Mayor Ford gives driver the er, ah.... finger!

[hockeyfan1]

Stranger things have happened, but....

Those of us living in the province of Ontario know full well that using a cellphone while driving is frowned upon nowadays (and with good reason).

Sometimes one wonders though, what's the point of legislating rules when our elected officials don't even follow them.....


http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1030393--rob-ford-accused-of-giving-mother-and-daughter-the-finger


According to the post, Ottilie Mason and her 6-year-old daughter pulled up next to Ford and spotted him talking on his cellphone while driving. So they did what they always do when they dislike something.

They gave him a thumbs-down, and Mason rolled down her window and said: ?Get off your cellphone.?

Mason said Ford responded by giving her the finger.

?I?m shocked. I had to drive around the block to calm down,? said Mason, who was dropping off her daughter?s babysitter in the Kensington Market area. The 43-year-old woman corroborated the sequence of events.

Ford didn?t roll his window down, Mason said.

The mayor?s office would not comment, nor confirm whether the incident happened.

?Elected officials are held to a certain expectation of respect. When they are caught doing something obviously wrong and dangerous, you say ?sorry? and that?s done with it,? Mason said. ?What can I say to that? I?d accept your apology. But it made me madder that he reacted the way he did.?

Mason, an artist and designer, said she was driving east on Dundas, and Ford was driving a beige minivan with a licence plate that says ?ROBFORD.?

She has never been a Ford supporter and disagrees with his policies, she said. This incident confirms her opinion, she added.

?I know he has major work to do and a huge population to be responsible for, but he could have said ?I?m sorry.? We all make mistakes,? she said.

Mason?s post has been shared on Facebook and Twitter, eliciting both angry and skeptical responses.

 

[Bullfrog]

Sometimes one wonders though, what's the point of legislating rules when our elected officials don't even follow them.....

Seriously?

Since Rob Ford -- everyone's ideal role model -- drove with a cellphone, I'm going to too!

Why is this even a story?

 

[chestyleroux]

Why is this even a story?

Because the loud minority hates the Ford's. I agree that it's pretty insignificant, but him and his brother need to hire a publicist or something. Giving someone the finger, ignorant comments about there being more libraries than Tim Horton's, not knowing who Margaret Atwood is... I understand that this has nothing to do with their day-to-day civil tasks, but things like this make them look really bad.

On that note, has anyone noticed McGuinty's platform of: "If you think Ford is bad, wait til you get a hold of Hudak!" Hilarious.

 

[hockeyfan1]

The problem with people like Rob Ford is that he comes across at tmes as one who is no deep thinker, the 'sports jcck mentality', adding to the fact that he is a Conservative and is being associated with the cut, cut, cut mentality, in a bid to trim the city of Toronto's $700M shortfall.
While it is understandable that something or other needs to be done, it is no coincidence that one extreme (the Miller years) has led to another (potential) extreme.

As for Ontario politics, at least Premier McGuinty is learning from his mistakes, and be willing to accomodate and/or make changes.  I would much rather have McGuinty re-elected than to be usurped by a Hudak. 

How does anyone know at what extreme measures Hudak will initiate, he being a former "Harrisite" follower.  Remember Harris?  One extreme (the Rae years) led to another extreme (the Harris years).  Under Harris, even water inspection was cut down, which eventually led to the Waterdown fiasco. 

I wouldn't want this province to take a step backwards in the extreme again, which is why McGuinty remains the more moderate option. 

As for Ford, we have yet to see how he plans to curb wasteful spending at City Hall without making a mockery of the city itself.

 

[Crucialness Key]

Why is this even a story?

ignorant comments about there being more libraries than Tim Horton's, not knowing who Margaret Atwood is... I understand that this has nothing to do with their day-to-day civil tasks, but things like this make them look really bad.

Except when it is exactly that ignorance on which they will be basing wrongheaded civic decisions.

 

[Damian]

Why is this even a story?

Because the loud minority hates the Ford's. I agree that it's pretty insignificant, but him and his brother need to hire a publicist or something. Giving someone the finger, ignorant comments about there being more libraries than Tim Horton's, not knowing who Margaret Atwood is... I understand that this has nothing to do with their day-to-day civil tasks, but things like this make them look really bad.

On that note, has anyone noticed McGuinty's platform of: "If you think Ford is bad, wait til you get a hold of Hudak!" Hilarious.

and thats the problem with politics. Period. They scream murder about what the other guy will potentially do without laying out specifics on what they will do ..... scare tactics, thats all... both sides.... My problem with McSquinty is him doing the polar opposite of EVERYTHING he said he would do.... thats why we will end up with Hudak...

 

[L K]

Why is this even a story?

Because the loud minority hates the Ford's. I agree that it's pretty insignificant, but him and his brother need to hire a publicist or something. Giving someone the finger, ignorant comments about there being more libraries than Tim Horton's, not knowing who Margaret Atwood is... I understand that this has nothing to do with their day-to-day civil tasks, but things like this make them look really bad.

On that note, has anyone noticed McGuinty's platform of: "If you think Ford is bad, wait til you get a hold of Hudak!" Hilarious.

and thats the problem with politics. Period. They scream murder about what the other guy will potentially do without laying out specifics on what they will do ..... scare tactics, thats all... both sides.... My problem with McSquinty is him doing the polar opposite of EVERYTHING he said he would do.... thats why we will end up with Hudak...

I don't really care for it, but Ford basically ran on the "David Miller is an evil liberal and I'm not" platform, so I don't see what's so wrong with him getting nice healthy doses of it back.  He had no problem hiring a guy who was being pretty underhanded with how he smeared the other candidates.  Ford makes no attempt to find middle ground on what he does, I don't have sympathy for those who run that way (on either side of the political spectrum).

 

[Derk]

The problem with people like Rob Ford is that he comes across at tmes as one who is no deep thinker, the 'sports jcck mentality', adding to the fact that he is a Conservative and is being associated with the cut, cut, cut mentality, in a bid to trim the city of Toronto's $700M shortfall.
While it is understandable that something or other needs to be done, it is no coincidence that one extreme (the Miller years) has led to another (potential) extreme.

As for Ontario politics, at least Premier McGuinty is learning from his mistakes, and be willing to accomodate and/or make changes.  I would much rather have McGuinty re-elected than to be usurped by a Hudak. 

How does anyone know at what extreme measures Hudak will initiate, he being a former "Harrisite" follower.  Remember Harris?  One extreme (the Rae years) led to another extreme (the Harris years).  Under Harris, even water inspection was cut down, which eventually led to the Waterdown Walkerton fiasco. 

I wouldn't want this province to take a step backwards in the extreme again, which is why McGuinty remains the more moderate option. 

As for Ford, we have yet to see how he plans to curb wasteful spending at City Hall without making a mockery of the city itself.

Fixed that for you.

Changed my industry, that event did.

 

[McPwnage]

Why is this even a story?

Because the loud minority hates the Ford's. I agree that it's pretty insignificant, but him and his brother need to hire a publicist or something. Giving someone the finger, ignorant comments about there being more libraries than Tim Horton's, not knowing who Margaret Atwood is... I understand that this has nothing to do with their day-to-day civil tasks, but things like this make them look really bad.

On that note, has anyone noticed McGuinty's platform of: "If you think Ford is bad, wait til you get a hold of Hudak!" Hilarious.

and thats the problem with politics. Period. They scream murder about what the other guy will potentially do without laying out specifics on what they will do ..... scare tactics, thats all... both sides.... My problem with McSquinty is him doing the polar opposite of EVERYTHING he said he would do.... thats why we will end up with Hudak...

If you look at McGuinty's record he has overall done a lot more good than bad in my opinion.  As for scare tatics the truth is we don't know what they will do until they get elected because no one actually keeps their promises but I really do see problems with Hudak's philosophy of lower taxes regardless of the costs to society.  He is going to end up causing the same problems Harris did.

 

[Frank E]

I suppose if I'm the mayor, I wouldn't give someone the finger in my town.

But I might.

 

[Damian]

I suppose if I'm the mayor, I wouldn't give someone the finger in my town.

But I might.

Didnt hurt Trudeau much. They tried, but it didnt, and he was the PM at the time

 

[Corn Flake]

Enjoyed this piece on Rob Ford. Sums his shtick up well:

http://www.torontostandard.com/the-sprawl/theres-a-word-for-this

 

[hockeyfan1]

Enjoyed this piece on Rob Ford. Sums his shtick up well:

http://www.torontostandard.com/the-sprawl/theres-a-word-for-this

No one could have said it better.  The city has been languishing with "uncmpetence" for too But, to suggest to cut funds to programs (medical supplies) that serve the elderly and the disabled, as an example, by KPMG, now that's "incompetency".  The "everything must go" mentality is also inadequete.

As the article states, Toronto is a large city that needs it's core services, and the city has intiated
some good things along the way -- improving the environment such as banning pesticide spraying,
improving the garbage program (recycling, etc.), going green issue, etc., etc.  Not everything has
been bad.  The problem is many of the good thngs require spending money.  (In Europe, many of the
'revammped' European cities have spent tons on improvements, with all levels of government helping
with funding).

  Here,  it seems that Ottawa has stopped helping Canada's major cities without much cash infusion,
leaving it a provincial/municipal concern.  Up to a point, but the municipality cannot handle it all,
which is why eventually under McGuinty, the province took on some municipal responsibilities to
relieve it of some of the burdens (which had been heaped on by the previous Harris administration).

"Incompetence", and "uncompetence" need to be rooted out in order for saner heads to prevail.

 

[bustaheims]

I suppose if I'm the mayor, I wouldn't give someone the finger in my town.

But I might.

Didnt hurt Trudeau much. They tried, but it didnt, and he was the PM at the time

Yeah, but, he also wasn't breaking a law at the time, just being . . . well, Trudeau.

 

[Damian]

Agreed! This day and age there is absolutely NO excuse for not being handsfree... none....

 

[Number 5]

I think even hands free should be banned.

If you're driving, you should be focused on driving.

 

[Kin]

I never thought I'd ever long for the sane, rational and dignified mayoral days of Mel Lastman but here we are.

 

[TML fan]

Ford needs to watch it for sure, but I can't stand people like this woman who roll up on their high horse when they have a chance to embarrass a public figure, but probably wouldn't say jack to you or me.

 

[Damian]

I never thought I'd ever long for the sane, rational and dignified mayoral days of Mel Lastman but here we are.

lol.... sure seems that way doesnt it? Whats a casual Hells Angels pic between friends anyway?

 

[chestyleroux]

I never thought I'd ever long for the sane, rational and dignified mayoral days of Mel Lastman but here we are.

It's pretty sad that it's reached this point.