Ford a populist done in by leftist mediocrities
A great deal has been written about Toronto Mayor Rob Ford this week, and some of it, at least, has been sensible. The truth, however, can be summarized as follows.
First, he was wrong to do what he did, and should have been more careful and also apologized.
Second, the law itself is archaic and absurd, and when the punishment is ridiculously inappropriate to the crime, the law itself is by nature unjust and wrong.
Third, of course the entire enterprise was politically motivated, and those behind it had as their intention not fair play and responsibility but removing a man they detested, by any means necessary.
Other mayors, and certainly other councillors, have acted with far more contempt for process and for their colleagues, but their leftism meant friends in high and low places, and the criticism for their actions was tame if not suppressed. These people also had selfish motives, whereas Rob Ford was, in essence, forcing rich people to give money to poor people, which one would have thought was a socialist rather than conservative aspiration.
Herein lies a point. Ford is not really a conservative, and certainly not an ideological one. We auditioned him as a guest on my former television show, where we featured debates between right and left. I asked him about holidays in Marxist Cuba. “Lovely beaches, why not go, no problem.” Gay marriage. “Not for me, but nothing to do with me, I couldn’t care.”
And so on. He’s a fiscal stickler in terms of public spending, and an instinctive populist, but not a genuine conservative. Unlike most of the political left in this country, Ford is acutely comfortable with working people, ethnic minorities, hockey and football fans. Try watching his leftist critics in such circles and you’ll weep with embarrassment.
A lot of this, you see, is about snobbery. If Ford was patrician or had gone to the right schools and knew the right people, he might still have political opponents, but not the visceral haters that he has had for so long. He’s not, as it were, “one of us.”
As a Brit from a working-class family who was dropped from university onwards into the world of super-privilege, the best private schools, and hyper-elitism, I’ve always found Canadian snobbery ridiculous. These Upper Canada College, mock English accent types would be considered horribly nouveau riche and vulgar in Britain, yet live out their fantasies in Canada.
The Ford affair pretty much breaks down according to supporters and opponents. Those who like him think he’s been treated badly, those who oppose him applaud the law. Both are wrong, but the latter more so, and they now think it fashionable to place a pedantic judiciary above a democratic system.
Toronto council drowns in self-regarding blowhards, political lightweights, and ambitious mediocrities. They’re now running around like insects pretending to be sorry for a situation that delights them, in that it might advance their sorry careers.
The people spoke clearly in the election. Their man then acted foolishly, but only slightly so. An ugly coalition of leftist hacks had their way, and once again the people who seem to matter least are the voters
