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Duly Quoted: Doug Ford

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“We have more libraries per person than any other city in the world. I’ve got more libraries in my area than I have Tim Hortons.”
—Councillor Doug Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North), speaking on CFRB 1010 on July 14, as quoted in a post on the Our Public Library website. Along with the quote, Maureen O’Reilly shares some interesting data, namely that Etobicoke has 13 library branches and 39 Tim Hortons. “In fact, on a per capita basis, the people in Etobicoke have fewer libraries than Toronto as a whole,” she notes.

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  • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

    Soon: in order to speedily empty former Toronto libraries for the opening of badly-need extra Tim Hortons franchises, Doug Ford proposes carting books into parking lots and setting them on fire.

    …

    Any indication if this is true, or is it another made-up statistic like “80% of costs are labour”?

  • http://twitter.com/andymacd Andy MacDonald

    more BS statistics –  http://ourpubliclibrary.to/201…

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

    Read the linked post. Short answer: there are 3 times as many Timmies as libraries in Etobicoke.

  • EDMUNDOCONNOR

    Although quite what one has to do with the other isn't clear.

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

    What is it with the current round of city councilors and math? If they worked at NASA we'd be landing our lunar rovers on Mars.

  • http://twitter.com/KenHunt Ken Hunt

    If this stat were true (and it's not) “More libraries per person than any city in the world” would be something to be proud of. Hell, it should be our city motto!

  • http://twitter.com/stump58 K Nevitt

    I live in Long Branch and can ride my bike to 4 different Library branches in 15 minutes. Only 2 Timmies that close.

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

    Tim Hortons = private enterprise = good

    Libraries = public service = bad

    That, I'm sure is all.

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

    I grew up in Eatonville. In “my area” (at least, no further than the library), there were:
    2 pizza parlours
    1 public pool
    4 convenience stores
    1 bank
    7 churches
    2 hairdressers
    2 schools
    4 public parks
    1 gas station
    and 1 library. (And no doughnut shops.)

    Clearly, the municipal government needs to do something about that, since you only need one of each.

  • istoronto

    We have more Doug and Rob Fords than any other city in the world. Do we really need both of them?

  • http://www.facebook.com/AgentFoo Mark Foo

    How many of the Timmies has he been to and how many of the libraries? 

  • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

    I should have clicked through first. Thanks!

  • dsmithhfx

    “Do we really need both of them?”

    If they were separated, they would probably both die.

    Um… just sayin'

  • istoronto

    What a great ad campaign for Tim Hortons. 

    Guess how many Tim Bits Rob Ford weighs and win that many Tim bits.

    Forget it Stupid Idea. Rob knows exactly how much he weighs. He could get Doug to do the math for him and win.

  • Anonymous416

    Ah, but what's the percentage labor costs for those Tim Hortons?  Wouldn't be 80% by any chance would it Rob?

  • Toronto_Dave

    Books, literacy, evidence-based statistics….who needs that elitist crap anyway?

  • Roy Murray

    Are you bragging or complaining?

  • Roy Murray

    Do people still take TweedleDoug seriously? Regardless of the stupidity and incorrectness of his remark, the last thing he and his brother needs is more donut shops.

  • jakelundy

    I sent this to Doug Ford:

    I am disappointed that you feel we need to cut back on library services in Toronto.

    When I arrived in Canada over twenty years ago, the public library played an important part in helping me understand Canadian culture and provide the resources to excel in school. I still remember the nice librarian at the Eatonville branch handing me my library card and explaining how I can borrow as many books as I want, and can order any book from any library in Toronto! My weekly trips to the library remain a fond memory from my youth.

    I still regularly use and enjoy many of the branches across the city: the Eatonville branch near my home, the beautiful Lillian H. Smith library near work, the stunning Bloor Gladstone branch, the awesome Reference Library downtown, the peaceful Barbara Frum branch, and several others. These libraries serve as landmarks in my Toronto, and I always feel a certain warmth when I come across the familiar Toronto Public Library Logo as I travel across the city (not unlike seeing a Tim Hortons when in New York).

    The public library system is also heavily used by the citizens of this city. Every branch I mentioned above is almost always full with people from all walks of life. I'm in a library right now and I see a young man searching for jobs online, students studying, writers on their laptops, the elderly reading the newspaper, a small boy excitedly showing a book to his mother, an immigrant being tutored, a group of people having a discussing in a meeting room, and many others enjoying a cool quiet place to relax in the middle of a heat wave.

    I urge you to visit our libraries, see how much they are used, and talk to the people there to understand how many rely on them. If anything we need to expand the number of branches, increase the work space at these locations, and extend library hours.

    From what I've read the Toronto library system is one of the most heavily used and extensive in North America. This to me is a point of pride. Libraries are not gravy.

  • http://twitter.com/rockerTFC Rocker

    Why doesn't Rob Ford make a proposal to have joint Tim Horton's Libraries? Chapters has Starbucks inside. This is a great way to support our library system!!! have your Ice Cap and Maple Pecan Danish while you check out some Karl Marx books.

  • http://piorkowski.ca qviri

    Meh. Now, if he had more libraries in his area than Starbucks locations, I'd be impressed.

    - Left wing pinko elitist

  • http://piorkowski.ca qviri

    Hehe. You said “round councillors.”

  • cathooM

    Niagara-on-the-lake has a Second Cup in one of their libraries. I can't find a more recent link, but I can confirm it was there in June: http://www.niagaraadvance.ca/A…

  • Currentdrive

    These two liars are like the boy who cried wolf.  Wake up villagers!

  • http://twitter.com/leftylabourtech Bob Chandler

    Obviously Doug Ford thinks there needs to be more Timmies franchises in Ward 2.

    Let's help him along!   Please sign the petition!

    http://www.petitiononline.com/…

  • wwjdkaren

    Winston Churchill was very large too & he helped change the world during WWII.  Get your fat ass into perspective

  • anyao

    no, but needing someone else to help you with basic math does.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=512641799 Elise Hunchuck

    memo to doug ford: Do you know that books are generally, good for you? Or at least, can improve your critical thinking and mental acuity? (I said it can, not that it would)
    Do you also know that donuts and heavily processed foods are (not generally, they just are) bad for you? Do you know how these things work? And finally, a question: what does the ratio of Tim Hortons to public libraries have to do, with, anything?

  • butterfly99

    Unlike Tim Horten's, Second Cup is Canadian

  • istoronto

    Of course being large has nothing to do with leadership. Neither does driving giant SUV's or preferring sports over arts. What is required of a leader is a basic understanding of what they are leading. Making statements without the facts, such as this ludicrous one made by Doug, to support a personal belief, or worse, one made in complete ignorance, does not not show leadership. Both Rob and Doug, are either lying or ignorant of the facts when they say stupid things. That or they are doing it deliberate. In which case they are just plain, old, malicious bullies who like stirring up s**t for no reason. Every school has kids like that. City Hall is no place for them!  

    The “how many Tim Bits do you weigh thing”, is a joke, picking up on this desire all politicans seem to have in mentioning Tim Hortons as a way of connecting with the common folk.

  • tomwest

    Toronto: 99 libraries, 2.5m people, so 1 library per 25,285 people.
    City of Pickering: 5 libraries, 100k people, so 1 library per 20,000 people

    So, the statement ”We have more libraries per person than any other city in the world” is wrong.

  • EDMUNDOCONNOR

    Thoughtful, considered, and heartfelt. Doug won't pay any attention to it, of course, since those very qualities scream “left-wing pinko” from the rooftops.

    I sent Doug a similiar email, except mine made the same points in rather more acerbic terms. I do not expect a response, even though I attached my phone number.

  • http://piorkowski.ca qviri

    Like Tim Hortons, Second Cup is a publicly listed corporation, making distinctions such as “Canadian” or “not Canadian” somewhat difficult to establish. Tims has somewhere on the order of 3750 locations, 3150 of them in Canada for 84% “Canadianism”; Second Cup has around 400, around 340 of them in Canada for 86% “Canadianism”; and I'm not very comfortable defining Canadianism as having most branches in Canada to start with.

  • dsmithhfx

    Or to put it another way: we have 0.000039 libraries per person.

  • Toronto_Dave

    “Books” have a well-known liberal bias. Best we do away with these bastions of pinko propaganda.

  • http://twitter.com/MaidenCuller Dino Pao

    Doug Ford plans to ease police brutality by replacing libraries with Tim Horton’s and donuts with books.