How Ford can make love gravy flow again
Rob Ford (NOW, July 3-9) can redeem himself in one way only – he can go all Crown-witness confessional on us and sing about everything he knows, with dates and times of meetings and monies exchanged in the Green For Life private garbage contract, the Ferris wheel adventure on the waterfront, casino scheming, the dirty stuff with Muzik at the Ex, the Island airport scoop and the printing subcontract with the city that the Ford family business was angling for. He could still save himself by doing this. He has a chance. The love gravy would pour again if he yelled, “If I’m going down I’m taking you all with me!” It’s his only chance.
Chris Malcolm
Toronto
From the mouth of Ford Nation
Enzo DiMatteo’s Rob Ford’s Lost Comeback In Three Acts (NOW, July 3-9) is the latest in a long line of reports from NOW about our mayor. Your view that Ford is incompetent is well understood. As I am sure you are aware, Ford has a gift for talking to the people – his people. He has persuaded me to believe that he has accomplished a great deal during his time as mayor. Ford is proof of the power of words delivered with a charismatic and personable approach.
I agree he does play the victim and has put himself in a terrible position. Here is my question: Is the city of Toronto better off fiscally now, since Ford has been our major? This is what the citizens of Toronto need to understand prior to the upcoming election in order to make an informed decision. Whose answer can we trust?
Maybe Toronto is ready to leave its teenage phase behind and enter adulthood.
The upcoming election will tell the tale. If you want to change the minds of current Ford fans, though, you had better show them that Ford’s fiscal legacy is just as out of touch as his personal legacy.
Brittany Jones
Toronto
Robo cop-out
Rob Ford is to Toronto what Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez is to football – he has bitten and head-butted Torontonians far too long. Putting on a business suit and speaking gravely before a selected group of media won’t change that.
Ford should take his own advice. If his substance abuse issues are indeed going to be a life-long struggle, he should give up the distractions of politics altogether so he can focus on what he claims is supremely important: to be the best person he can be.
Geoff Rytell
Toronto
Too much stupidity for one day
Re Doug Ford Redefines Racism (NOW, July 2). Are the Fords trying to make up for lost time? I know Rob has been in rehab for a couple of months, but that’s no reason to try and squeeze so much stupidity into one day.
Justin Flontek
From nowtoronto.com
R. Kelly missing from our gay gallery
Loved the nostalgic Hall of Fame page in your Pride special of gay folks who’ve graced your cover (NOW, June 26-July 2), save for one glaring omission: the gorgeous 2002 cover of Hogtown Renaissance man and über-homo R. Kelly Clipperton.
Erika Hennebury
Toronto
The house Adam Vaughan built
Re Alina Chatterjee’s letter, Who Put Housing On The Map In Trinity? (NOW, July 3-9).
If we’re going to invoke history on the Liberals’ housing record, we need to make sure we’re looking at the entire history. It was a budget introduced by Paul Martin as finance minister in 1996 that ended federal involvement in housing programs and downloaded responsibility to the provinces.
The Affordable Housing Program, Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative and their successors have produced embarrassingly meagre results, particularly compared to earlier programs that were cancelled by Martin and Mike Harris in the name of fighting deficit demons.
As the new MP for Trinity-Spadina, Adam Vaughan has built a reputation on solving affordable housing issues and working with government and community partners. He knows who we are, and he should now use his reputation and the resources available to him to significantly move this agenda forward.
Brian Eng
Toronto
Sex trade-offs
In her article Will Johns Become The New Fags? (NOW, June 26-July 2), Alice Klein writes that men who buy sex should not be criminalized for seeking an “uncomplicated and pleasurable way to satisfy their sexual hunger.”
There is nothing “uncomplicated” or “pleasurable” about the limited options that result in women of any age having to resort to prostitution in order to pay the rent and being unable to exit [the profession] due to a severe lack of services.
I agree with Klein on one point: that “sexual violence is… a threat, particularly… to women and girls.” We need a deeper analysis that considers prostitution within the context of patriarchy and capitalism.
Dana Ayotte
Toronto
Carnal knowledge, the lawful kind
Re S. David’s letter claiming that liberals who defend the right of sex workers to make a living will next be defending pedophiles (NOW, July 3-9). Allow me to say on behalf of liberals everywhere that when consenting adults have sex (possibly with an exchange of money involved), it’s fundamentally different from the abuse of children.
S. David’s obsession with “sexual deviancy” reflects an unhealthy need to control the sex lives of other people. Normalcy encompasses a much broader range than S. David imagines. And, of course, it is ridiculous to make it legal to sell sex but illegal to buy it. Who does the Harper government think it is fooling?
David Palter
Toronto
Photo hunt P.S.
Looks like I am a little late for your photo hunt contest, but it did inspire me to take this attached picture, so I thought I would send it in anyway. Love the magazine.
Calvin Fournier
Toronto
NOW welcomes reader mail. Address letters to: NOW, Letters to the Editor, 189 Church, Toronto, ON M5B 1Y7. Send e-mail to letters@nowtoronto.com and faxes to 416-364-1166. All correspondence must include your name, address and daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for length.
