Whatever his past very public, booze-fuelled mistakes, You’d think Rob Ford would have his shit wired extra-tight now that he’s mayor. But just the opposite is true. I don’t know if the mayor has a drinking problem.
But the question has to be asked in light of last week’s revelation in the Star of several 911 calls from the mayor’s home in recent months, including one early Christmas morning by Ford’s in-laws to report that the mayor had been drinking and was allegedly involved in a “domestic dispute” with his wife, Renata. According to the Star, the mayor was taking his kids to Florida against his wife’s wishes.
Big brother Doug, the councillor from Ward 2, told the Sun the mayor was not drinking, that the Christmas-morning incident was all a “misunderstanding” that was “blown out of proportion.” That doesn’t explain the other 911 calls, described in the Star account as an ongoing “reality” for 22 Division officers.
Let’s be clear. No one’s accusing the mayor of physical abuse. But domestic violence as defined by the police is not just physical abuse, but includes psychological and emotional harm as well as harassment and intimidation.
Whatever his personal problems, it’s time for the mayor to loosen the load, take a break from office, turn over the reins to the other Doug from Etobicoke, his deputy mayor, Doug Holyday. For his kids’ sake. Holyday is experienced and someone both sides of council can work with. The mayor could use the opportunity to reflect.
You’d think Rob Ford, whatever his past very public booze-fuelled mistakes, would have his shit wired extra-tight now that he’s mayor. But the opposite has been true. He’s either too overwhelmed or too drunk with power to think there’ll be any consequences. When you’re Rob Fucking Ford…
I’ll say it if no one else will: this one can’t, shouldn’t just be swept under the rug. I can’t help thinking the thin turnout of councillors at the annual New Year’s Levee Monday was a small sign of the discomfort some of them feel about sharing the stage with the mayor in light of the Star shocker.
It’s understandable that some women on council who’ve been cozying up to Ford might run the other way now.
Ford is trying, of course, to make us forget this latest controversy, along with all the other misdemeanours and incidents involving abusive behaviour and drinking too much. He blithely ignored the media at the Levee as if nothing had happened.
He hasn’t even bothered to apologize publicly for the possible embarrassment to his wife or the possible emotional trauma to his kids. The mayor certainly seemed concerned enough for his daughter’s well-being when the CBC’s This Hour crew came calling in his driveway a few months back. Talk about cognitive dissonance.
The right thing for the mayor to do when he knew the Star story was going to hit the fan – the paper called his office for comment, but got no response – would have been to call a press conference to clear the air, perhaps with his wife.
The public has shown a great capacity to forgive Ford his past sins, including a DUI charge in Florida and a drunken tirade at the ACC, not to mention his off-colour remarks about gays and immigrants. That’s why he won the election. He was Everyman, least like a politician of any of the candidates. A few carefully chosen words to the effect that the couple is trying to work things out would have gone a long way toward restoring public confidence.
Not Ford. In fact, he claimed not to have read the Star story when he was reached by the Sun in Florida. The Sun’s version chalked up the Christmas-morning incident to “regular family stuff.” As if to prove the point, the Sun ran a picture reportedly taken in Florida of the mayor with his kids. See, everything’s okay.
But clearly nothing could be further from the truth. The 911 revelations are part of a pattern of behaviour, a not very pretty one, which includes charges of domestic violence. Ford was charged in 2008 with assault and uttering a death threat against his wife. He was the one who called police back then, in another fight over the children in which he described her as acting “irrational.” The charges were later dropped over inconsistencies.
Renata Ford has not spoken publicly on the matter, so we can’t know her motivations, or if her possible personal fears or concerns about losing the kids fit into the equation.
The Christmas-morning drama was portrayed by the mayor in the Sun’s version as something that happens in all families. His statement makes me wonder about Ford’s sense of what is normal when it comes to families.
We know of the mayor’s pattern of abusive political behaviour: the bully tactics, intimidation, abusive language and, if those don’t work, threats to get his way. And then there are the long, unexplained absences from City Hall. We’re told the mayor is a very busy man, but what he’s actually up to when he’s not coaching football is anyone’s guess, since his office still does not release an itinerary of his daily events.
Sightings of Ford looking half-baked at all hours around town have not been fully explained by the mayor’s office. Good for a laugh – just Rob being Rob, right? – but not in the context of the new 911 revelations.
We keep hearing what a tough son of a gun Ford’s old man was, how he could get nasty. In Etobicoke, the Fords are legend, and not just because pops was a self-made millionaire or because of their many charitable works with the Rotary Club.
Some argue that the mayor’s personal problems are nobody’s business. No charges have been laid, after all. But when his home life involves alleged criminal activity – and make no mistake, that’s what we’re talking about – it ceases to be a private matter. The police say they’re still investigating, but the optics don’t look good for them either.
If, as reported, 911 calls from the Ford home are not uncommon, then at what point should police decide to lay charges? Tricky question when the alleged perpetrator happens to be the most powerful guy in the city, and any decision to proceed criminally will have far-reaching personal, and political, implications.
According to police procedures, domestic violence calls are supposed to be treated with the same urgency as life-threatening emergencies.
The TPS procedure information sheet states that charges should be laid in all domestic situations where “reasonable grounds exist.” And that the decision to lay charges “shall not be influenced by, among other factors… a victim’s unwillingness to attend court [or] the likelihood of obtaining a conviction.”
Where children are involved, police are required to notify the appropriate Children’s Aid Society “when there are reasonable grounds to suspect a child is at risk from physical or emotional harm.”
Ford’s supporters would like to persuade us that it all boils down to a “smear campaign,” as the Sun put it. His budget chief, Mike Del Grande, took to the airwaves to make that case.
But when Ford’s media friends are making excuses, it’s hard for the him not to feel untouchable.
The mayor and his wife made a New Year’s Eve appearance together at City Hall – according to the Sun “looking happy,” a development the paper decided was notable in light of the news a week earlier. It’s also noteworthy that this was one of the rare times the couple has made a public appearance since Ford was elected mayor a year ago.
Original Article
Source: NOW
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