politics
Globe Investigates Ford Family History With Drugs, Toronto Makes Jokes
A roundup of reaction to the Globe and Mail's article exploring Doug and Randy Fords' alleged history of dealing hash.
Image created by former Torontoist editor Marc Lostracco.
It’s been an open secret at City Hall for well over a year that the Globe and Mail had researched, written, and then spiked a major story on the Ford family’s alleged history with drug dealing—a story that focuses primarily on Mayor Rob Ford’s two older brothers, Doug (councillor for Ward 2, Etobicoke) and Randy (who has stayed entirely out of the public eye). This morning, in the wake of last week’s allegations about Rob’s crack-smoking, the Globe finally decided to publish its piece.
Word started leaking out a few days ago that the story might be coming; by Friday night anticipation was at a fever pitch: the Globe started trending on Twitter even before the story came out. When it did many immediately said it fell flat, a decades’-old tale that didn’t have much to do with the mayor himself, and didn’t involve anything extraordinarily bad.
The story is far better understood as portraiture than exposé: it provides some detailed insight into the household Ford grew up in, more than anything else. It is also, of course, fodder for jokes. Doug Ford, meanwhile, has sworn at least one journalist—Sean O’Shea of Global News—this morning, and is also denying the allegations.
A sampling of the reaction to the Globe‘s story: