Daniel Dale: From the Danforth to the land of the loose meat sandwich

I’ve only met Daniel Dale once. He was so quiet and reporterly that I didn’t even realize that he was the youngster involved in the public park standoff with His Lardship Rob Ford. That standoff led to the the disaster on Conrad Black’s TV show and Mayor Dufus having to say the two words that have hardly ever crossed his lips before or since. Anyway, Dale speaks softly and takes almost everything in. He was one of the press corps assigned to cover Olvia’s last day and came with her to Ward 31 on October 25, 2014. He’s the one behind Janet Davis and Olivia Chow in the photo we captured that day.

Here’s his Star report of what happened:

Danforth Ave. and Victoria Park Ave. 1:46 p.m.: Canvassing with local councillor Janet Davis,Chow gets an enthusiastic reception — until a passing man says, “Get the f--- out of here. This is Ford Nation, bitch.”
2:14 p.m.: A Hakka restaurateur tells Chow that she has earned all of the seven votes in his family. “Be strong,” he tells her, and he flexes his muscles. She flexes back.

It turns out that this was very good prep for covering the gong show that is the Iowa caucuses that are being held today. His twitter feed is a great resource for anyone interested in that sideshow. His reports, like this one, put it all into very good perspective.

Incidentally: Oliva Chow actually won the poll she was canvassing in with Janet Davis on October 25, 2014 in Ward 31—something you might not think would have happened from the surly greeting provided by Doug Ford’s gangsta rapper.

Results for poll 30

CHOW OLIVIA	FORD DOUG	TORY JOHN	Ward 31 Totals
358	246	257	882

As well, this particular part of Ward 31 was always being stirred into an anti-progressive backlash frenzy by a broad variety of bottom feeders trying to exploit Nimbyism towards the Dixon Hall Shelter. A truly surprising result. Real politics begins with real newspaper coverage of the ground game. Even though the Chow swing through Ward 31 that year was a desperate measure mainly designed to boost the candidate’s flagging spirits, the results turned out to be very interesting. Old style politics works. The Fords and the Trumps come and go. You can look it up.