Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Doug Ford blasts Margaret Atwood over libraries, says ‘I don’t even know her’

Councillor Doug Ford has taken aim at celebrated writer Margaret Atwood over her campaign to defend Toronto public library branches.

Atwood earned Ford’s ire when she urged people to sign an online petition, started by the library workers’ union, telling city hall to ignore a consultant’s suggestion to close some of the 99 branches in the city.

Atwood took issue with Ford’s comments on talk radio that he has more library branches in his Etobicoke ward than there are Tim Hortons outlets.

Asked about her efforts, Ford said: “Well good luck to Margaret Atwood. I don’t even know her. If she walked by me, I wouldn’t have a clue who she is.”

Ford, speaking to reporters in a scrum, suggested Atwood was uninformed and should seek elected office if she wants to influence policy.

“She’s not down here, she’s not dealing with the problem. Tell her to go run in the next election and get democratically elected. And we’d be more than happy to sit down and listen to Margaret Atwood.”

Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North) stood by his contention that Toronto has more library branches than it needs. He said he’d close one of the three branches in his ward “in a heartbeat.”

“All my point is, in my area at Rexdale and Kipling, there’s a library in an industrial area that is an industrial plaza and no one knows it’s there. But it’s there.”

“Why do we need another little library in the middle of nowhere that no one uses? My constituents, it wouldn’t bother them because you have another library two miles one way and two miles the other way.”

Origin
Source: Toronto Star 

No comments:

Post a Comment