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Duly Quoted: Doug Ford

By Hamutal Dotan

“The mayor should have veto power…so he has enough power to stop council…At the end of the day, he has more skin in the game than anyone.”
—Doug Ford, explaining some of brother (and mayor) Rob Ford’s frustrations at City Hall, the chief one seeming to be that councillors don’t vote his way all the time.

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  • TonyWonder

    It is factually true that Rob Ford has more skin in the game than any one of the City Councillors.

  • TokyoTuds

    Wow, I think the Mayor Fords are getting frustrated they can't govern by decree. Veto? Council is the democratic result of the election, and if the Mayors Ford feel that RoFo has more skin in the game, they are more arrogant than I even thought.

  • HotDang

    I'd agree to this if it were made more entertaining.

    In my envisioned system, the mayor would only achieve veto power if he could best a champion chosen from council at a contest chosen from a hat. Possible contests include:
    <ol><li>debate</li><li>breakdancing contest</li><li>drinking contest</li><li>foot race</li><li>etc.</li></ol>

    The contest repository would be populated by a poll of the commons. This would allow the citizenry to engage in their democracy in a more entertaining manner that has been traditionally available.

    Twice per term, the mayor would be allowed to designate a “pinch hitter” for his contest. But there's a twist! It would be a “Final Jeopardy!” style wager, where he had to choose his stand-in before knowing what the contest would be. This could lead to hilarious mismatches; I'm envisioning a scenario where Ford manages to stack the contest pool with various martial face-offs, but his stand-in, Tie Domi, ends up having to compete against a re-elected Adam Giambrone at the delicate dance of seduction. Result: Domi 0 – Giambrone 352. Sorry, Ford!

  • MikeJones1208

    He's in power now. He probably wouldn't have liked it when Miller was in office.

  • http://twitter.com/Tedhealey Dead Robot

    He has more skin in it…?

    Why do they make this so easy?

  • http://twitter.com/gilmourtaylor Geoff Gilmour-Taylor

    The reason we have a Council in the first place is to keep power from being concentrated in one person. I think that since mayors are elected by the whole of the city, they should be the leaders of Council, yes. But this is Canada, where our tradition is that leaders of governments are part of those governments.

    But Cllr Ford's statement doesn't sound like an argument against the system of government in Toronto. It just sounds like bellyaching. If Mayor Ford is running into the problem that many people predicted—having a hard time gaining the support of Council—then maybe he should develop negotiation skills.

  • tyrannosaurus_rek

    You know what would save the city a ton modicum some money? Eliminate council entirely! Who needs expensive ol' democracy anyway? Socialists, that's who.

  • McKingford

    Oh look – now even Doug is making “Rob Ford is fat” jokes…

  • Jacob

    “More skin in the game”? Is that some meat-head football analogy?

  • http://twitter.com/dangouge dangouge

    Rob Ford made no effort at consensus building when he was a city councillor – he was even on the outs with other right-wing council members (with the possible exception of Doug Holyday). So now that he's in power it appears that he wants to continue not having to work with others or listen to them (unless their name is Doug, apparently).

  • http://twitter.com/natekelly Nathan Kelly

    Wow. This is scary.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Hello, iron fist. I was wondering when you would show up.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    And wow, why don't you eliminate council *entirely*? That would save a TON of money. Who needs representative democracy, anyway? We can trust our dear leader, can't we?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Instead of trying to become a tinpot dictator, try playing nicely with others. The rest of us learnt it in kindergarten.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Instead of trying to become a tinpot dictator, try playing nicely with others. The rest of us learnt it in kindergarten.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Hello, iron fist. I was wondering when you would show up.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Hello, iron fist. I was wondering when you would show up.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Hello, iron fist. I was wondering when you would show up.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Hello, iron fist. I was wondering when you would show up.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Hello, iron fist. I was wondering when you would show up.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    And wow, why don't you eliminate council *entirely*? That would save a TON of money. Who needs representative democracy, anyway? We can trust our dear leader, can't we?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    And wow, why don't you eliminate council *entirely*? That would save a TON of money. Who needs representative democracy, anyway? We can trust our dear leader, can't we?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    And wow, why don't you eliminate council *entirely*? That would save a TON of money. Who needs representative democracy, anyway? We can trust our dear leader, can't we?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    And wow, why don't you eliminate council *entirely*? That would save a TON of money. Who needs representative democracy, anyway? We can trust our dear leader, can't we?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    And wow, why don't you eliminate council *entirely*? That would save a TON of money. Who needs representative democracy, anyway? We can trust our dear leader, can't we?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Instead of trying to become a tinpot dictator, try playing nicely with others. The rest of us learnt it in kindergarten.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Instead of trying to become a tinpot dictator, try playing nicely with others. The rest of us learnt it in kindergarten.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Instead of trying to become a tinpot dictator, try playing nicely with others. The rest of us learnt it in kindergarten.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Instead of trying to become a tinpot dictator, try playing nicely with others. The rest of us learnt it in kindergarten.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Instead of trying to become a tinpot dictator, try playing nicely with others. The rest of us learnt it in kindergarten.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Instead of trying to become a tinpot dictator, try playing nicely with others. The rest of us learnt it in kindergarten.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Instead of trying to become a tinpot dictator, try playing nicely with others. The rest of us learnt it in kindergarten.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Instead of trying to become a tinpot dictator, try playing nicely with others. The rest of us learnt it in kindergarten.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Instead of trying to become a tinpot dictator, try playing nicely with others. The rest of us learnt it in kindergarten.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733255383 Edmund O'Connor

    Instead of trying to become a tinpot dictator, try playing nicely with others. The rest of us learnt it in kindergarten.

  • TokyoTuds

    Wow, I think the Mayor Fords are getting frustrated they can't govern by decree. Veto? Council is the democratic result of the election, and if the Mayors Ford feel that RoFo has more skin in the game, they are more arrogant than I even thought.

  • HotDang

    I'd agree to this if it were made more entertaining.

    In my envisioned system, the mayor would only achieve veto power if he could best a champion chosen from council at a contest chosen from a hat. Possible contests include:
    <ol><li>debate</li><li>breakdancing contest</li><li>drinking contest</li><li>foot race</li><li>etc.</li></ol>

    The contest repository would be populated by a poll of the commons. This would allow the citizenry to engage in their democracy in a more entertaining manner that has been traditionally available.

    Twice per term, the mayor would be allowed to designate a “pinch hitter” for his contest. But there's a twist! It would be a “Final Jeopardy!” style wager, where he had to choose his stand-in before knowing what the contest would be. This could lead to hilarious mismatches; I'm envisioning a scenario where Ford manages to stack the contest pool with various martial face-offs, but his stand-in, Tie Domi, ends up having to compete against a re-elected Adam Giambrone at the delicate dance of seduction. Result: Domi 0 – Giambrone 352. Sorry, Ford!

  • MikeJones1208

    He's in power now. He probably wouldn't have liked it when Miller was in office.

  • http://twitter.com/Tedhealey Dead Robot

    He has more skin in it…?

    Why do they make this so easy?

  • http://twitter.com/gilmourtaylor Geoff Gilmour-Taylor

    The reason we have a Council in the first place is to keep power from being concentrated in one person. I think that since mayors are elected by the whole of the city, they should be the leaders of Council, yes. But this is Canada, where our tradition is that leaders of governments are part of those governments.

    But Cllr Ford's statement doesn't sound like an argument against the system of government in Toronto. It just sounds like bellyaching. If Mayor Ford is running into the problem that many people predicted—having a hard time gaining the support of Council—then maybe he should develop negotiation skills.

  • tyrannosaurus_rek

    You know what would save the city a ton modicum some money? Eliminate council entirely! Who needs expensive ol' democracy anyway? Socialists, that's who.

  • McKingford

    Oh look – now even Doug is making “Rob Ford is fat” jokes…

  • Jacob

    “More skin in the game”? Is that some meat-head football analogy?

  • http://twitter.com/dangouge dangouge

    Rob Ford made no effort at consensus building when he was a city councillor – he was even on the outs with other right-wing council members (with the possible exception of Doug Holyday). So now that he's in power it appears that he wants to continue not having to work with others or listen to them (unless their name is Doug, apparently).

  • http://twitter.com/natekelly Nathan Kelly

    Wow. This is scary.

  • EDMUNDOCONNOR

    Hello, iron fist. I was wondering when you would show up.

  • EDMUNDOCONNOR

    And wow, why don't you eliminate council *entirely*? That would save a TON of money. Who needs representative democracy, anyway? We can trust our dear leader, can't we?

  • EDMUNDOCONNOR

    Instead of trying to become a tinpot dictator, try playing nicely with others. The rest of us learnt it in kindergarten.