The boss has had us out delivering copies of Crazy Town, belated Christmas gifts that arrived yesterday. He asked for some space to talk about the book. Here’s what he had to say:
For me, there is an interesting personal aspect to the Ford Saga. Toronto city politics has never been of much interest to anyone. Those who have asked me about it as a practicing insider grow instantly impatient by the most concise answer I can provide. I tell them that I have trod the darkened streets of Toronto in late fall every three or four years seeking the votes of the 35 percent or so of Torontonians who usually cast a vote in city elections. When I wake the questioner from the sound sleep this account inevitably induces to say that I've just finished the short version of the story of Toronto politics and that I have to leave to be up early the next morning to greet the voters at one of the local subway stations, the standard reaction is amazed befuddlement: "Why on earth would anyone in their right mind do this?" Of late, almost the whole world is interested, which does take some getting used to. It's still a long and involved story. However, it's a whole lot easier to hold people's attention these days. That's in no small part because of the efforts of the Star's intrepid girl reporter Robyn Doolittle, Toronto's very own Brenda Starr.
I'm putting together some serious video resources for those who are interested. As background, it's important to take a look at Hogtown: The Politics of Policing, a documentary put together in 2005. Written and directed by Min Sook Lee is well worth watching in its entirety (96 minutes). You can view it at the online HotDocs Library here. Snippets from the film have been posted on YouTube for years. We used an excerpt where our Mayor-to-be and his Sancho Panza chased John Barber out of city hall as a warning before the 2010 election. Alas, although 200,000 people have viewed that clip since then, it failed to stop Ford. The eloquent—and devastatingly accurate—Joe Briggs Place warning about Ford was also ignored. However, the film on policing is great background on the David Miller years. All the members of what would become the Ford team play a part and you can get a sense of who they are and their “agenda.” The most unlikely mayoralty prospect of this confederacy of dunces was the lamebrain who succeeded David Miller, the current mayor of Toronto, His Lardship, Rob Ford.
The world has watched hours and hours of blithering Ford snippets. Even as Ford became reliable grist for North American late-night comedy and fake news, there is little perspective on how Rob Ford became the Toronto version of Boss Tweed. Friends from other parts of the world with their own local Tweeds have expressed shock that the Toronto they looked up to as a symbol of civic enlightenment had fallen so low. Perhaps it was an illusion. Our friend Michael Prue put it very well before the 2010 election here. We have elected buffoons as Mayor of Toronto before. However, most Torontonians have ambitions for their city that don't involve owning a Mayor Ford bobblehead or sitting next to a sweaty drunken oaf at a football game. Ford Nation would probably have quickly shrunk to a failed micro-state had Ford actually revealed the entire program of his Crack Pot Party before the 2010 election. One of the most promising hopes for our city’s regeneration has been the way our newspapers, led by the Star, took up the Ford investigation. Doolittle and colleagues have been featured on many net-based symposia over the past year. The best of them was a Newsana colloquium Nov 29, 2013 featuring these participants (Michael Cooke, Editor, Toronto Star, Robyn Doolittle, City Hall Reporter, Toronto Star; Andrew Coyne, Columnist, National Post; and Greg McArthur, National Reporter, Globe and Mail):
It seemed to be that Doolittle was being interviewed everywhere over the last year (City-TV, CBC, CNN, The Guardian, Toronto Life, Chatelaine, Flare), including the Anderson Cooper CNN symposium below.
For the past few days, the Toronto media has been abuzz with Doolittle. She’s been on Q with Jian Ghomeshi, the CBC National News, and on the Strombo show (here and here). Her hometown paper, where she’d had a column as a teenager, did a nice profile. So did the Ryerson Eyeopener, the college paper she edited. Torontonians bought tickets and packed a theatre to hear her talk about Crazy Town the other night:
The nicest clip features her with Star editor Michael Cooke on the day of the launch of Crazy Town:
She’s a youngster. It’s always nice to hear people speak well of the young. It will be a tough act to follow. No city’s politics can stay this interesting for very long. We wish her well. If only she would run for Mayor.
UPDATE: Robyn Doolittle appeared as a guest on the Daily Show on February 6. You can see the extended interview here.
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