# Toronto's alleged crack smoking mayor. Why is he still in office? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 26, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410 "2013-05-26T15:45:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/21 "2013-05-27T00:11:47Z")
Crack is one of the more destructive drugs. Think Crack Whores with their teeth rooting out and sores all over their faces. If you have a strong stomach Google Crack Sores or Cocaine Sores. It’s not pretty. The Mayor shows none of those signs. Hopefully if he did try it then it was a one off thing. Crack has destroyed a lot of good people. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/22 "2013-05-27T00:15:04Z")
As to your original question, a duly _ **elected** _ official is _ **not** _ easily dismissed based on allegation. As **Muffin** points out, in this case it requires a court decision. It’s not the same thing as a mere candidate being forced out of the race. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/23 "2013-05-27T00:19:30Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > All I am suggesting is that reporters quietly follow this guy around for awhile. Weeks or even months. If he’s a crackhead then there’s no way he can avoid visiting his dealer for very long. Reporters can then get their own video footage and photographs. Rob Ford is already followed about as closely as local media can practically afford to follow him. A while back he chased away a Toronto Star reporter who was skulking around his house at night. Indeed, much of his term has been marked by embarrassing public episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/24 "2013-05-27T01:45:32Z")
I like that mayors/councillors in Ontario can only be turfed for very serious reasons directly tied to their office. I also like that personal scandal is not pursued in the press in Canada to the same degree that it is in the USA or England. When someone is elected, I want them to get on with doing their job, rather than waste a lot of time and energy fighting nuisance suits. Are personality flaws a factor in my decisions on whom to vote for? Yes. For example, I believe that a politician should be honest, and Ford has an established track record for lying (e.g. denying a DUI conviction, denying a pot possession conviction, denying being turfed out of a Leafs game for being verbally aggressive, and denying being asked to leave a ball for being drunk), but I do not think our laws should be changed to make it possible to remove him from office just because he is a lying sack of shit. As mayor, about all he can do that other councillors can not do is appoint councillors to committees. He has no veto power. He can not do anything of significance that cannot be voted down by council. The next election will roll around soon enough, at which time the electorate will decide what to do with him. I sincerely hope that the electorate flushes down the sewer and out of politics. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/25 "2013-05-27T15:37:52Z")
I also like the fact that we tend to elect people who probably wouldn’t get into personal scandals in the first place. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/26 "2013-05-27T15:40:34Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Rob Ford is already followed about as closely as local media can practically afford to follow him. A while back he chased away a Toronto Star reporter who was skulking around his house at night. > > Indeed, much of his term has been marked by embarrassing public episodes. I was going to make that point - I can’t think of a political official in Canada who has been followed so closely by the press just because of the likelihood of something, let’s say, interesting, happening. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/27 "2013-05-27T16:04:06Z")
Our Mayor loves Rob Ford’s antics. Because he is neck deep in a scandal that includes paying for his son’s wedding with a government cheque! That was when he was an MP, (federal politician)! Between that and Mike Duffy, our idiot is feeling more secure I expect! ---
**Author:** ![Tioga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/54ee81/32.png) [@Tioga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tioga)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/28 "2013-05-27T19:23:10Z")
Forced resignation is an oxymoron. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/29 "2013-05-27T19:49:51Z")
Am I the only person who saw this & first thought, “Well, guess he didn’t give in to voting the way the blackmailers wanted, so now it in the press”? Politician + Juicy Scandal Pix = Do What We Want While in office. Or Else. No? = Oh my, how did that become front page news. Then again, I’m sure politics is a lot nicer in Canada and that there are no special interest groups who try to create these situations night and day there. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/30 "2013-05-27T20:06:16Z")
Now it seems that his press secretary, and deputy press secretary have been fired! ---
**Author:** ![bashere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bashere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bashere)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/31 "2013-05-27T20:53:07Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > A while back he chased away a Toronto Star reporter who was skulking around his house at night. That’s the special type of night we have here in Toronto called “day time”. And it was because the Mayor was attempting to buy public parkland to increase the size of his yard. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/32 "2013-05-27T22:05:28Z")
A modern King Ahab ! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lurker\_Above](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Lurker\_Above](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lurker_Above)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/33 "2013-05-27T22:06:15Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Now it seems that his press secretary, and deputy press secretary have been fired! Talk about mixed blessings. On one hand, you’re fired; on the other hand, you don’t have to defend Ford to the press. 😃 I look forward to the tell-all book. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/34 "2013-05-27T22:18:01Z")
Ford speaks so well. He doesn’t need a press secretary. 😃 > **[Toronto Mayor Rob Ford: Media is a ‘bunch of maggots’ for reporting on crack...](https://www.nydailynews.com/2013/05/27/toronto-mayor-rob-ford-media-is-a-bunch-of-maggots-for-reporting-on-crack-video-allegations/)** > > Two of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s senior staff members have resigned amid allegations that their boss was captured on video smoking crack with a gang of Somali drug dealers. The mayor’s o… > [@](#): > > A day earlier, Ford struck a decidedly less cordial tone, slamming the media as “a bunch of maggots” for reporting on the alleged video. > > Ford and his brother, City Councilor Doug Ford, didn’t mince words while attacking the press on his weekly talk radio show Sunday, calling “80 percent” of reporters "nasty son-of-a-guns. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/35 "2013-05-28T03:29:17Z")
It gets better. Now it seems they were not fired, nay, nay! It seems that they have been offered other opportunities. Both of them. On the same day! There a tape of him earnestly explaining how he is never one to stand in the way when one of his staff has another opportunity to pursue! (Any chance this is fancy PR spin? Cooked up to stir up the media sharks, lengthy silences, fumbling statements, and in the end - tape turns out to be a cheap fraud. The Internet extortion crap makes me think this is a possibility!) ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/36 "2013-05-28T04:58:18Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > All I am suggesting is that reporters quietly follow this guy around for awhile. Weeks or even months. If he’s a crackhead then there’s no way he can avoid visiting his dealer for very long. Reporters can then get their own video footage and photographs. It’s been alledged that he [_was_ a dealer](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/globe-investigation-the-ford-familys-history-with-drug-dealing/article12153014/), and a good one, so despite his apparent bumbling on other issues I don’t think he’d be likely to get tripped up there. Besides, he’s [already been arrested for possession](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2010/08/19/ford-marijuana-possession-charge489.html) before. Photos didn’t do much. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/37 "2013-05-28T05:41:41Z")
No, that article only suggests that his two older brothers were dealers, not Rob Ford himself. All based on anonymous sources, and not backed up by any court documents or police witnesses, so I’m taking it with a huge grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/38 "2013-05-28T12:24:32Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > (Any chance this is fancy PR spin? Cooked up to stir up the media sharks, lengthy silences, fumbling statements, and in the end - tape turns out to be a cheap fraud. The Internet extortion crap makes me think this is a possibility!) Considering that Rob Ford’s previous fumbling statements and lengthy silences have ended up in admissions of guilt on numerous occasions (e.g. his possession of marijuana and his hockey game freakout), I wouldn’t read too much into them. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/39 "2013-05-28T12:41:07Z")
I’m just saying, the whole thing smells a little like a ham handed image rehabilitation scheme, gone wrong, that perhaps he himself might have thought up. Don’t ya think? Just a little even? So he can be vindicated when the whole fake tape thing turns out to be a fraud? Convince/confirm/prove the press really is trying to frame him! ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410/40 "2013-05-28T13:09:06Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I’m just saying, the whole thing smells a little like a ham handed image rehabilitation scheme, gone wrong, that perhaps he himself might have thought up. Don’t ya think? Just a little even? So he can be vindicated when the whole fake tape thing turns out to be a fraud? Convince/confirm/prove the press really is trying to frame him! So he’s trying to cover up his drug and alcohol problems by pretending to be a guy with drug and alcohol problems? If that’s his brilliant plan, no wonder his PR guy and his top aide are finding new jobs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torontos-alleged-crack-smoking-mayor-why-is-he-still-in-office/659410.md?page=3)