Ever since Rob Ford opened his mouth last week and invited Adam Vaughan into the race – vowing to “chew up and spit him out” (in debates) – Vaughan has had to deal with questions around whether he’s going to jump in.
In some ways, you can’t blame Toronto for grasping at rumours. Vaughan would make one awesome mayor. He’s smart, fair, and doesn’t seem like the type to run away from a challenge.
Vaughan does say Ford deserves credit for creating an atmosphere where it’s a race between him and everyone else – not a contest about food policy, not transit, not the future of Toronto.
Unluckily, however, for those hoping he’s their last-ditch white knight – he’s saying any talk of him running is pure fantasy.
So, are you actually going to run against Rob Ford?
Where does Ford get off dragging me into the mayor’s race as a candidate?
I’m kind of amazed at the way in which [Rob Ford] can say something in the media and everyone, without checking whether there was any truth or reality to it, runs off as if it’s a fact.
So I very consciously said “no comment” to see what would happen.
I left it at that and The Sun ran with it, 640 ran with it, CFRB ran with it, The Star and the Globe have called me and done stories about it. What it tells me is that the City Hall press gallery, yourself excluded, is more interested in printing what Rob Ford says without checking if there’s any truth to it – let alone whether it’s an exaggeration.
It’s the same kind of flight of fancy that he has about just about every other issue. But none of it’s based in reality.
Are you a little flattered to be singled out?
Well, you know, people who hate you, say you’re never going to get elected. People who love you say you should run for mayor. That’s the reality that every politician in the city faces.
I’ve got work to do in ward 20. I made a commitment to the people of ward 20 on a series of big projects that we initiated in the last four years and I’m focused there. It’s not a job at this point in my life – and I’m not sure that I’d ever be interested in. I’m interested in ward 20.
I’m really interested in getting Alexandra Park revitalized, changing the way parks are built and managed in this city, getting the John street cultural corridor realized and the entertainment district turned around into being a neighbourhood again.
What’s your take on how the election is playing out?
I’ll tell you what is interesting in the latest polls. This is what Rob Ford has done: he has effectively framed the ballot question as “Rob Ford – yes or no”. That is what the mayor’s debate is about now.
It’s not about public transit, it’s not about finances or anything else. It’s about Rob Ford. About 30 per cent of the city has said “yes”, and about 60 plus of the city has said “no”.
The real issue now is not whether 30 per cent of those people are smart, stupid, enlightened, angry, suburban or whatever. It doesn’t matter what the 30 per cent is – it’s 30 per cent that thinks you can cut nickels and dimes and build a city.
The 60 per cent who’ve said “no” to that agenda are looking for a candidate. Maybe that’s why my name comes up, but the reality is that I’m not running and we’re going to have to make a decision between the candidates that are running.
Any advice to the slate of candidates?
If the candidates that are running need any advice, it’s to stop complaining about the last ten years – Rob Ford’s sewn that vote up. 60 per cent of the city wants to talk about the next ten years. As soon as one of you starts doing that, instead of complaining or rationalizing about the last decade, we’ll have a mayor’s race, a candidate and a “no [Ford]” vote that will put all of this anxiety in the month of August behind us.
Even Mel Lastman had a vision about the next ten years and there is not a candidate in this city’s history that has won an election complaining about yesterday.
This city has always had elections about tomorrow. And what 60 per cent [of Toronto] is saying is that their candidate has not emerged yet.
