From blaming citizens for his political losses to yelling drunkenly at fans at a hockey game, our mayor knows how to outburst with the best of them.
Here’s a timeline of the mayor’s most notable slurs, outbursts and altercations with the public:
June 2002: Georgio Mammoliti says Rob Ford called him a “Gino-boy” during a council debate. Ford denied making the remark. Mammoliti said he was shocked to hear such a racially charged comment at City Hall.
June 2005: Ford reveals his ignorance on trans issues to council in a less-than-sympathetic way. "I don't understand. Number one, I don't understand a transgender. I don't understand, is it a guy dressed up like a girl or a girl dressed up like a guy? And we're funding this for, I don't know, what does it say here? We're giving them $3,210?”
April 2006: Ford is removed from a Maple Leafs game after shouting insulting comments at other fans. A man had reportedly asked Ford to be quiet, so the councillor, who later admitted to being drunk, said something cordial like "Who the fuck do you think you are? Are you a fucking teacher?... Do you want your little wife to go over to Iran and get raped and shot?" When confronted by reporters, Ford denied having been at the game, despite leaving behind a business card that identified him to the couple. He said the outburst did not reflect his usual behaviour in public.
June 2006: Ford angers many in Toronto when, in an attempt to deny funding to HIV prevention programs, he suggests that the only reason you’d have to worry about HIV/AIDS is if you’re gay or using injection drugs. When told there was a rise in female HIV patients, he said “maybe they’re sleeping with bisexual men.”
March 2007: Ford decries the folly of urban cyclists, suggesting it’s their own fault if they get killed. “It’s like swimming with the sharks. Sooner or later, you're going to get bitten... Every year we have dozens of people that get hit by cars or trucks. Well, no wonder. Roads are built for buses, cars and trucks. Not for people on bikes. And my heart bleeds for them when I hear someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day."
March 2008: Councillor Rob Ford says “Oriental people work like dogs. … They're slowly taking over." Says he didn’t mean use of Oriental as a racial slur, and that being hard-working like a dog was meant as a compliment.
October 2010: During an interview on CBC Radio’s As It Happens, Ford routinely interrupts the interview to yell at football players he coaches. Mid-interview outbursts included one telling a player to “go get changed. Just go get changed!”
July 2011: A driver claims Ford gave her the finger and mouthed swear words at her after she caught him talking on his cellphone while driving and gestured for him to stop. Ford called the altercation a “misunderstanding” but did not deny using his cellphone while driving.
October 2011: Ford calls 911 after TV comedian Mary Walsh shows up in his driveway dressed as “Marg Delahunty, Princess Warrior.”
May 2, 2012: Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale says the mayor charged at him with a raised fist after Ford saw Dale in a piece of parkland beside his house. The mayor said Dale was standing on cinder blocks to look into his backyard; Dale says he was just looking at public land the mayor was trying to purchase.
June 7, 2012: Ford blames the city’s new ban on plastic bags on you, the public, not his own dramatic loss of political capital.
June 29, 2012: TTC union rep Bob Kinnear says the mayor drove past open streetcar doors, resulting in the streetcar driver leaving the vehicle to reprimand the Mayor. Ford then calls the TTC to report the driver for getting out of his seat to chide him.
Original Article
Source: openfile.ca
Author: Saira Peesker
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