When you’re a political commentator, people ask you about politics all the time. It comes with the territory.
Over the past couple of years, when travelling outside of Toronto, one of the questions I’m asked most often is ‘how the heck can someone like Rob Ford get elected as mayor of Toronto?’
I've sometimes tried to give an intellectual explanation about the intricacies of Toronto politics, about the city/suburban divide and how Toronto’s polarizing demographics have played a role.
But to be honest, not being from Toronto, I didn’t really understand it myself. I didn’t have a good answer to how Rob Ford – a city councillor with a history of controversies and allegations of racism, homophobia and alcohol abuse – could get promoted to be the mayor of Canada’s largest city.
With that question in mind, I jumped at the chance to attend the Ford Nation barbeque in Etobicoke last month.
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I spoke to one dad, Dino Olivera, who stood next to his three boys donning a sign that read “My Family Supports Ford Nation.â€
I asked him if he was worried about Ford’s alcohol and drug abuse problems setting a bad example for his impressionable children.
“I’m teaching my kids how to save money," Olivera said. "It’s the Ford administration that’s doing that. It’s saving money for taxpayers. He’s doing a good job at city hall. Let him finish what he started.
“It is an issue where you teach your kids between right and wrong. Everybody has a bad habit or whatever. But we learn from ur mistakes. The main thing is staying together and supporting Ford Nation.â€
