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Do your job

There was a heightened sense of security outside City Hall last Wednesday (February 23).

Barricades circled the area around the main entrance so that visitors were directed through a narrow opening near the front, at which a security guard and a handful of cops on bikes kept a (mostly) watchful eye.

On the occasion of the first of four days set aside for final budget deliberations, City Hall was in lockdown, so to speak. The scene was rich with symbolism for those on the receiving end of the new regime’s cost-cutting.

Maybe Mayor Rob Ford and Company didn’t want people wandering off the streets to find out what mischief they were up to with the city’s books? They’ve been doing an absolutely devilish job of keeping the truth about those budget numbers from the public.

But seems the real reason for the hopped up seguridad at 100 Queen West on this day was the tiny band of anti-poverty activists from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty congregating out front.

They’d come to file a formal complaint with the Integrity Commissioner against Councilor Doug Ford, for his “get a job” remark to one OCAP protestor following that dust up at a budget committee meeting February 9. OCAP protestors took over the room to shout down plans to cut funding to shelter and housing by $9 million in this year’s budget. But there would be no similar disruptions today, only more conduct unbecoming for the member from Ward 2. How predictable.

For the testosterone-fuelled bunch in charge at City Hall these days, the reptilian mindset abounds. And so, instead of doing the right thing and apologizing for his earlier remarks, Doug the slug took the opportunity Wednesday to repeat them.

He may wear crisp suits, but a classy guy Ford is not. Ford, you’ll remember, first denied making the comment, even after he was confronted with a recording of his offending words by a member of the media.

For him, it’s easy to dismiss the legitimate concerns of the most marginalized in our society. They’re just a bunch of bums, right? Doubtless, there are a few poor people living below the poverty line in Ford’s ward, but he might argue that they don’t pay taxes so don’t deserve the time of day, let alone respect.

Perhaps Ford, being a rookie at this politics thing, doesn’t understand that he’s a “public” servant now. And that, as a “public” servant elected by the public, there are certain responsibilities required of him in the carrying out of his duties.

Those requirements of the job are clearly written in a Code of Conduct for members of council. Yes, there is such a document. It states that members of council “shall conduct themselves with decorum at Council and committee meetings.”

The Code goes further. Under the section headed Discreditable Conduct, the document says that all members of council, “have a duty to treat members of the public… appropriately and without abuse, bullying and intimidation.”

That’s an important proviso to remember for all members of council since their decisions affect the lives of a whole lot of people. Dougie, though, seems to think he’s above having to bother to listen to any opinions not in line with his own. Worse, his remarks suggest a certain prejudice on his part when it comes to poor people.

OCAP has long been criticized by both right and left in the mainstream media for their disruptive tactics in drawing attention to issues of poverty and homelessness. Some of that criticism is legitimate.

The view was expressed by some among the media that Ford’s comments, while they may have been a little over the top, are not that much of an affront to our sensibilities given the context in which they were first uttered, namely during OCAP’s disruption of a budget meeting. The context shouldn’t make any difference.

Other members of the budget committee simply let the protestors have their say and left the room. There was no issue of safety for members of the budget committee, and certainly not for Ford who waded head first into the controversy.

Would the councillor have been cut the same slack if he’d made an anti-gay or racially insensitive remark in the heat of the moment? It’s a question worth asking. Clearly, Ford’s comments were discriminatory, only the poor make an easy target, so “Who cares,” seems to be the attitude. At City Hall, this is what democracy looks like.

Unlike gays and visible minorities, the poor are not considered an “identifiable group” under the Ontario Human Rights Code and so are not afforded the same protections under that law. Maybe they should be. OCAP reports receiving dozens of harassing phone calls at their offices from Ford supporters since the incident.

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