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November 19, 2013

Toronto City Council Limits Mayor's Powers 
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The city council of Toronto, Canada, has voted to curb the powers of
embattled mayor Rob Ford. Over the past several weeks, Ford has admitted
to smoking crack cocaine, buying illegal drugs, and driving while under
the influence of alcohol. Ford has also made vulgar remarks about oral
sex and has been linked in press reports to domestic abuse. On Monday,
the city council voted to limit Ford's budget and transfer most of his
authority to the deputy mayor. Ford lashed out at the council during a
public hearing.

Rob Ford: "In one year, I received 3,000 letters through the mail,
46,000 CMS messages, 138,000 emails, 123,000 phone calls, and between my
home number and my cell number and my Onstar number in my car, I
received 22,000 numbers. Are you aware of that? 22,000 phone calls. Are
you aware of that Madam Clerk or whoever is moving the motion?"

Ford has vowed to challenge the limiting of his powers in court. At
Monday's hearing, he caused a new stir after knocking down a female
councilor. Later in the day, Ford appeared on television to debut his
new weekly program, "Ford Nation." Ford said he is being targeted for
his fiscally responsible policies.

Rob Ford: "I've made mistakes, but I don't think that anyone else is any
different. It's hypocrisy at its best and I'm not proud of what I've
done. It's very humiliating, but being fiscally responsible down at city
hall and, let's call a spade a spade here, the majority of councilors
down there are left-wing tax and spend socialists, that's what they are.
And there's a handful of us that are fiscally responsible. And if I were
one of them, as you know, there's some councilors down there that have
been criminally charged, nothing wrong with that, I haven't been
charged."

 

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