{"id":5371,"date":"2014-03-27T05:29:39","date_gmt":"2014-03-27T12:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=5371"},"modified":"2014-03-27T05:29:39","modified_gmt":"2014-03-27T12:29:39","slug":"little-direct-mention-of-rob-fords-scandals-at-first-televised-mayoral-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/03\/27\/little-direct-mention-of-rob-fords-scandals-at-first-televised-mayoral-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Little direct mention of Rob Ford’s scandals at first televised mayoral debate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Facebook Page of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TORONTO – Rob Ford came frequently under attack Thursday during the first televised mayoral debate, but none of the main candidates vying for his job mentioned the so-called “crack” video or other scandals that have put him and Toronto on the international map.<\/p>\n

Instead, they mostly opted to attack him on local issues, including his plans for a subway, unemployment and the frequent disarray he has caused at city hall.<\/p>\n

Ford, who at times rolled his eyes, stared at the ceiling and flashed grins at the audience, defended his fiscal record as he shot back at the other four candidates.<\/p>\n

“Four years ago, I was elected to stop the gravy train,” Ford said, thumping a familiar drum.<\/p>\n

“I have stopped the gravy train.”<\/p>\n

Former NDP member of Parliament, Olivia Chow, was quick to shoot him down.<\/p>\n

“It’s time for you to go because your gravy train has turned into a train wreck,” Chow said.<\/p>\n

“You need to pack up that nonsense you’re talking about.”<\/p>\n

Chow was the first candidate to allude to but not mention Ford’s well known problems \u2014 including smoking crack cocaine in a drunken stupor and spouting obscenities on live television \u2014 that have elevated him to TV talk show fodder and made him a recognizable name around the world.<\/p>\n

“We’ve had it with the scandals and lack of truth,” she said. “It’s time to go because you’re embarrassing our city.”<\/p>\n

Ford did not bite. Instead he insisted that he was the only candidate with a “proven” track record.<\/p>\n

“People have heard the story. It’s rewind, rewind, rewind,” Ford said.<\/p>\n

“You can carry on about someone’s personal life. Maybe I’m not perfect.”<\/p>\n

Asked about their hesitation to tackle Ford directly on the scandals, the candidates said they preferred to talk policy.<\/p>\n

“My big disappointment with Rob Ford, even beyond the scandals, is with his performance,” said David Soknacki, a former city budget chief, after the debate.<\/p>\n

“I’m dealing with the public side of it and am very much dealing with the issues of holding him to account for his lack of performance.”<\/p>\n

American TV comedian, Jimmy Kimmel, who has frequently made fun of the mayor, tweeted at one point that Ford was “JFK compared to some of these candidates.”<\/p>\n

Ford, his face red, was often content to let the others debate among themselves, but didn’t hesitate to jump in.<\/p>\n

“Everybody can talk about saving money: I’ve done it,” he said. “We don’t need a left-wing tax-and-spend NDP government.”<\/p>\n

When Chow, a former city councillor, talked about her work on the budget committee, Ford shot back: “You sunk the ship.”<\/p>\n

Former provincial Progressive Conservative party leader, John Tory, said Ford had “run out of gas” given his inability to get anything through a council that has stripped him of most of his powers because of the scandals.<\/p>\n

The businessman accused the mayor of letting taxpayers down and ruining the city’s reputation. Ford simply said he didn’t expect that of his opponent.<\/p>\n

Mostly, though, it was Chow and Ford who went at each other during the two-hour debate.<\/p>\n

“It’s time to take down the circus tent at city hall,” Chow said, saying the mayor had made Toronto “an international embarrassment.”<\/p>\n

Voters will choose whether Ford remains in office or will be replaced Oct. 27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TORONTO – Rob Ford came frequently under attack Thursday during the first televised mayoral debate, but none of the main …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":5372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[589],"class_list":["post-5371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","tag-rob-ford","mauthors-colin-perkel","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}