Daily BrewTime to talk about who should replace Toronto Mayor Rob Ford
OK, so Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is a train wreck. I don't intend to editorialize, but we have to start off on the right foot here. Because it is time to talk about who should replace him.
Yesterday, city council formally urged Ford to take a temporarily leave and seek treatment for substance abuse issues. Meantime, freshly-redacted police documents contained new allegations of drunk driving, drug use and the possible solicitation of prostitutes.
Ford's response was to threaten legal action against former staff members who spoke to police and make some wildly inappropriate comments about cunniligus.
Ford maintains that he will run again in the 2014 mayoral election, and that statement has always been somewhat concerning for those who don’t want to see Toronto devolve into the cartoon city from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
But a new poll suggests Ford's increasingly bizarre reaction to this weeks-long drug abuse scandal hasn't helped his support base as much as he'd like.
An Ipsos Reid poll conducted for CTV News has found that 62 per cent of Toronto would not vote for Ford "under any circumstance."
The poll surveyed the level of support for several presumed and declared candidates, and even asked about Ford's chances in a vote with more than one key opponent – circumstances that have tended to improve Ford's odds of winning. In every instance, the numbers were bad for Ford.
What does this mean? It could mean that the next Toronto mayoral election is an open contest, after all. So based on these poll results, as well as recent events, rumours and allegations, let’s take a look at some people who could, and some who should, run against Ford in the 2014 municipal election.
Olivia Chow
Chow is a current NDP MP for a downtown Toronto riding and a presumptive left-leaning mayoral favourite. Chow says she is considering a run for mayor and previous polls have named her as the candidate most likely to beat Ford. The latest Ipsos Reid poll suggests 36 per cent of Toronto would back Chow. Ford received 20 per cent support.
John Tory
He's been the provincial PC leader, he's been a mayoral candidate and now he is a host on Newstalk 1010. Tory had considered a mayoral run last time around and his name has inevitably come up again. The Ipsos Reid poll give Tory 28 per cent support.
Karen Stintz
Stintz has declared her candidacy, severing the final tie between herself and the mayor. She sits as the chair of the Toronto Transit Commission and presents herself as a reasonable conservative option. She received 13 per cent support in the Ipsos Reid poll.
More on Rob Ford:
Toronto council officially urges Mayor Rob Ford to step down and seek treatment
Ford spotlight raising addiction awareness, but fuels stigma too, experts say
Drunk driving and escorts highlight latest Mayor Rob Ford allegations
From saga to circus: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford takes on city council
Full coverage: Rob Ford
David Soknacki
The businessman was budget chief under former mayor David Miller and was the first to officially announce his candidacy. He considered a conservative with progressive tendencies, he is relatively unknown to the general public and he has three per cent of the support in the Ipsos poll.
Denzil Minnan-Wong
Some say the councillor's "tough on Ford" approach is the early salvo in a mayoral run, and there may be some legitimacy to that. While leading council in urging Ford seek treatment, he described himself as a tough-on-crime fiscal conservative. Coun. Doug Ford tried to shout him down as a political opportunist.
Doug Ford
And speaking of political opportunists. The older Ford brother has tried to fashion the controversy as a leftist conspiracy. Rob says Doug will be premier one day, but that doesn't mean he couldn't make a pit stop as mayor, should something actually compel his brother not to run.
Chief Bill Blair
Here's another guy Doug Ford has called a political opportunist. Under his watch, police executed a massive investigation into a drug organization that ended up being tied to the mayor, and charged his friend with drug trafficking. Does that mean Blair has eyes for Rob's job? There could only be one reason why a police chief would do something like that.
George Smitherman
The runner up in the 2010 mayoral election must be stewing right now, especially considering the Ford camp vilified him for an admitted past addiction to party drugs. Do you remember the Simpsons episode when Homer is elected sanitation commissioner? And when he inevitably brings the city to ruins, the incumbent commission comes back just for the chance to laugh at the electorate? That's one reason why Smitherman could run again.
Adam Giambrone
Speaking of candidate's from the 2010 election, remember Giambrone? He was the progressive golden boy who pulled his name from the ballot after admitting to having an "inappropriate relationship" that included a dalliance in his city hall office. Seemed scandalous at the time; now not so much.
Don Cherry
He's a right wing kook, he's popular with Ford Nation and he says things without thinking about the repercussions. Sounds like we've got a solid replacement for Ford. Cherry supports Ford but thinks he needs to "straighten himself out." Plus, he's the only guy in Toronto that makes the mayor seem vanilla.
An official Rob Ford bobblehead
There are 1,000 perfectly acceptable Ford stand-ins out there right now, and it would take just one of them to give Ford a run for his money on election night.
'Slurpy' Ford
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