Depending on how you look at it, a big treat was delivered to Torontonians today, courtesy the the wiliest trickster of all.
For those not familiar with the situation, Toronto’s mayor Rob Ford was filmed smoking crack, the video surfaced last spring, it subsequently disappeared and Ford denied any wrong-doing.
Now, it has been announced the police have the video as well as others that seem to show Ford buying packages from known drug dealers.
It should also be noted that Ford is an extremely polarizing figure. There is Ford Nation and then the rest of the city who despise the man and his policies. No middle ground and a possible 50/50 split.
Ford has also been accused of other shady and potentially illegal activities. He is controvery incarnate.
Drug scandals are rare for politicians. The most notable instance was the Marion Berry situation. So Ford is treading fairlu new ground here.
And technically, he cannot be criminally charged for being filmed smoking crack. Instead, it is his judgement and moral obligation to his office that are being judged. Again, this is new ground for politicians, especially in Canada.
Usually when politicians fuck up, it is because of fucking. Sex has long been the moral noise by which politicians hang.
So, would things be different if the Ford scandal were about sex and not drugs?
What makes me wonder this is the surprising response from staunch Ford critics that the man has an issue with substances (booze has factored into some of his other public moments) and that he should not be demonized for the substance use, but only his lack of judgement. I have a complicated history with drugs, so I am not going to comment on that. But I do wonder if that same consideration would be given had he been caught in some sort of sexual scandal.
Toronto is still pretty prudish. Not long ago a councillor and mayoral candidate dropped out of the race because it was revealed he’d been stepping out on his girlfriend. There was a tonne of moral outrage over that too..and there was nothing even remotely illegal about it. The difference is with sex scandals, the person is entirely expected to step down, whereas Ford has been propped up and didn’t Berry get back in?
Why then, politically-speaking, is sex more dangerous than drugs?
I truly believe that had Ford been filmed laying pipe instead of smoking from one, he’d have gotten the boot long ago.
