Rob Ford has had his share of problems in the last two years; ranging from the picture of him driving and reading; allegedly proffering his middle finger to a constituent to the the more serious court cases involving libel (he won) and this case of conflict of interests (also won). These incidents and a few more have members of Ford Nation and the conservative press feeling their Mayor is being pursued by "leftist" presumably bent on the Mayors destruction. I'm not the conspiratorial sort, so I'm likely to attribute Ford's problems to His own mistakes; while not denying that there are people happy to take advantage of seemingly endless number of Fordian miscues.
The ruling came as a surprise to many, including Ford and his supporters. It would appear as many of his detractors were taken unawares by the reversal. I thought he would be turned down on appeal as well; the original decision against him was a good one; the Justice Hackland was thorough and even a bit reluctant in handing it down.
The appeal succeeded from my reading and that of many more expert opinions on the finding that the City Council had no right to financially sanction the Mayor;
That Act, in s. 160(5), permits only one of two penalties or sanctions: a reprimand or a suspension of remuneration
so it must follow that everything arising as a result of that Council sanction becomes void. The last line in the decision as pointed out by Ms Doolittle says it all;
[96] In light of our conclusion that Decision CC 52.1 was a nullity because of the nature of the financial sanction it imposed, the appellant has not contravened s. 5(1) of the MCIA. Therefore, the appeal is allowed, the judgment of the application judge is set aside and the application under the MCIA is dismissed.
The Court also said that it was that Ford did not have a pecuniary interest in the $3150 donations he had solicited.
I'm satisfied with the verdict; I can live with it. Now I'm not a Rob Ford supporter; I don't think he's a good Mayor. I am in my inclination Liberal-Left; Ford is just to conservative for my taste. I wasn't concerned that a failed appeal might mean an election. I'm on the record as loving elections; the more, the better. I wasn't worried that his removal might prompt a backlash against liberal-left interests. I didn't not think Ford being tossed from office meant the DEATH OF DEMOCRACY. I have always viewed this proceeding and others like it as part of the accountability infrastructure. The Courts and those citizen-activist that use them are part of the system of checks on authority. Those members of Ford Nation who thought the Mayor was innocent; that he was the subject of leftist malcontents, should not be angry. They should instead hail a system that insures that our elected officials act in accordance with the law is working fine.
The entire affair maybe broken down thus; Ford solicited money for a good cause through his office->People thought that was a code of conduct breach->Council sanctioned Ford-> Ford disagreed and sought to overturned it and in doing so was accused of violating conflict of interest guidelines->Ford taken to court by citizen->Ford loses-> Ford appeals and wins.
Ford was accused and was in the end vindicated. I find nothing so beautiful as a system designed to address potential abuses by those who hold our trust, working. Rather than bemoan the cost of the hearing or the abuse of an innocent Mayor, instead rejoice that the system designed to protect us works.
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