In my daily perusal of the Canadian media, I had a
quick glance at the Toronto Star headlines from Thursday Oct 25th.
There I read of the latest episode in the Mayoral soap opera. The brothers Ford
(ab)use their radio chat ‘show’ to query the salary and function of the Public
Health Officer for Toronto. This fellow apparently had the temerity to suggest
that a reduction in pedestrian deaths and serious injuries might result if the
speed limits in the city were reduced. Cue sputtering outrage, duly echoed by
the discussion board participants when the Fords were called to task by the
Ethics Commissioner (with whom the Fords have had dealings in the past). One of
the memes promulgated by the Ford brain trust is the question of why the City
is spending so much money employing somebody to come up with dumb ideas. In
response to the Ethics Commissioner questioning their behaviour the senior Ford
offered up a mealy-mouthed (the second of his two communications modes)
quasi-apology while the junior has yet to say anything other than ‘if a public
employee cannot take the justifiable criticism, he can quit’.
Now consider, calmly, what this means. Here are some
thoughts you might consider:
1.
What is the job of the Public
Health Officer? In my opinion, it is to question the overall health of the
population and what consequences public policy might have on that measure.
There are a number of fatalities and serious injuries resulting from collisions
of pedestrians and cars in Toronto. Is this number acceptable (in terms of cost
to the city for health care and lost productivity)? Can anything be done to
reduce it? All good questions in my view.
2.
Is it reasonable for the Fords
to go on air and state the salary of an employee whilst questioning his/her
role in the city? What opportunity did anybody have to offer a counter view on
the same show? What chance does the employee have to defend their position?
Does the city need a Public Health Officer and how much to pay them are not
unreasonable questions but should be aired in an appropriate forum and with
careful discussion.
3.
Remember also the recent
statement (in response to an Engineers report that the Gardiner Expressway is
in a sorry state) from the senior Ford that the Gardiner is ‘safe’. He ‘knows’
it and some of his pals on Council ‘know’ it. What they really mean is that
risk of a serious accident is considered acceptably low by the Toronto
Administration compared to the cost of addressing the issue within the
timeframe of the current councillors.
4.
Now think also of what happens
when the Fords (or Toronto Council) ask an ‘expert’ for an opinion, or try to
employ a highly paid Officer. They have to think to themselves: “What happens
if I say something they don’t like or doesn’t fit with their views of how the
world works?” Will they be pilloried from the Ford’s radio pulpit? Will they be
sacked like that guy from TTC or the Toronto Housing Commission? The inevitable
consequence is Toronto being run by a bunch of ‘yes-men’ Ford apologists who
think not what is right according to their expertise but what the Fords want
them to say.
Fortunately there appear to be Councillors who are not
afraid of the Fords and are prepared to fight for what is right. Also, we are
not obliged (yet) to listen to the Ford Radio Bombast and we can look forward
to a time when he returns to his home in Etobicoke and we never hear from him
again. In the meantime, we just have to suck it up and resort to fulminating in
the blogosphere on the current ascendancy of right wing bullies and the
pervasive atmosphere of reverse elitism.
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