Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Why Rob Ford Does Not Deserve to be Honoured With a Statue



I don't really mind that Rob Ford's body has been lying in state at Toronto's City Hall for the last two days.

Even if he did so much to dishonour his city and his country.

He was once the mayor, and it did give his so-called Ford Nation a chance to say goodbye. 

But when it comes to honouring him with a statue, as some have suggested, I must draw the line.




And say as this Torontoist columnist does, absolutely NOT.

How can we forget the mayor who described himself as “the most racist guy around“? This incomplete spreadsheet with 121 entries related to Ford incidents and scandals might jog some memories; it doesn’t feature anything from the past two years.

He was arguably the worst and most harmful mayor in Toronto’s history, and his legacy can be seen in worse TTC service, an unprecedented social housing crisis, and an increased debt load.


Crass vulgar bullies, racists, misogynists and virulent homophobes deserve to be denounced not honoured, even after death.

For not to do so would offend his many victims who lived through that democratic nightmare, and add insult to injury.

And while I'm at it, for me that long list of victims includes the humblest one, my old donkey friend Jake...



Who lived for many years at the small city-run hobby farm on the Toronto Islands, until Rob Ford privatized it. And Jake was soon dispatched to a horse "rest home" and no doubt the glue factory.

For which I can never forgive Ford. 

Along with so many other things, and the way he degraded the image of this country in the eyes of the world. And made it look dumb and grubby.

Which is why I find it bizarre and deeply disturbing that so many in the MSM are bending backwards, until the back of their heads sink slowly into their buttocks, to praise that crude bully.

Now he's the "Man of the People" Or the "Best Ordinary Mayor" Toronto ever had. The man you could call to get a pot hole fixed. Yippee !!!  

Even as he allowed the city's infrastructure to crumble...



And now they want to put up a statue in the rubble of the city that Con redneck left us? 

So the Ford Nation can gather around the statue of Robbie, hold up candles, and pledge their allegiance to its new leader Doug Ford, who was busy yesterday working the funeral.

As only he could.

You know, Shakespeare wrote this about death and memory:

The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones. 

But in the case of Rob Ford the opposite seems to be the case.

The media should stop hyping his story or buffing his legacy. Let Ford rest in peace, and let the rest us who lived his nightmare try to forget it.

And if the city has not named anything after the decent progressive mayor John Sewell, who was brought down for supporting LGBT rights, and standing up to police brutality.

Rob Ford should receive no honours either...

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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

"rob ford should receive no honours either..."
Actually, I was thinking about superglueing a gold-plated crack pipe and an empty booze bottle to his headstone so everybody can really remember him just the way he was. Now that's the perfect and appropriate remembrance...

Unknown said...

If there is a statue of Rob Ford it should go right beside Jack Layton's. Rob should be depicted shoving a stick into the spokes of Jack's bicycle wheel; a fitting tribute to the man who fought the progressive agenda tooth and nail and actively worked against bicycle lanes in the city.

As for those who want to name something after him, I suggest the City Hall Rotunda...for obvious reasons.

Simon said...

hi anon...I would prefer to ignore him altogether. Maybe in about ten years when the memory of what he did has faded, they could put up a plaque on the wall of a crack house, but now is far too soon...

Simon said...

hi Julie....I'm lucky enough to be able to go past Jack's statue almost every day, so I'd hate to ruin it with Ford's ugly mug. But you're right, one of the things Ford did was declare that cities were for cars, and make the lives of cyclists more difficult and dangerous. And although I love the idea of the City Hall Rotunda, it would be simply too massive. And would interfere with the work of the exorcist who will have to be called in to purge that place of any signs of the Ford years... ;)

rumleyfips said...

Their are lots of statues of Rob Ford in Toronto - fire hydrants. Dogs approve.

Unknown said...

Simon, when a dishonourable man is honoured, the honouring of a man who really deserves being honoured is meaningless.

Anonymous said...

Ford Nation? Are you kidding? There is no such thing and there never was. What a joke that is.

Simon said...

hi Pamela...I don't think this plan to build a statue to Ford will happen, unless they build one in the garden of the Ford estate. But if they try to build one on city property, or try to make us pay for it, there will be hell to pay...

Simon said...

hi anon...It may be a joke, but there definitely is a Ford Nation. I came across a group near City Hall the other day, and they looked just as dumb and dangerous as ever. Whether the Ford Nation will ever be as strong as it once was remains to be seen, but Doug Ford has already proclaimed himself its new leader, so they do remain a threat...

Simon said...

hi rumleyfips...well OK if it is the size and shape of a fire hydrant I wouldn't object. Robbie wasn't just the leader of the Ford Nation, he was the leader of the Mutt Nation and they deserve to be honoured too !!!! ;)