Margaret Atwood shoots back at Ford brothers over proposed Toronto budget cuts

Canadian author Margaret Atwood shot back at Toronto Mayor Rob ford and his councillor brother Doug.

After remaining mostly silent for a week because she was away writing, Atwood responded to calls that she should run for mayor.

"Noo, not running for mayor...too old. Used to think too ignorant, but that hasn't stopped some," Atwood wrote on Twitter. "OK, STOP me from drawing a Twin FordMayor(s) Comic Strip! I get in too much trouble as it is!"

The feud started when Atwood became outspoken over city council's proposed cuts to libraries. Doug Ford dismissed Atwood's opinion saying he didn't know who she was.

"Good luck to Margaret Atwood. I don't even know her. She could walk right by me, I wouldn't have a clue who she is," he said.

Ford recently said Atwood should get democratically elected and then council would be more than happy to listen to her.

"That was crazy. That is so undemocratic. Who pays for those people? They represent every citizen," she told the Toronto Star. "I don't think they understand the city . . . They don't understand who lives here."

"The most staggering thing about (Ford's) statement is that it implies that only councillors (not voters, not taxpayers, not citizens) are allowed to voice any opinion," Atwood wrote in a email to the Toronto Sun.

The City of Toronto is trying to cut spending to trim a $774-million budget shortfall.

(Reuters Photo)