Mayor Ford's family tree includes "unruly" branch, says ancestry tracker

A news release from Ancestry.ca:

"Why is Rob Ford such a nonconformist mayor? From antagonistic run-ins with the media to his notorious outbursts on council floor, the source of Ford’s ways may lie in his family tree.

Ancestry.ca, Canada’s leading family history website, has recently uncovered that Rob Ford’s paternal grandfather, Ernest Ford, was sent to Canada from England as a part of the Child Immigration scheme. Moreover, historical records may suggest that Ernest was sent away because he was unruly.

Following the death of his mother in 1900, Ernest is listed in the 1901 British Census living with his widowed father and grandmother in Warwickshire, England. Despite having next of kin with whom he could have lived, Ernest was shortly after sent to Middlemore Homes, an institution known for taking in children who were either truants, disorderly or orphans for the purpose of being sent to Canada.

Between 1833 and 1939, approximately 100,000 children were sent to Canada from Great Britain. At the age of 11, Ernest can be found in the Canadian Passenger Lists migrating to Canada as a Home Child in 1902. He travelled with 32 other children in “steerage” aboard the ship Siberia.

These newly discovered facts are especially compelling as Rob Ford’s paternal grandfather later claimed that he was born in Canada. Ernest Ford reported that he was born in Portage Vale, New Brunswick on his military papers and marriage certificate, both of which can be found on Ancestry.ca. However, Ernest’s birth and christening records show he was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England.

If Toronto’s mayor does come by his tendances through his paternal line, if history is any guide, perhaps there is hope for a more conciliatory Rob Ford in the future?

Ernest appears to have made great contributions to Canada following his arrival and was awarded a “Good Conduct Badge” in 1917 for his military service in the Great War, and three additional awards in the Canadian Expeditionary Force: a 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal.

Ernest Ford was the father of Doug Ford Sr., the idol to sons Rob and Doug Jr. whose likeness still appears in a framed picture in the mayoral office. Doug Ford Sr., the rags-to-riches businessman, athlete and Conservative MPP in the Mike Harris government, passed away in 2006."

Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon finishes her "embarrassed" speech

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At the start of last week's council meeting -- the first real working session with Mayor Rob Ford and the new council -- the ever-chipper Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon stood up and released a blast that surprised many of her colleagues.

“I was embarrassed to be a Toronto councillor that day,” McMahon said, reflecting on a one-day session the previous week where council took care of some housekeeping itms . “We had three small items on our agenda, one being whether to have sandwiches at our meeting or not. It took us five hours, that is ridiculous.

“It was a complete and utter waste of our time, money and effort,” she said. “That is not why I ran for council.”

McMahon had more to say but was ruled out of order by Speaker Frances Nunziata, amid a chorus of grumbling from the veterans. McMahon, who calls herself one of council's "neutral newbies", now says she should have spoken to Nunziata earlier, to let her know her plans and make sure it was done in the appropriate way.

On Dec. 23, we visited McMahon's City Hall office and gave her a chance to complete her thoughts. Click the link at the top of this post to hear it in Quick Time format. If you don't have the free software, you can download it here: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

 

Mayor David Miller will not seek re-election - again

Last year, mayor David Miller announced he would not seek re-election.

But as we've seen before, campaign buzz can be suddenly resurrected if the gossip gets loud enough. Those in the know tipped the media that Miller had been doing polling recently.

City hall watchers got to play the "what if" game for three whole days. This morning, Miller told reporters he was definitely, for sure, for sure, 100% not running.

The. End.

Mayor's book due out late summer or fall

Business reasons -- that's the only explanation a publicist at Cormorant Books would offer for why Mayor David Miller's new book, that had been tentatively scheduled for release this month, is being held until at least later in the summer.

She wouldn't speculate on whether the date was tied to the fall municipal election. 

A first draft of, Witness to a City: David Miller's Toronto, was done in April and the mayor seemed pleased at the prospect of becoming an author.

The book isn't an autobiography or a memoir of his time as mayor, but rather Miller's take on some of the extraordinary Torontonians he's met since taking the helm of the horseshoe in 2003.

Although it's not expected to be a J.K. Rowling or Dan Brown type of blockbuster, the mayor has plans for the proceeds, a scholarship that honours his late mother, Joan Miller.

Israeli raid has K'Naan commenting, clarifying and cajoling

Rexdale homeboy K'Naan is singing a peppy, harmless World Cup version of Waving Flag these days, after being flown around the world by Coke, but he's still the dusty foot philosopher who rose to success speaking his mind about Somali pirates and other touchy subjects.

So, comfortably ensconced in Johannesburg for the World Cup, he must have known things would heat up when he wrote this, at about 11 a.m. EDT Monday, on his Facebook page:

My heart is pained for the loss of civilian lives aboard an Aid ship to Gaza. And Israel, you are WRONG for this.

The approving reaction from his fans included some much more pointed condemnation of Israel. In fact, K'Naan sparked a rolling online brawl over Israel, aid groups, Palestinians and much more. You have to admire his attempts to ride herd over the unbridled, unfiltered commenters.

Here, in chronological order are the rest of K'Naan's posts from Monday, ending at about 9:30 p.m. EDT as he tries to inject some love into the debate. (The dashes inserted into the f-word are mine). He was at it again Tuesday - those updates are at the bottom of this post.

Be on your brother side when he's right, and be on his side when he's wrong...by telling him that he's wrong. #Flotilla

My dry words pain u, thank God 4 music, for without it I would B at odds w/ so many ppl. Love me through my songs, & i'll luv U in melody

My facebook fans are using my earlier comments 2 divide themselves. What I'm about to say now may complicate things further, but it's true:

I love Israel, I love those bringing aid 2 Gaza, I love all of humanity! Hence my frustration, 4 where there's no love, there's no criticism

The fury of the 1 track mind is sad & frightening. Saying that I have love for people is not the same as saying I support Israel's actions.

You must realize I have been faced with similar scenarios at gunpoint, & I have never ever said "f--- the other clan" Ppl, we can be better!

And to the Muslims who are now angry at me for my last comments, and who say "f--- Israel" maybe you have not read the Quran lately.

Yes, there needs 2 be justice 4 the brave victims on those boats. Yes Gaza is in a dire & humiliating situation. And yes I LOVE HUMANITY!

All I can hope is that you understand me, or understand my dream here, if not, it's a failure of my articulation. But I leave you with this

"Muslim Jews & Christians war, no one's left to praise the Lord" - Me. #flotilla

Goodnight, and please understand that most of you who were offended, probably just misunderstood my comments. I send you my love.

In one day I've managed 2 offend the State of Israel, my own Muslim community, & my musician friends. Tomorrow I will take on Wonder bread!

You might think K'Naan would sleep on it and decide to get back to parties and soccer. But he's not done yet. About 11 hours after the previous update is this:

If I say I love Somalia, does it mean I love warlords, instability and our never ending clan feuds?

and then these:

So why does I love Israel, not make you think of the people of Israel, the ppl of Jacob (yacquub) & only the sate of Israel..

Love all people, governments & greed are the same everywhere. We Somalis are no better, we kill 2 seem more religious than another thse days

There's a difference between explaining myself & explaining something 4 the sake of others. 1 is out of fear, the other is out generosity

I'm done now, I hope the world learns to be brave against tyranny, and I hope other artist speak up even if it means selling less records.

Stabbed in the back by Howard Moscoe?

Only a few days ago we gleefully blogged about veteran councillor and former TTC chair Howard Moscoe handing out pro-Transit City bumper stickers bearing the slogan: "Stabbed in the back by Dalton McGuinty" and a retro-looking cartoon of a man with three huge knives in his back.

Man, that's some funny stuff, sucks to be the premier, hey, ouch, what the hell was that?

Moscoe on Tuesday turned his political dagger on the Toronto Star, specifically its editorial board. He circulated a motion for next Tuesday's council meeting. The preamble talks about how the issue of councillors' pay is upon us again and councillors will "predictably fall all over themselves to prove to the electorate how frugal they are …"

Then there's this:

 “I believe that in seeking advice of what our salaries should be we should turn to the experts that know best, the editors of the Toronto Star. They are always eager to give advice about this weighty subject. I know that managing a daily newspaper is far more important than managing the 9.2 billion dollar corporation called the City of Toronto but the wisdom of important people like the Star Editorial Board ought to be given the weight it deserves.

 Recommendations:

 The Hay Group, in reviewing the salaries of Toronto Councillors, be asked to take into account the average compensation paid to the non-employee members of the editorial board of the Toronto Star."

The reaction in the Star newsroom was laughter, and then puzzlement. Who was he talking about? The journalists who write the editorials, and interview politicians and others who visit 1 Yonge St., are Star staffers. There is a community board, but they aren't paid at all. 

Moscoe told the Globe's Kelly Grant he meant the Toronto Star Advisory Committee, a six-member committee of Torstar’s board formerly known as the Editorial Advisory Committee. He thought they earned $120,000 but, as Grant points out, for sitting on the committee they earn on average less than councillors'  $99,619.52.

No doubt Moscoe is sore about Star editorials last year that criticized councillors for not freezing their own pay while freezing that of some city employees. His recent call for an independent counsel for councillors was also given a thumping on the editorial page.

Still, Moscoe is friendly enough to Star reporters, genial, thoughtful and always ready with a quote. He even helped pay a tiny fraction of our salaries last year by spending $46.34 from his office budget on a Star photo of a menorah lighting.

Go ahead and laugh. You might be next.

Taxman now wants Toronto councillors' zoo, Sony Centre and golf passes

Toronto city councillors have already been told to surrender their free Metropasses or pay back taxes on them.

Soon, they'll also be told to fork over their free passes to the Toronto Zoo (a VIP card that includes parking and free entry for the councillor's family) and city-owned golf courses (four tickets for 18 holes) as well as complimentary passes to the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.

Celine Chiovitti, the city’s director of pension, payroll and employee benefits, told the Star on Monday that discussions are continuing with the Canada Revenue Agency over the freebies, with a CRA-imposed deadline of May 14.

But, based on what Chiovitti said, it seems certain the zoo, the Parks and Environment department that runs the golf courses and the Sony Centre will follow the TTC's lead and tell the councillors to surrender their freebies.

“I think it’s going to be similar to what we’ve seen with the TTC. They are all their own entities but it would be similar,” Chiovitti said.

The man with the most to gain from the councillors' loss is Rob Ford. The penny-pinching Etobicoke pol and mayoral candidate told the Star on Friday that, after failing to convince councillors to vote away their own perks, he notified the Canada Revenue Agency that the comps should be taxable benefits, and the agency told him last year it was investigating.

The CRA, contacted Monday, wouldn't confirm any details of an ongoing audit, or discuss its origins.

The many Ford foes can quibble over whether he's responsible for the great council perk cull of '10, but they can't say he hasn't for years argued it's unfair for councillors to be handed a load of tax-free freebies while their constituents dig deep for the same privileges. (The screen grab above is from the YouTube video where Ford reveals his city-supplied booty.)

When contacted Friday, after TTC chief general managers Gary Webster's pass-demanding email had landed in councillors' inboxes, Ford was jubilant but didn't seem to realize the campaign gift that had been handed to him. However, after stories appeared in the Star and the Globe and Saturday, his camp sent out a press release and was still beating the drum on Monday.

There are many innings between now and the Oct. 25 election. But with council's left-wing designated hitter Joe Pantalone settling for bunts during the great Transit City debate, and fate throwing the hard-swinging Ford a lob, the home team must be getting nervous.

 

Smitherman unveils new campaign website

The mayoral race frontrunner, who boast a well-resourced team of communications specialists, has taken some flak for having, four months into the campaign, a temporary website with almost no information and a single video that made Adam Giambrone's "You talking to me?" effort look like Citizen Kane.

On Wednesday night, georgesmitherman.ca 2.0 sprang to life. It's certainly an improvement.

The website features his signature campaign colour -- purple -- and, more importantly, some actual content with policies, news, videos, photos, ways to donate, contact, events and information about the candidate.

There are also buttons for his Facebook page, Twitter feed, RSS feeds, YouTube channel and, um, the weather. Bit of a CP24 touch, that.

There were, an hour or so after it launched, a few bugs. There are three videos -- candidate and campaign team stuff -- but clicking two of them took you to the same monthly "campaign family dinner" where Smitherman introduced Bruce Davis as his new campaign manager.

There are rumours of a full Smitherman social media assault, including an iPhone app (which now seems a bit old-school, given Rocco Rossi's launch of an iPad app on Wednesday night. Pantalone is going to have to hit back with an app for that next-gen iPhone dissected by gizmodo.com) and other cyber-tools aimed at wooing the digital generation.

Now if only we can get some more Smitherman policy to wrap all the ones and zeroes around.

Mammoliti jumps into Pride parade debate

While his mayoral rivals have been pretty quiet lately, Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti seems intent on generating at least one headline a day.

Given his 3 per cent support in the recent Star-Angus Reid poll, it's not a bad strategy -- he has nowhere to go but up. (Mammoliti told the Star when the poll was released that his own internal polling puts him at 10 per cent and that his biggest job now is to build his name recognition.)

On Sunday, it was his proposal to have some bylaw officers carry guns into the war on graffiti. For some reason, few think that is a good idea.

On Tuesday, he jumped feet-first into the touchy debate over a senior Toronto manager warning Pride Toronto it may lose its 2011 city funding if activist group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid is allowed to march in this summer's Pride parade.

As the Star's Daniel Dale wrote last week, Mike Williams, general manager of economic development and culture, sent Pride Toronto the warning based on complaints from people who feel discomfort at the phrase "Israeli apartheid"; reports of QAIA marchers using offensive chants (there's disagreement over the words said) and a marcher (not a QAIA member, the group says) sporting a crossed-out swastika on his shirt.

QAIA says its message -- criticism of Israeli's treatment of Palestinians -- is in no way hateful or discriminatory. The member interviewed by Dale said she is Jewish and a "big Jew-lover" whose religion taught her to stand up for what's right.

To many, there are shades of grey there, with entwined issues of human rights, discrimination, free speech, promotion of hatred and the motivations of those who use the hot-button language of racist South Africa to describe Israel's conduct.

To Mammoliti, there is no grey at all. In a news release issued Tuesday, he said there is no room for "discriminatory hate-filled activism" at Pride. He gave its leaders 24 hours to say QAIA is not welcome in the June parade.

Otherwise, he'll make a motion at the next council meeting that the city "immediately revoke all City of Toronto funding, services, licenses, and entitlements of the Gay Pride parade." In threatening to yank 2010 funding, Mammoliti has gone further than the city.

The councillor apparently doesn't mind that his entrance into the debate will cause some to point to a 1994 diatribe he made at Queen's Park when he was an NDP MPP. Given his campaign so far, he might welcome the attention.

So what to make of a candidate who has promised a red-light district and a casino for Toronto, that senior citizens with a household income of less than $65,000 won't pay property taxes, that the Gardiner Expressway will come down, that bylaw officers will be armed and that grants can be pulled if his arbitrary 24-hour deadline is not met? 

It's tough to say. If Mammoliti wasn't a councillor, his popular support and out-there platform would push him to the mayoral fringe. And if there is one Torontonian to whom all those policies appeal, I would like to meet them.

Sarah Thomson has the jailed tycoon vote all sewn up

"Subway Sarah" Thomson, running an interesting, newsy campaign but hardly a frontrunner at this stage of Toronto's mayoral race, has picked up a surprise big-name endorsement.

Conrad Black, writing his regular National Post column from a Florida prison, seems to be writing about Toronto missing that "It" factor -- romance, he calls it, in a lengthy review of the world's top cities and the travails that have helped make them great -- but he eventually surveys the mayoral field.

"George Smitherman and Rocco Rossi are not the people to take Toronto up the last steps of urban distinction. They are very humdrum; worthy at best, and I wouldn't bet the ranch on that."

And the endorsement goes to (update: yes, he spells her name wrong):

"In this spirit of Toronto's quest for municipal greatness, I end the suspense and confer my endorsement: Sarah Thompson (sic). She is a declared candidate, is youngish, attractive, intelligent, peppy, original, is a competent businesswoman with a colourful past and would work tirelessly for the city ...

If the present front runners are the future, we have seen them for decades and it won't work. Let's have a mayor who doesn't flee before striking garbage men like the Mamelukes before Napoleon. As far as I'm concerned, the Thompson bandwagon is rolling; I hope to be able to vote for her."

(We had to look it up too: According to napoleon-series.org, the Mamelukes "were among the most painted units in Napoleon's Imperial Guard ... In 1798 the West clashed with the Mamelukes when Napoleon invaded Egypt. Their élan and bravery was of an age long gone. The Mamelukes were no match for the veterans of Bonaparte's army.")

Black's hope that he'll be able to vote for Thomson, or anyone, in October is patently preposterous, and probably his idea of puckish monkeyshine. He has served just over two years of a 6 1/2 year sentence for fraud and obstruction of justice. Also, he's not a Canadian citizen and therefore ineligible to vote in the Toronto election.

Interestingly, Black does not deign to evaluate the three other main mayoral hopefuls -- Rob Ford, Joe Pantalone and Giorgio Mammoliti -- despite Ford and Pantalone polling ahead of Rossi. We would love to see a Rob Ford-Conrad Black confab, but would settle for his erudite evaluation of the Etobicoke populist.

Good for Thomson for getting props from high/low places. But, given one of her recent twitpics posted on The Goods, she had better be careful of the company she keeps.

UPDATE: Thomson's reaction to the endorsement:

"I am honoured that such a great empire builder has endorsed me. As former competitors in the publishing industry, his recognition of my ability and vision is a tip of the hat.
My idea of expanding Toronto's subway system and paying for it through a rush hour toll that engages commuters in actively helping Toronto build out our subway is just one step in moving our city forward. It is an investment in our city and one we should have made 30 years ago.
Lord Black's knowledge of history is inspiring."