Beginning at 9:30 a.m. and extending through to the next morning, the City of Toronto’s Executive Committee — led by Mayor Rob Ford — heard more than one hundred and fifty deputations from a diverse group of citizens. In a sincere bid to ensure that the passion, insight and creativity displayed over the course of that epic meeting is not forgotten, Ford For Toronto will be posting a deputation video every weekday for the month of August.
Deputant:Â Desmond Cole (twitter)
Occupation:Â He’s been a tutor and was project coordinator for I Vote Toronto, an organization dedicated to granting non-citizens the right to vote in municipal elections.
Political History:Â Was one of the winners of City Idol in 2006, and thus made an unsuccessful bid for City Council in that year’s election.
Scheduled Speaker No.:Â 183;Â Actual Speaker No.:Â 126
Note:Â Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday reveals himself to be a harsh critic of amateur puppetry with this clip. He first tells the deputant that he can still see him behind the box — ruining the illusion, I guess — and follows up with a sharp rebuke of Cole’s skills: “[Your puppet] doesn’t even move his lips.” Admittedly, Desmond Cole is not a very good puppeteer.
Tags: budget, core service review, toronto spoke