Ford Fiesta

October 25, 2010 6:26 PM

Rob Ford (previously) has won Toronto's mayoral election.

With votes still being tabulated, Ford will likely walk away with over fifty percent of the popular vote, thus decisively beating both George Smitherman and Joe Pantalone. However, city council elections have also turfed out a number of incumbents that were Ford-friendly, so the future of the city is still in many ways unwritten.

posted by mightygodking (57 comments total)

"From the Ford party: Smitherman's speech is playing. Boos and shouting when he referred to his son and husband."
posted by setanor at 6:26 PM on October 25, 2010

Toronto survived Mayor Mel. It's hard to believe Ford could be much worse.

(Who could be worse than Mayor Mel? Nooooooooobody!!!!)
posted by unSane at 6:30 PM on October 25, 2010 [2 favorites]

So awful. I have a knot in my stomach.
posted by chococat at 6:31 PM on October 25, 2010 [3 favorites]

Eh, I live in Toronto and have closely been following the election, but this seems a little 'inside baseball' for MeFi -- I don't really see how bog-standard municipal elections are particularly MeFi-worthy.
posted by modernnomad at 6:31 PM on October 25, 2010

Toronto survived Mayor Mel. It's hard to believe Ford could be much worse.

Lastman and Ford, incidentally, despise one another. Lastman considers Ford an incompetent.

Yes, Mel Lastman thinks Ford is an idiot.
posted by mightygodking at 6:32 PM on October 25, 2010 [3 favorites]

No. No no no no.
posted by Ouisch at 6:33 PM on October 25, 2010

I don't really see how bog-standard municipal elections are particularly MeFi-worthy.

An arch-conservative winning the mayorship of the most consistently liberal city in Canada? In a landslide? Seems worthy to me.
posted by mightygodking at 6:35 PM on October 25, 2010 [12 favorites]

man thats what those libs get for bein all gay and shit lol take that lol
posted by setanor at 6:36 PM on October 25, 2010 [2 favorites]

I don't really see how bog-standard municipal elections are particularly MeFi-worthy.

The previous link has all you need to know why. But I'm all for more USA-centric posts. How about them Redskins?
posted by Old'n'Busted at 6:37 PM on October 25, 2010

:((((

So sorry, Toronto! Normally I am not grateful that I live in Hamilton, but today I am.

Rob Ford's Greatest Hits
posted by bewilderbeast at 6:39 PM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Well, nobody I voted for won tonight, as the Ford-endorsed Nunziata romped to victory again in my ward.

But as mightygodking says, many other councillors sympathetic to Ford are out, so even though I plan to be creating a fetching paper bag design to go over my head for the next 4 years, the amount of real damage Ford can do seems limited. I think. I hope.

Don't make me haul out that dusty rosary, now.
posted by maudlin at 6:40 PM on October 25, 2010

What unsane said. But the right-wingers I like to bait will be insufferable.

Ford has received, and will probably continue to receive care and feeding from the Canadian right-wing machinery. So Ford may not fall over til these training wheels come off.
posted by Artful Codger at 6:42 PM on October 25, 2010

In other news, way to go Karen Sun, even though you didn't win. Sean McCormick is like Rob Ford on 8 Monsters a day.
posted by setanor at 6:42 PM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Ford may be utterly odious, but he learned the voting game well. He's a plutocrat, but comes across as a regular guy. His robodialers were annoying, but he was the only candidate connecting voters to where they should vote. Got one crap call from Smitherman versus one every couple of days from Ford. Pants was, well, eponysterical, but I still voted for the wee saddo.

Laphroaig is dulling the pain a bit, but not nearly enough. Oh ffs.
posted by scruss at 6:42 PM on October 25, 2010

I don't really see how bog-standard municipal elections are particularly MeFi-worthy.

Well, y'know, fifth largest city in North America. Only three more populous cities in the USA. Almost four times as populous as Philadelphia, for which there would be no controversy whatsoever if someone made a post about a mayoral race there.
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 6:42 PM on October 25, 2010 [11 favorites]

Just a reminder that there was post when Bloomberg tried to keep poor people from buying soda.
posted by Joe Beese at 6:43 PM on October 25, 2010

Seconding modernnomad. I'm a Torontonian, and this is a very slight post. I can imagine how slight it would feel if I lived in, say, England.

Also, an arguable double post (well, maybe that's a stretch, but this election was discussed here weeks ago).
posted by evadery at 6:45 PM on October 25, 2010

You know the pink flesh colour that used to come in the crayon box that nobody resembled before crayola got all multicultural? That's what I think of when I see Rob Ford. That and Slimer.

Most people I talked to had a really hard time deciding who to vote for this time around. I'm surprised at the high voter turnout, does anyone know how many blank/spoiled ballots for mayor there were?
posted by captaincrouton at 6:45 PM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

When the American people voted Bush back into office in 2004, the (British) Daily Mirror had this as their headline:

'How can 59,054,087 people be so dumb?'

Much as I despise the rag (The Daily Mirror), I ask a similar question about the people of Toronto, where I live...
posted by HarrysDad at 6:45 PM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Oh, sorry, I missed this one. Now THAT'S a double post. If not a triple.
posted by evadery at 6:45 PM on October 25, 2010

Well, y'know, fifth largest city in North America. Only three more populous cities in the USA. Almost four times as populous as Philadelphia, for which there would be no controversy whatsoever if someone made a post about a mayoral race there.

Hey like I said, I live in Toronto and have for a while ... always happy to see good posts about this city. I actually think a post about a mayoral election result in Philadelphia would be weaksauce too; this isn't some anti-Canadian bias thing.

But if it's standing, fair enough, so...

I'm depressed as all fuck about Ford winning, most notably due to his joke of a transit plan which last I read still involved tearing up streetcar lines downtown to be replaced by buses. Whether or not he will actually be able to carry out that delusional plan however will depend on the makeup of the rest of the council, so we'll have to wait and see how that unfolds.
posted by modernnomad at 6:46 PM on October 25, 2010

I once witnessed Mel give a speech, apparently completely drunk, so much so that he could not actually read the words in front of him. This was around noon, at one of Honest Ed's epic birthday parties.
posted by unSane at 6:46 PM on October 25, 2010

Kevin Clarke got 1336 votes.
posted by setanor at 6:47 PM on October 25, 2010

> Toronto survived Mayor Mel. It's hard to believe Ford could be much worse.

I would have voted for Lastman over Ford. At least he liked Toronto.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:47 PM on October 25, 2010 [6 favorites]

modernnomad: "Eh, I live in Toronto and have closely been following the election, but this seems a little 'inside baseball' for MeFi -- I don't really see how bog-standard municipal elections are particularly MeFi-worthy."

evadery: "Oh, sorry, I missed this one. Now THAT'S a double post. If not a triple."

Take it to MetaTalk or shut the fuck up. Let us grieve.
posted by gman at 6:48 PM on October 25, 2010 [2 favorites]

.
posted by The Discredited Ape at 6:49 PM on October 25, 2010

ff
posted by ovvl at 6:49 PM on October 25, 2010

shut the fuck up

That's Rob Ford-level discourse! Well done.
posted by modernnomad at 6:50 PM on October 25, 2010

Can't say I understand why this is such a big deal. Most of his controversial comments are about things that aren't under municipal control.
posted by ripley_ at 6:53 PM on October 25, 2010

Wasn't the announcement of the result all of 8 minutes after polls closing pretty anticlimatic?! I almost missed it because I was cooking! I remember the article (in Now?) recently that said even the righties on council hate Ford, so we'll see what he can ruin. I was pretty invested in Mary Margaret McMahon winning my ward 32 and booting out Bussin, which she did, so there's some silver lining for me anyway.
posted by jamesonandwater at 6:54 PM on October 25, 2010

It puts the recent Zombie walk in context.
posted by ovvl at 6:56 PM on October 25, 2010

Good luck Toronto.

Most of America will be joining you in crazyland shortly.
posted by Artw at 6:56 PM on October 25, 2010

Can't say I understand why this is such a big deal. Most of his controversial comments are about things that aren't under municipal control.

He's said he'd like to defund the Pride festival (you know, the second-largest Pride festival in the world that brings tens of millions of dollars to Toronto every year). He's hinted that he has the same feelings for Caribana and even TIFF. His transit plan will create congestion on a level as yet undreamt of. He genuinely hates cyclists - say goodbye to Bixi funding, bike lanes, you name it.

He's going to be a disaster in the worst-case scenario, and four years of gridlock against a progressive Council in the best-case scenario.
posted by mightygodking at 6:57 PM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

First thing I thought when I heard the news? America is fucked.

Naive, perhaps, but it seems to me that if this idiot man-child can win in Toronto by making ridiculous promises than the USA will soon be looking at a Beck/Palin or Palin/Some Other Idiot leadership soon enough.
posted by dobbs at 7:01 PM on October 25, 2010 [2 favorites]

The turn out is disappointing. The split on the progressive side is also disappointing. But with people like Mike Layton, Krystin Wong-Tam, Sarah Doucette, here's to hoping that the worst thing that happens to Toronto is that it'll just stays stagnant for a few years.

I'm already starting to miss my gravy train.
posted by phyrewerx at 7:01 PM on October 25, 2010

He genuinely hates cyclists

Hey now--he doesn't hate them. He just thinks they deserve to get run over for being stupid enough to ride bikes on the roads.
posted by dobbs at 7:02 PM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's true. Bikes need to stay in parks where they belong, just like street festivals and marathons!
posted by chrominance at 7:05 PM on October 25, 2010

@mightygodking - don't forget he also thinks charity runs are a waste of road access.
posted by phyrewerx at 7:06 PM on October 25, 2010

Wow, how did this happen? I mean, really, jebus, I could see that man with that mug and those mantras be mayor of some unfortunate cities here in the U.S., but how did this happen in Toronto?
posted by angrycat at 7:08 PM on October 25, 2010

Hear, hear, The Card Cheat. That's what I hate most about Ford--the fact that he genuinely seems to despise the city he now runs. At least Lastman loved Toronto (in his own special way).

P.S. jamesonandwater--fellow Ward 32er here!
posted by Go Banana at 7:09 PM on October 25, 2010

Maybe Rob Ford will help enact a simple, no-red-tape, business-friendly food cart program.

That would be the best thing he could do as Mayor.
posted by anthill at 7:10 PM on October 25, 2010

Now where am I supposed to threaten to move to when the Teabaggers take over?
posted by MegoSteve at 7:11 PM on October 25, 2010

Greetings to all you rednecks and bigots there in Toronto, from Calgary, the nation's progressive, multicultural city.

Sorry for the schadenfreude, but out west here we don't get this chance very often.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 7:12 PM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Go taxpayers! If it weren't for Paladino, we might have been able to do the same in New York next month.
posted by MattD at 7:15 PM on October 25, 2010

Ehh, turnabout's fair play, Homeboy Trouble. But call me when you get some history with all that geography, okay?
posted by scruss at 7:17 PM on October 25, 2010

Yeah, it's like some kind of bizarro world, Calgary electing Naheed Nenshi and Toronto choosing a troglodyte like Ford.
Damn those 905ers
posted by Flashman at 7:22 PM on October 25, 2010

Our condolences, Toronto! :(

Love,

Montreal
posted by exquisite_deluxe at 7:22 PM on October 25, 2010

MegoSteve: Toronto was never the answer. Montreal and Vancouver are the answers.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 7:23 PM on October 25, 2010

Toronto was never the answer. Montreal and Vancouver are the answers.

Well, before he moves to Vancouver, he has to learn to mention how much he hates Toronto within the first three sentences of any conversation with anybody new. It's kind of a thing they do!

Montreal at least is satisfied with just being smugly cool.
posted by mightygodking at 7:25 PM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

On the plus side, preliminary results show the Now Magazine (leftist newspaper) picks are winning 19/45 wards.

The socially conservative tabloid Toronto Sun is at 3/9 .
posted by anthill at 7:26 PM on October 25, 2010

Wait, what was the question? I only know that for me buttfuck was the answer!
posted by unSane at 7:27 PM on October 25, 2010

Anyone know of a way to de-amalgamate the Megacity?
posted by phyrewerx at 7:27 PM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Maybe now the rest of Ontario will support Toronto seceding from the province.
posted by furtive at 7:28 PM on October 25, 2010

In Vancouver, the mayor is less powerful than the city manager, so even a disastrous candidate is a limited blight. Is Toronto the same, or is the Toronto mayorship like the kingship that the mayor of, say, Chicago or New York gains?
posted by fatbird at 7:29 PM on October 25, 2010

Toronto was never the answer. Montreal and Vancouver are the answers.

Exactly, Toronto is where you come when you actually want to stand your ground and work for something.
posted by setanor at 7:32 PM on October 25, 2010

The turn out is disappointing.

Really? Looks to be about 50%, which is remarkably good for a big-city municipal election.

Anyway, this is disappointing on a number of levels. The biggest city in the country is now run by a guy who has ambitious plans to reform the budget, but seems unable to deal with big numbers or even small numbers: less taxes and more services; fewer councillors with smaller budgets and smaller staffs offering more access to their consituents; fewer civil servants but more cops when the police services budget is already the biggest single line item in the city budget.

I will give this to him: he is not a guy who has flip-flopped around a lot. He has stuck by his platform from day one, even when it is sheerly nonsensical. This is a guy who figures he can peel back City Hall's pencil budget and fund 50 km of subways with the proceeds.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:33 PM on October 25, 2010

comes across as a regular guy

Ya, this is what everyone in my wife's family was saying around the table at Thanksgiving dinner in North York a few weeks ago. "What does that even mean?" I asked. Things started getting kind of heated; I usually just keep my mouth shut and die a little inside when my wife's brother rants against anything vaguely progressive but after a few Thanksgiving beers I just couldn't stifle my amazement at the mass delusion they were all under, at the hands of this complete buffoon.
"Are 'regular guys' ignorant?" I asked. I still don't know what's so 'regular guy' about him, no one could say. One family member made a crack about me having a shaved head and 'living downtown.' "What does that have to do with anything?" I asked. It got bizarre. Their anger is about things like not being allowed to keep their garbage cans in their driveway, or something like that. They have 3 cars so the cans won't fit in the garage. I'd just be happy knowing I won't get doored riding along College street.

Earlier in the week my daughter had a school assignment for which they had to phone all the candidates and ask them for their position on bike lanes. The Rob Ford lady was "kind of mean," my daughter said, and she asked my daughter if "this is for a school project." When told that it was, she replied that they just "don't have the time or resources to deal with this" and she should just go look at the website. Scumbags.

In the next election, I hope someone runs on a de-amalgamation platform.

Anyway, Christmas dinner is going to be interesting.
posted by chococat at 7:34 PM on October 25, 2010