I live in Toronto.
Rob Ford was a bad mayor.
He also was caught on tape smoking crack. The Toronto police had him under surveillance and were well aware that he was doing illegal drugs.
They did not charge him.
Somehow, however, the man who filmed the incident wound up in prison.
He was also violent, nearly tackling a female legislator.
There was something sad about Ford. Something broken.
But he was a public figure. He wasn’t even charged for crimes that would have put ordinary people (and certainly poor blacks) in prison. He was a bad mayor, and overall, he was a bad man.
The fact that he is dead does not mean we should forget these things.
I would add that “Ford Nation” presaged the Trump phenomenon. Trump is smarter, better organized, and not a drug addict, but he is appealing to much of the same demographic. Ford’s followers felt he wasn’t “an ordinary politician” and that he “told the truth.” He did not parse as part of the problem.
Unfortunately he was incompetent, mean, and a drug user. Those facts had a bearing on how he ran the city.
If there is an afterlife, I wish him nothing but the best there. I ask that no person, no matter how evil, be condemned to some insane “eternal hell.”
That fact does not alter his record, which is that he did a great deal of harm.
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anonymous coward
And incredibly, cause of death was not from heart attack, or fat bodies jamming themselves into whatever tiny blood vessels may still have existed in his cracked out brain. And even more incredibly his death from cancer -of all the things that should have killed him, surely the last and least expected- managed to make me feel sorry for him. A little bit. Which I guess goes to show that no matter how bad people are or dire our situation becomes there’s hope for everyone, provided they die in an untimely, unexpected fashion.
anonymous coward
Where does Ford Nation go from here? How do they carry on?
Ian Welsh
He was human, he hurt and his family was such that his character was hardly surprising. He is as worthy of sympathy and grace as anyone.
He still did significant evil and was forgiven crimes that others would have done time for.
tony
“Unfortunately he was incompetent,”
Do we really want the bad guys in power to be competent? If he had been intelligent, organized and competent, he might have been doing terrible things at the national level.
Robert Dudek
If he ends up getting a “state funeral”, I think I’m going to puke.
Buzzard
Canada’s answer to Marion Barry.
The same voters who supported Ford and looked past his lawbreaking would probably throw the book at any non-elite drug “offender”. With all kinds of chest-thumping self-righteousness.
The laws apply to all of us, or they apply to none of us. I’ve never understood why so many have so much trouble with this concept.
Lee Doran
Bang on as ever Ian. Role model for many, of course, still.
capelin
human yes, bad actions absolutely.
there was a good interview on cbc today with a toronto councillor – who wrote a book on ford, was a friend, was politically at odds with ford, and also initiated the motion to remove him from the mayorship.
what i’ve heard from people who had dealings with him is that he was excellent at helping people with the day-to-day disputes and issues that arise in the course of living in a city, and he did that consistently for many years, so many people had a reason for loyalty and liking him. he was an effective municipal politician at some level, which is useful to understand the phenomenon.
in regards to buzzard’s comment, many of his supporters might not be in favour of throwing “non-elite drug dealers” in jail. a couple years ago, when someone, perhaps it was our current prime minister, “admitted” to having smoked pot at some point in his life, and there was a wave of other politicians and prominent people being asked the same question – there was lots of squirming and avoidance and “maybe but i didn’t inhale” going on – ford just laughed and said “oh yeah, lots of times”. lots of folks would have heard that and thought, ok, a non-bullshit answer.
given the federal liberals have now been elected partly on a promise to “legalize it”, rob was ahead of the curve. a visionary, if you like…
Barry Fay
“he was a drug user” – wow, can it really be that someone who supposed thinks deeply about things could be mimicking Nancy Reagan? Using drugs, especially in America, is the new normal – most of them nowadays being supplied by the pharmaceutical companies! And alcohol? Does that qualify as a drug? Very disappointing that Ian included that easy smear in his analysis.
Mary M McCurnin
Are you sure Trump doesn’t use drugs? Or maybe he just isn’t on his meds.