Kicking off this week’s City Council meeting, Mayor Rob Ford rose to introduce the debate on his key agenda item: the contracting out of solid waste collection in the district west of Yonge Street. His speech struck an immediate divisive tone, declaring “we [ councillors] are going to divide ourselves into two groups … we’re going to have the left or you’re going to have the right.” He also struck a Sue-Ann Levyish tone with his use of the phrase “tax and spend socialists.”
I’ve embedded two videos, a short version of his speech (above) that includes only the most inflammatory section, and a longer, uncut version. The long version (below, past the cut) includes a fun section wherein the mayor lays out what he believes to be his administration’s greatest accomplishments thus far. The list includes things like building subways and bringing the UFC to Toronto, among other less dubious claims.
Interestingly, despite having a rare opportunity to ask the mayor direct questions — the last time this happened, it was really fun — , councillors passed and move directly to asking questions to city staff. As one councillor expressed on the floor: why ask questions when you’re not going to get an answer?
Tags: council, garbage, privatization