Today Toronto City Council is debating whether to remove some of the budget and staff from #mayorFord and reallocate it to the deputy mayor. Most of his powers would be given to the deputy mayor. He would only retain those powers legislated to him by the Province of Ontario. The debate has been heated since it started this morning and there have been several bizarre instances that are inexplicable.
The biggest part of this debate is whether or not this move is legal. Most experts seem to think that council is within their rights to do this, but the top Municipal Attorney in the country seems to be of the opinion that council operating outside their authority. Council is clearly split and it is unclear if there is enough votes for the 2/3 majority for the motion to pass.
From the moment the debate started the Ford brother's #bully show has been in high gear as they fight to keep Rob Ford fully entrenched as Mayor. Rob Ford seems to think he can go around #bullying councillors. He continues to degrade himself and degrade his city.
A couple of inexplicable events happened that certainly do not help his case. When Councillor Doug Ford was speaking (and councillor Paul Ainslie interrupted), #mayorFord made gestures as if he was driving drunk. This was in reference to councillor Ainslie being stopped at a RIDE stop for drunk driving. Mayor Ford is an idiot if he doesn't get the irony here. Councillor Ainslie did not hide the fact that the incident occurred, he accepted the consequences, (his license was suspended for 3 days) and there was never any indication he was being investigated by the police for any kind of involvement with gangs or drugs. Hmmm... #mayorFord on the other hand, lied about the #crackvideo and smoking #crack for six months, and then later admitted to numerous incidents of drunk driving. Mayor Ford was also the subject of a police investigation involving gangs and drugs and the alleged #crackvideo. Mayor Ford was behaving like a spoiled child. (I apologise that I had to come back and correct some factual errors regarding councillor Ainslie)
In another incident, a disruption occurred in the visitors gallery. This prompted #dougFord to ask the speaker to clear the gallery. Mayor Ford began taking pictures of people in the gallery and both Ford brothers began screaming at visitors in the gallery, screaming NDP and other names at them. Then Mayor Ford charged around the front of the chamber and knocked down Councillor Pam McConnell. He did not apologise to her until it was demanded of him.. He explained that he thought his brother was getting into an altercation with the crowd and was rushing to his aid.
In another development, Ontario PC party Tim Hudak has indicated that Rob Ford has to go and he will support Premier Kathleen Wynne in giving Toronto City Council whatever tools it needs to make this happen if City Council needs it. It is important to note that both the Ford brothers are conservatives, so this must come as a slap to them.
The debate continues, with chaos in the chamber. More to follow.
After the debate was over, the motion was voted on item by item instead of as a whole. Mayor Ford is now Mayor of Toronto in name only, with only the powers that are legislated to him by the Province of Ontario. The rest of his powers, and most of his budget have been stripped away by city council..
Some people may think that this is undemocratic, but when all is said and done, his behaviour over the last six months has been unpredictable and unforgivable as the Mayor of the City of Toronto,. What kind of message doe the mayor give when he smokes #crack, associates with gang members, and drug dealers, and goes on television and behaves in a lewd manner. He was asked numerous times to take a short leave of absence to get his act together and then come back stronger. Instead, he bullied the press, denied, denied, denied, and then finally exploded in a display of vile lewdness on television. The needs of the people of Toronto have been met, and Council has done it's due diligence.
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