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
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
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