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Newsstand: October 27, 2014
Finally, the day of reckoning has arrived. Our patience has been rewarded, and by this time tomorrow we will have a new mayor, new city council, and nearly four merciful years without municipal campaigning. That alone is a victory. In the news today: CBC has fired Jian Ghomeshi and he claims it's because of his sexual predilections, Doug Ford discloses his donations, and CityNews called the election (last night) for John Tory.
Following an explosive but vague set of tweets from journalist and podcaster Jesse Brown late last week, the CBC announced Sunday that Jian Ghomeshi, longtime employee and co-creator of Q, is no longer with the broadcaster. Ghomeshi struck back with a long Facebook post providing his side of events and $50-million lawsuit against his former employers. Ghomeshi wrote that he has enjoyed BDSM in some relationships and that this was a factor in the CBC’s decision to fire him. Shortly after his post went up, so did a Toronto Star story disputing Ghomeshi’s version and claiming that in fact, Ghomeshi was fired because several women allege he has committed acts of sexual and physical violence. There will almost certainly be more to come in this story.
In just six weeks of campaigning, Doug Ford raised $300,000, according to the donor list he released Sunday. Olivia Chow released her list on October 22, listing $1.7 million in donations from almost 7,000 people, and John Tory released his late last week. Tory, the presumptive victor, says he raised $2.48 million from 5,000, for an average of $496 per donor. Ford used his disclosure as another chance to differentiate himself from Tory, who Ford claims will be beholden to his donors if he is elected. Ford’s donations came from 738 people, averaging out to just under $410 per person. Chow’s average donation per donor was just over $250.
A “Forum Research poll conducted exclusively for CityNews” predicts that John Tory will be Toronto’s next mayor. Tory has 44 per cent of the vote, according to the poll, with Doug Ford at 32 per cent and Olivia Chow at 21 per cent. This poll echoes what has become the dominant narrative of the candidates’ popularity, with steady, conservative-but-inoffensive Tory slowly surpassing all other candidates as previously popular Chow failed to impress progressive voters for months.