Toronto's Dad of the moment
February 3, 2016 7:50 AM   Subscribe

Norm Kelly, 74, has been Councillor of Ward 40, the Scarborough—Agincourt neighbourhoods in Toronto, for over 20 years. So how has he gained the adoration of thousands of adolescents and young adults in the Toronto area and afar who affectionately call him 'dad'?

As a prolific Tweeter, his tweets (@norm) are a mix of safety notices and PSAs for constituents, opinions on current events in Toronto (like a dead Raccoon) (previously), being a cheerleader for Toronto, and proposed City Council legislation.

His rise on twitter was also fueled by his tweets with Lil B (The Based God), defending Drake in a twitter 'battle' versus Meek Mill (Vice Interview with Kelly shortly following Drake/Mill Fued) and meeting celebrities in and out of the office including Drake and Future at a Ryerson University concert in September.

But who is Norm, the man, the politician?

He served as Deputy Mayor of Toronto from August 2013 to 2014 during Rob Ford's drug-fueled stupor and visit to rehab. He doubts the scientific consensus of climate change and its impact on the Toronto Environment.

Before entering politics, he was a historian and researcher for Pierre Berton's books on the planning and construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway and teacher. Norm reflects on his trendiness in this piece from Toronto Life and this Q&A in Toronto Metro.
posted by fizzix (8 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
(As an American who visited Toronto for a weekend in September, I've been curious from afar and wanted to include more about his political views and relationships with constituents. After fruitlessly searching a little more and reading this meta on FPPs, I was inspired to submit my incomplete post and figured subject matter experts and Canadians would also contribute their perspectives and pieces that I missed).
posted by fizzix at 7:55 AM on February 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


Yeah, he's cute on Twitter and all that and compared to Rob Ford he comes across as Winston Churchill, but policy-wise...don't forget Ford thought he was deputy mayor material.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:00 AM on February 3, 2016 [4 favorites]


Norm Kelly is a deeply mediocre-to-sorta-bad city councillor, and the fact that he was a credible deputy mayor and civic leader when Rob Ford was removed from formal power speaks much more about Ford's level of incompetence, negligence and malice than it does to any of Kelly's virtues.

And his assistant is the one who actually composes all of the tweets.
posted by mightygodking at 8:05 AM on February 3, 2016 [8 favorites]


Desmond Cole:

Many have noted the grating irony that Kelly (you may know him as “6Dad”) isn’t using his growing profile to highlight discrimination against black people, who have created and sustained the hip hop culture he’s ridden to sudden fame. This is true, but it makes Kelly no different from the vast majority of his council colleagues, who are all but silent on many serious challenges that black Torontonians face.

Police carding, the practice of stopping civilians in public and documenting their personal information, has arguably been the most contentious political issue of 2015. Instead of speaking out against carding’s disproportionate use against blacks and other racialized groups, councillors have hidden behind the ineffective police services board and declined to comment. Ward 2 councillor and former mayor Rob Ford has eagerly filled the void left by his colleagues, and taken several opportunities to speak in support of carding.

posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:06 AM on February 3, 2016 [4 favorites]


I've never been a fan of Norm Kelly. Something about him feels very false, even his tweets come across that way. To each their own I guess. If you're in need of a Canadian to fawn over, might I suggest John Scott.
posted by Fizz at 8:08 AM on February 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


Yeah, fuck Norm Kelly.
posted by bonobothegreat at 9:49 AM on February 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


I enjoy his twitter account, but mostly because I enjoy people who big up Toronto. And he's a Scarborough councillor, so he will often big up Scarborough as well. He posted some cool Scarborough cuff links a couple days ago.

But yeah, as a councillor though he's pretty so-so at best. Almost all the Scarborough councillors are kind of useless, and he seems like no exception. At the start of Ford's term he helped fire Gary Webster, head of the TTC. And that sort of set the tone for everything that would follow. He was just another dope in Ford Nation.

A lot of people I know are *very* critical of him. I'd like to think his new found interest in hip hop culture will change how he votes in the future. We'll see.
posted by chunking express at 10:51 AM on February 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


Norm Kelly only looks like a decent councillor because of Minnan-Wong, Nunziata, Karygiannis, the Ford brothers, and Mammoliti.


And he's not writing those tweets himself.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 11:13 AM on February 3, 2016 [7 favorites]


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