The UFC has been legal in Ontario for less than a year, but that's not stopping Toronto Councillor Doug Ford from suggesting schools in the city adopt a community service program affiliated with the popular mixed martial arts organization.
Mayor Rob Ford's brother's office asked a Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustee to circulate a promotional brochure for the UFC Community Works program, according to The Toronto Star.
The Star's story quotes a number of TDSB trustees who shared their displeasure with the prospect of linking fighting with schools in any way. That, however, isn't stopping Doug Ford from standing by what his office did.
Ford told CP24 on Sunday that the program is about athletics and speaking out against bullying, not promoting the UFC.
Openfile, a "community-powered" news organization, takes issue with what it sees as the editorial bent of The Star's story. Openfile points to the the fourth paragraph of the story as being particularly inflammatory: "UFC has become notorious for its brutal, bloody, no-holds barred fighting. "
As Jonathan Goldsbie points out in The National Post, The Star's story might have been more balanced if Ford hadn't refused to comment on it.
Both Ford brother's are refusing to talk to the newspaper due to a story The Star published about how the mayor allegedly assaulted a high school football player he coached.
Doug Ford has stated that the ban on communication won't end until the paper apologizes for the story, an event which, so far, seems unlikely.
Until the paper relents, or the mayor and his brother change their minds, expect plenty of stories from Canada's largest newspaper on the misadventures of Toronto's dynamic duo.
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