There’s some back-biting tonight on Twitter of CityNews for what may have been a too complicated mayoral debate. It was nice that people could participate but the process was complicated and the free-for-alls (or whatever they were called) were like fights at a wedding. Gord Martineau was wincing. But there were lots of important insights for ordinary voters. Things that went right for the public. Viewer results broadcast during the program showed that earlier polls putting Rob Ford and Olivia Chow out front were not flukes. It will break the heart of those who despise Ford’s sordid personal behaviour but he came across as the guy in command in this encounter. That seemed to happen mainly because he cranked out specifics (accurate or not). John Tory unmasked Olivia Chow as a hostage of the mighty municipal union CUPE. She would leave garbage collection east of Yonge Street just as it is, she had to admit, so that private and unionized service can “compete.” To which most people would say “Show me the money.” It was a clever way for Tory to raise a subject on which he has been silent so far. The former talk-show and media executive dropped an all too typical clanger in the post-debate scrum when he said: “I’m not going to repeat the gory details” of Rob Ford’s behaviour. It prompted commentator John Stall to conclude that true to his reputation, John Tory is “too nice” to be in politics.
