once defined as bloated expense budgets but now, apparently, means salaries for workers. But the most fascinating part of the exchange came at the very end, when Ford bumbled his way through what we would’ve thought was a relative softball from Galloway: what do you love about Toronto?
Ford’s response:
This is a great city. We’ve cleaned it up. There’s less graffiti than there was, obviously, a year ago. It’s a cleaner city than it was a year ago. And we’ve made this a safer city. We made it a cleaner city. Jobs are coming into the city now. So, you know what, this has been a very, very prosperous year. We had a zero per cent tax increase for the first time in 11 years last year, gave people some breathing room. I cut the $60 car tax—that’s $70 million in savings. That’s a large amount of money, when people said it couldn’t be done…
Galloway interjected here and reminded Ford that cutting the vehicle registration tax meant cutting off one of the city’s revenue streams. And while it’s not surprising to hear a politician answer this type of question in terms of their own accomplishments, Ford’s comments were certainly a stretch. We’re not sure what jobs Ford is referring to, or what changes he’s made since taking office that would have resulted in an employment spike. And wasn’t he just alluding to laying off city staffers? And how has he made the city safer? We know more police doesn’t necessarily mean more safety, but that’s a weird statement to make when you’re in the midst of a public spat with the chief. And couldn’t that zero per cent tax increase be blamed for part of the city’s budget problems? The mind reels.
Also, more basically, what Ford loves about Toronto is just lame.
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