themarc
Senior Member
On the stand at trial, Ford clarified that his foundation did *not* fund Don Bosco. I challenged Warmington about a similar claim, and he backed down. The list skitters around, but the foundation has no meaningful public presence, and there is no thorough documentation to check against.
From last September (the Mayor did not reply):
Thank you very much for your prompt reply, Mr. Warmington.
With this email, I include Mayor Rob Ford in the "To" field. I want to make it very clear that this indicates I am sending a formal message to both Mr. Warmington and the Mayor of the City of Toronto. I am following up on the suggestion by Mr. Warmington to ask the Mayor directly for clarification about what, if any, equipment was located at the Don Bosco school site that was in fact purchased by the Rob Ford Football Foundation.
Mr. Mayor, a quick clarification would be greatly appreciated.
Was there any equipment at Don Bosco that can be confirmed as material purchased through the Rob Ford Football Foundation?
If so, are there associated Foundation receipts, and / or is there any documentation that establishes that it was purchased for the Rexdale Raiders exclusively?
If none of the equipment at Don Bosco can be associated with purchases by the Foundation, did the Foundation come up at all in conversation with columnist Joe Warmington for this column? If so, in what context?
I note that no correction / revision appears online in Mr. Warmington's column today. As a result, it still reads as though Foundation equipment was used by the school. In addition, I note that no mention was made indicating there was separate equipment for the Mayor's summer program with the Rexdale Raiders being stored on school grounds. Based on Mr. Warmington's statement yesterday, I now have the image of Don Bosco and the School Board being obliged to house 4 separate sets of equipment. Based on statements from the school, none of the equipment was currently being used by members of the Eagles.
In my personal opinion, this does not appear to be an efficient use of what is likely limited storage space. I am also unclear whether the past arrangement (resolved Friday with the removal of the Mayor's / Foundation's equipment) meant that volunteers for the Rexdale Raiders programme required access to the school through summer months. If so, it strikes me as reasonable to ask that such an arrangement be brought to a natural end, months after the Mayor's association with Don Bosco and the board had ended. Otherwise, TCDSB resources would continue to be dedicated to accommodate free storage and ongoing access to equipment not associated with its school.
But of course it is Mr. Warmington's column to frame as he wishes.
Mr. Mayor, I do look forward to your clarification regarding the Foundation's supply of materials for either the Eagles and / or the Raiders, with equipment stored at Don Bosco High School until last Friday.
All the best,
Jude MacDonald
On 2013-09-09, at 4:23 PM, Joe Warmington <Joe.Warmington@sunmedia.ca> wrote:
Thanks Jude.
No big deal. I paraphrased the foundation word -- to cover off the totality of it.
Mayor talked of it being gear he gathered but not that Bosco equipment was from foundation.
I didn't know there was a distinction but mayor was not indicating what your concern seems to be.
The summer program gear I believe was from foundation but you can check with him.
Sorry for confusion. Hope this helps. Jw
Subject: Involvement of Rob Ford Football Foundation with Don Bosco: Sun article makes an unattributed link between the two
Dear Mr. Warmington:
As I have communicated to you via Twitter several times today, I ask that you and The Toronto Sun clarify and confirm a specific detail included in your piece, "Catholic school board fumbles with Ford football gear."
Article published: Toronto Sun, September 8, 2013
Writer: Joe Warmington
Available online: http://www.torontosun.com/2013/09/08/catholic-school-board-fumbles-with-ford-football-gear
I have alerted the paper through various channels to the following, as you may have done the Mayor and his Foundation a great disservice by misrepresenting the Foundation's past relationship to Don Bosco and the city's Catholic School Board.
Relevant quote:
"There was no problem fielding two [Don Bosco] teams, the cost of running those teams was incurred by the civic leader and his football foundation and they had great success on the field."
(Contextual text in square brackets and emphasis in bold are mine.)
The quote above seems to indicate that the Rob Ford Football Foundation covered costs related to the Don Bosco Eagles and/or Don Bosco's football programme. Is it something that was confirmed by the Mayor, the Rob Ford Football Foundation, the charity's administrating organization (Toronto Community Foundation), or the Toronto Catholic District School Board? If not or if it is something you are asserting without any substantiation, or if your source is now unwilling to support this statement I would suggest the paper needs to revise and correct the copy immediately.
If the paper is prepared to stand by the statement as one confirmed by a reliable source, I apologize for any inconvenience in raising the matter. Please do let me know if a correction is issued, or revision occurs to the online copy. It would be a courtesy to also notify those who are also receiving this initial message from me.
Thank you for your attention,
Jude MacDonald
I will grant Rofo the fact that support could also be "manpower in kind" - how he arranged for that manpower is really none of our business as long as he provided for it.