Daily BrewEmbattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford to speak at Remembrance Day ceremony
Remembrance Day will be marked with ceremonies and moments of reflection in towns and cities across Canada. But in the country's largest city, attention may be diverted from our war veterans by a controversial mayor in the grips of an increasingly tempestuous situation.
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is scheduled to speak at the city's Remembrance Day ceremony on Monday.
According to an official program, Ford will address the public after the official moment of silence and shortly before Sgt. Isabel Taylor reads In Flanders Fields.
It has been tradition for the mayor to speak at the ceremony outside Old City Hall, but some feel that Ford should step away from the duties in light of his ongoing controversies.
Ford has confessed to smoking crack cocaine, apologized for a string of public drunken binges and admitted to lying to his family, council and the city.
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Ford has also been caught in a video acting erratically, swearing and threatening an unidentified person. He has also rejected calls to take a temporary leave from City Hall and has declined to participate in a police drug investigation.
Globe and Mail columnist Marcus Gee said Ford can best honour Canada's war veterans by keeping his circus away from the solemn ceremony.
By deceiving the people of Toronto for so long, by causing a scandal that has made headlines around the world, he has lost all credibility.
How can he presume to stand beside those veterans in medals and berets? How can he dare to speak about sacrifice and honour?
That word, honour, has an antique ring to modern ears. But it applies here. Oxford calls it “the quality of knowing and doing what is morally right.” The vets who will stand in the cold at the cenotaph on Monday know what it means.
On the other hand, military historian Jack Granatstein told the Toronto Star says it is important for Ford to be in attendance.
"I don't think the controversy is necessarily relevant. He's the mayor — whether he should be or not is another question. Until he's not the mayor, he's the man to give the address," he said.
It should be noted that this is the first public appearance by Ford since his stunning crack admission and since he confessed to purposely lying to and misleading the public.
The expectation is that the public gathered at the downtown Toronto Remembrance Day ceremony will remain respectful, but it is unfair of Ford to risk it. Some things are more important than all of these games. And we can only hope everyone remembers that.
