I have written before that politics in Toronto (in the sense of negotiation, the "art of the possible") is impossible because of the deep divide between the core and the suburbs. This division has been made wider by the Ford brothers, who are the most divisive figures in Canadian politics (and that's saying something when one province has a major party with a platform based on seceding from Canada). Those on both sides of the divide have been reduced to idiotic stereotypes - by the Fords, by the media, by each other. The Ford brothers are the biggest causes of the limiting of politic discourse to "elites" and "regular people" but the newspapers and blogosphere aren't far behind. The Ford brothers have successfully made being ashamed and angry at a Mayor who smokes crack, drives drunk, is currently the subject of a police investigation, and has incurred mockery from everywhere in the civilized world seem like a symptom of arrogance or an attempt to protect unfair privileges. So long as this is the case any kind of reasonable debate is extremely difficult and maybe impossible.
The cornerstone of Ford's appeal is his reputation for curbing spending and fighting for the little guy. The Toronto Star (and other media outlets) have produced detailed accounts of spending under Ford that demonstrate 1) he has done almost nothing to cut spending except cancelling one, not very important but extremely unpopular, tax and 2) consistently lied or misled people about his record. This is immediately dismissed as a partisan attack. It is worth mentioning the Star is a left-leaning paper and has always hated Ford but no one has produced anything to dispute their findings - except ad hominem (or whatever the version of ad hominem is for a newspaper) attacks. That the Star hates for is not the issue, that Ford consistently lies about the basis for his popularity would be an issue if he wasn't tackling members of Toronto's city council and insulting citizens during council meetings (just the latest of Ford's WTF moments).
Still, I think it is worth asking if the most basic premise of Ford's platform is anything less than a complete fabrication. I suppose it depends on who one considers "the little guy". I would take that to mean anyone traditionally lacking support or representation on city council. But if you take that to mean members of the LGBT community, Asian Canadians, or blue collar workers Ford is demonstrably not standing up for them. He is doing his best to trample them. Ford's distaste for Pride events (that bring as many as a million people out for the parades and other events) is the stuff of legend in Toronto. Not only does he not attend, he takes his whole family out of the city. Presumably to protect them from the decadence and moral depravity. He has said, during a council meeting, Asians are taking over because they "work like dogs" and "sleep next to their machines". And during his latest shouting match with Toronto citizens, he screamed "Go back to your union!" and "You're a leach on the system!" - leaches on the system must constitute elites to Ford.
I think this is part of what makes the media so confused about Ford. He is blatantly, pridefully pro-business and his policies consistently fall on the right side of the political spectrum and yet his support is from people who would benefit most from higher levels of taxation being returned in public services. This kind of voting (expressly and determinedly against the voters economic interests) has been an American phenomenon for decades but there it is based on two factors that have never been especially important in Canadian politics - fear of governmental over-reach and the association of evangelical Christians with the political right. In the States poor people vote Republican so they can reduce the size of the government until it is just large enough to outlaw abortion. In Toronto people are voting against their economic interests because the Fords and right-leaning newspapers tell them Ford is for the little guy - despite his continual attacks on unions, his endless attempts to cut wages for city employees who earn the least, and his pro-business, pro-investment, anti-everything else policies.
In hindsight it is easy to forget how powerful Ford and his supporters were in their first two years in office. They were unstoppable. They got everything they wanted and ran rough-shod over the opposition. The moment it all started to fall apart was when Rob's brother Doug threw out a multi-million dollar plan for the Docklands and replaced it with something he cooked up himself - featuring a really big ferris wheel. Doug's plan was mocked savagely (yet not as savagely as it should have been). It was ridiculous. The previous plan had been the product of several competitions and several thousand hours of consultations, meetings, and collaborations between planners, economists, architects, elected representatives, community groups, and many others with an interest in or expertise that might benefit the future of the city. In retrospect this one incident perfectly encapsulates the Ford brothers' world view, the basis for the popularity, and the huge problem Toronto will have to overcome in order to function as a working political entity. The distrust of education, of expertise. The disdain for long-term planning. The belief "ordinary" people want a theme park rather than a functioning addition to the city. It is a demonstration of their own anti-intellectual, anti- "elitist" thinking and their disdain for their own supporters. You don't have to be a professional planner, or economist, or architect to believe hundreds of such professionals will come up with a better plan for a large section of the most valuable real estate in the city than the head of a label-making company doodling on the back of a napkin. Yet, this is what the Ford brothers believed unquestioningly. They also believed "Ford Nation" wanted a big ferris wheel. And a monorail that didn't go anywhere. Maybe they have fond memories of visiting Epcot as kids. Who knows.
This mindless reduction of everything to both the simplest possible form and the lowest common denominator has been the hallmark of Ford's term. One of the hallmarks - the criminality, vulgarity, and substance abuse would be the other. The "debate" about the Scarborough line completely baffled Ford. He couldn't work with the terms. He wanted a subway. People downtown got subways. The various other options (and the subtleties involved in costs, passenger capacity, construction time, routes, and such) were all sub-par for Ford. He couldn't sell them because he couldn't reduce them to the simplest possible terms. I'm not saying either Ford brother is stupid. They aren't geniuses and Ford is delusional but it is a question of Ford's politics, not his intellect. The Fords thought they could sell a ferris wheel because it is easy to understand. Same with the subway (as opposed to LRT or any of the other options). I don't think the Fords are stupid; I think they believe their constituents are stupid. Subway = good (transit and sandwiches), LRT = bad (acronyms are elitist). Ferris wheel = good, mixed-used development = bad. Little guy = good, union member = bad. It is the politics of reduction, mocking complexity, insisting anything that can't be drawn on the back of a business card is an elitist, leftist, waste of money.
It is also completely in line with what one might expect when the fourth largest city in North America is handed over to the head of a label-making company and his little brother (who "never had a passion for labels"). Employees are good, as long as their not unionized. Unemployed people are bad because they don't make labels, etc. I'm reminded of Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, specifically the character who believed, honestly and with all his heart, everyone really wanted to make bicycles for him and was completely unable to imagine any other kind of person and, consequently, dismissed them all as "pissants". That is Toronto to Ford. Either you make labels or you are a pissant. Whether his "Nation" agrees with that is more complicated. Unfortunately, we won't be able to settle that question until Ford is gone. Then we will have the opportunity to see whether the people who voted for the Fords have a more complex view of Toronto and its politics than a crack-smoking alcoholic and his Cro-Magnon bully of a brother.
No comments:
Post a Comment