Toronto's Bully

On the one hand, there is little left to be written about Rob Ford. Hasn't it already been said? On the other hand, I think that he will be written about for years. He is the perfect example for anyone writing about addiction, mental health, bullying, abuse, city governance...just to name a few issues.

I humbly offer a few observations:

Hopefully this whole sorry episode is a wake up call for municipalities across the country to put in place legislation that would provide a mechanism to easily remove a mayor or other elected officials in these circumstances. As Conservative cabinet minister Jason Kenny stated today,"Ford has brought dishonour to elected office." Shouldn't there be a basic code of conduct that elected officials have to follow? Even high schools have codes of conduct these days. If a thirteen year old has to follow certain rules, why not the mayor of Canada's biggest city?

Speaking of thirteen year olds, it is just plain sad that we are all being subjected to such incredibly rude behaviour, especially our youth. This is truly a terrible way to learn the way of grown ups. It was heartening to see the brief interviews done on CBC's the National last week with a few teens. The young kids there, all seemed to recognize that Ford is being totally inappropriate.

However, that was only a very small number of kids. What about Ford's loyal fans? What about the thousands of people across the Greater Toronto Area  ("Ford Nation") who still believe he should be mayor? I was astounded that so many people voted for him in the last election but now I find it downright scary that so many people still think this rude, offensive bully has any place in public life. What do the children and teens in those homes believe?

This morning on CBC radio's Q, Jian Gomeshi interviewed Mariel Hemingway. At one point, when describing her life as a teenager, she stated that she routinely cleaned up her family's dining room after her parents' violent, drunken dinners. She thought little of it at the time. It was simply her reality and she did not realize how far from normal her family life was. Likewise Rob Ford. He has repeatedly said that everyone has problems, that everyone has a few drinks then drives. Last night in the interview with Peter Mansbridge, he talked about blacking out when he was drunk and the way he spoke, "you know, when you black out," it was as if he wanted  Mansbridge to agree, that was the way it was with him too. Drinking, extreme inebriation, has been such a routine part of Ford's life, that he thinks drinking is that big a part of most people's lives. He simply does not recognize that his drinking and many of his other outrageous behaviours are serious problems.

Yesterday's council meeting was unreal. Thank goodness  the local school boards have cancelled school trips to city hall. The yelling was bad enough but the sight of Ford running around the room, totally out of control, going to back up his brother was like watching a really bad reality show. I think of all the anti bullying programs out there and children constantly being told to tell someone in authority if they are being bullied. Here we had a scene straight from a school yard with a bully in charge of the whole place!  

There have been so many negative incidents over the past year and just in the past week, but the saddest sight of all was his poor wife standing beside him at his news conference, with her head hung low. This was not a typical policitial wife, "I'm going to stand by my man"photo, like Hilary Clinton. No, this was someone who had been forced to be there, who could not bring herself to look up, who looked like she wanted to run. If this man says what he says, and does what he does in public, what does he do and say in the privacy of his own home?

For her sake and for all of us, I hope this ends soon.