Alan Lenczner, Mayor Ford's defence attorney, is a damn good lawyer -- arguably the best litigator around. And he did a bang-up job in court on Monday during Rob Ford's appeal hearing in downtown Toronto. His argument is a legitimate one -- but his argument won't work. That's because it is a policy argument and not a legal argument. Appeal Courts, in general, are not there to reconsider facts -- just law. The appeal will fail.
If you're from some non-Toronto region of this country, you may best know Mayor Rob Ford as that guy who stars in all the breathlessly outraged stories your hipster Ontario friends post on Facebook -- not anymore. On Monday he was removed from office. Perhaps he should consider running for the Green Party. By my estimation we can thus anticipate a Green majority government sometime around... 6632 A.D.
You've given the media so much to comment on: missteps, mixed messages, leaderless moments in city hall, all topped off with the cherry of antagonism. Of course they don't like you. Your job is to be the face and the leader of the city in which we all live, and sometimes, you're not so good at it. They are very good at their job, which is reporting on you.
The latest in the lawsuit that alleges that Mr. Ford broke the Municipal Conflict-of-Interest Act (MCIA) for voting to let himself not be charged for failing to repay $3,150 in improper donations to his football foundation is just bizarre. I really don't like the precedent of letting this go if Ford does end up using the "honest mistake" defence.