Not Even Close: Rob Ford Wins

In the wake of Rob Ford's decisive mayoral victory, Toronto's regular folk celebrate, young urban elites cry into their lattes, and John Moore tells everyone to calm down.

Shed a tear for the Toronto Star’s editors, who are feeling a little blue this morning. “Rob Ford was not the Star’s choice for mayor of Toronto,” they admit today (this is a massive understatement, they would rather Toronto had elected an unripe piece of fruit) “but he was clearly the people’s choice … he is now mayor of all the people, not just those who voted for him ... That means he has to reach out beyond the narrow confines of his campaign.” Clearly the Star is still in denial: that “narrow” campaign captured nearly 50 per cent of the vote.

The Toronto Sun’s Sue-Ann Levy wonders what kind of mess Ford is inheriting, saying there’s no telling how much outgoing Mayor David Miller and his staff “have moved the budget shells around to paint a far brighter picture than what actually exists.” This gets to the heart of the great mystery of this election because, depending on who you ask, the city had a $350-million surplus, is facing a $500-million shortfall, or is better off than all its neighbours. No one seems to know for sure, but the assumption that Toronto’s finances are grossly mismanaged was key to Ford’s victory.

Ford’s “financial plan is a pipe dream. His transit plan is a farce. His knowledge of the city budget is a joke. He has no natural allies on council,” says the Sun’s Rob Granatstein, who actually supports Ford as an antidote to Miller. He says Ford “struggled to answer questions during our editorial boards with him about his own financial and transit plans,” an assessment his Sun colleague Lorrie Goldstein echoes. Even the Sun’s crowing editorial says some of Ford’s budget plans “don’t appear to add up,” which makes you wonder what led Sun editors endorse him as the candidate to clean up Toronto’s finances.

“Take a pill Toronto,” says the National Post’s John Moore. “Rob Ford has been elected mayor. Now breathe.” He’s not all that bad, and besides, holding only one vote on a 45-seat council, “it’s not like he can wreck the place.”