B
Boing
Guest
How stupid and arrogant can one be. All he had to do was apologize and give the money back a while ago but he thought he was invincible.
Deserves to get booted?.
To me, damn right.
In a bombshell ruling, a judge has found Mayor Rob Ford guilty of breaching provincial conflict of interest law and ordered him removed from office in 14 days — though Ford can launch an appeal, and also seek an order to allow him to stay in office until the appeals process is done.
Rob Ford out: Text of judge’s decision
James: All Torontonians will pay for Rob Ford's ‘wilful blindness’
Ford has 30 days to appeal. If his lawyer cannot convince Divisional Court to “stay” the removal order within the 14 days, council will have the option of either appointing a councillor to be caretaker mayor until the end of the term in December 2014 or triggering a $7-million byelection.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Charles Hackland’s decision appears to disqualify Ford from running in any byelection held before the regularly scheduled October 2014 mayoral election, but it does not say he can’t run in future elections. Hackland could have banned Ford from running for up to seven years.
“I’m going to appeal it and carry on with my job. I’m a fighter,” Ford told a crush of reporters outside his city hall office shortly after noon. “I’ve done a lot of great work in this city and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose . . .
“This comes down to left-wing politics. The left wing wants me out of here and they’ll do anything in their power. I’m going to fight tooth and nail to hold on to my job. If they do for some reason get me out I’ll be running right back. As soon as the next election, if there’s a byelection, I’ll be the first name on the ballot.”
The case centred around Ford’s decision to participate in a February council debate on whether he should be forced to repay $3,150 to lobbyists whose donations to his football foundation he improperly accepted.
Ford made an impassioned speech urging council to excuse him — “To ask me to pay it out of my own pocket personally, there is just, there is no sense to this,” he said — and then voted with the 22-12 majority to cancel an earlier council order to reimburse the money.
The Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, a provincial law, is strict: members of council cannot speak or vote on issues in which they have a financial interest.
Hackland could have allowed Ford to keep his job, even if he found that Ford broke the law, by accepting the argument that Ford’s actions were inadvertent or a result of an error in judgment, or that the amount of money in question — $3,150 — was unlikely to influence him.
But Hackland rejected all of the arguments put forth by Ford’s lawyer, Alan Lenczner. In dismissing the suggestion that Ford had made an error in judgment, Hackland suggested Ford had deliberately ignored the law in question.
“In view of the respondent’s leadership role in ensuring integrity in municipal government, it is difficult to accept an error in judgment defence based essentially on a stubborn sense of entitlement (concerning his football foundation) and a dismissive and confrontational attitude to the Integrity Commissioner and the Code of Conduct,” Hackland wrote.
“In my opinion, the respondent’s actions were characterized by ignorance of the law and a lack of diligence in securing professional advice, amounting to wilful blindness. As such, I find his actions are incompatible with an error in judgment.”
Hackland wrote, “Inadvertence involves oversight, inattention or carelessness. On the contrary, (Ford)’s participation was a deliberate choice.” And he noted that Ford himself told council in his speech that “personal repayment of $3,150 is precisely the issue that he objects to and delivering this message was his clear reason for speaking and voting as he did at the council meeting.”
Lenczner also contended that the conflict of interest law didn’t apply in this case and that council didn’t have the authority to force Ford to repay the money. Hackland disagreed.
Lenczner contended that the law is unfair if it does not allow councillors to speak in their own defence when they are faced with a financial penalty. Hackland suggested that the law might need reform — but he said the law is what it is at the moment, and the speaking issue “does not have anything to do with and cannot provide a justification for voting (rather than speaking) on a matter, as the respondent chose to do in this case.”
The saga began in 2010, when the city’s integrity commissioner, Janet Leiper,
Magder, aided by prominent lawyer Clayton Ruby, filed a lawsuit alleging Ford broke the law.
At the September court hearing, Ruby argued Ford was “reckless” and “wilfully ignorant” of the law when he did not recuse himself from the debate and vote.
Ford, who was on council for a decade before becoming mayor in late 2010, testified he never read the Conflict of Interest Act or the councillor orientation handbook. Nor, he said, did he attend councillor training sessions that covered conflicts of interest.
The mayor promised in his oath of office to “disclose conflicts of interest” but, when asked by Ruby if he understood the words, Ford said: “No. My interpretation of a conflict of interest, again, is it takes two parties and the city must benefit or a member of council must benefit.”
“As mayor he ought to have had a clear understanding of his obligations,” Ruby said. “This entire pattern of conduct shows that he chose to remain ignorant, and substituted his own view for that of the law,”
Ford, longtime coach of Etobicoke’s Don Bosco Eagles, vehemently disagreed, saying he acted only in the best interests of high school students.
Ford himself went into the trial saying he did nothing wrong. But during the grilling by Ruby, he allowed that, if he had been advised that voting on the matter could land him in court, he wouldn’t have voted.
“I would have declared a conflict like I have every other time,” Ford said. “But now that we’re here, I’m here. I can’t change what happened.”
Magder was directed to Ruby by Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler, a left-leaning civic activist and former trustee candidate who himself challenged Ford’s campaign financial statements. The city’s compliance audit committee found reason to ask for a forensic audit, which is expected to be completed by the end of December.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/ar...d-guilty-kicked-from-office-but-can-run-again
Deserves to get booted?.
To me, damn right.
In a bombshell ruling, a judge has found Mayor Rob Ford guilty of breaching provincial conflict of interest law and ordered him removed from office in 14 days — though Ford can launch an appeal, and also seek an order to allow him to stay in office until the appeals process is done.
Rob Ford out: Text of judge’s decision
James: All Torontonians will pay for Rob Ford's ‘wilful blindness’
Ford has 30 days to appeal. If his lawyer cannot convince Divisional Court to “stay” the removal order within the 14 days, council will have the option of either appointing a councillor to be caretaker mayor until the end of the term in December 2014 or triggering a $7-million byelection.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Charles Hackland’s decision appears to disqualify Ford from running in any byelection held before the regularly scheduled October 2014 mayoral election, but it does not say he can’t run in future elections. Hackland could have banned Ford from running for up to seven years.
“I’m going to appeal it and carry on with my job. I’m a fighter,” Ford told a crush of reporters outside his city hall office shortly after noon. “I’ve done a lot of great work in this city and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose . . .
“This comes down to left-wing politics. The left wing wants me out of here and they’ll do anything in their power. I’m going to fight tooth and nail to hold on to my job. If they do for some reason get me out I’ll be running right back. As soon as the next election, if there’s a byelection, I’ll be the first name on the ballot.”
The case centred around Ford’s decision to participate in a February council debate on whether he should be forced to repay $3,150 to lobbyists whose donations to his football foundation he improperly accepted.
Ford made an impassioned speech urging council to excuse him — “To ask me to pay it out of my own pocket personally, there is just, there is no sense to this,” he said — and then voted with the 22-12 majority to cancel an earlier council order to reimburse the money.
The Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, a provincial law, is strict: members of council cannot speak or vote on issues in which they have a financial interest.
Hackland could have allowed Ford to keep his job, even if he found that Ford broke the law, by accepting the argument that Ford’s actions were inadvertent or a result of an error in judgment, or that the amount of money in question — $3,150 — was unlikely to influence him.
But Hackland rejected all of the arguments put forth by Ford’s lawyer, Alan Lenczner. In dismissing the suggestion that Ford had made an error in judgment, Hackland suggested Ford had deliberately ignored the law in question.
“In view of the respondent’s leadership role in ensuring integrity in municipal government, it is difficult to accept an error in judgment defence based essentially on a stubborn sense of entitlement (concerning his football foundation) and a dismissive and confrontational attitude to the Integrity Commissioner and the Code of Conduct,” Hackland wrote.
“In my opinion, the respondent’s actions were characterized by ignorance of the law and a lack of diligence in securing professional advice, amounting to wilful blindness. As such, I find his actions are incompatible with an error in judgment.”
Hackland wrote, “Inadvertence involves oversight, inattention or carelessness. On the contrary, (Ford)’s participation was a deliberate choice.” And he noted that Ford himself told council in his speech that “personal repayment of $3,150 is precisely the issue that he objects to and delivering this message was his clear reason for speaking and voting as he did at the council meeting.”
Lenczner also contended that the conflict of interest law didn’t apply in this case and that council didn’t have the authority to force Ford to repay the money. Hackland disagreed.
Lenczner contended that the law is unfair if it does not allow councillors to speak in their own defence when they are faced with a financial penalty. Hackland suggested that the law might need reform — but he said the law is what it is at the moment, and the speaking issue “does not have anything to do with and cannot provide a justification for voting (rather than speaking) on a matter, as the respondent chose to do in this case.”
The saga began in 2010, when the city’s integrity commissioner, Janet Leiper,
Magder, aided by prominent lawyer Clayton Ruby, filed a lawsuit alleging Ford broke the law.
At the September court hearing, Ruby argued Ford was “reckless” and “wilfully ignorant” of the law when he did not recuse himself from the debate and vote.
Ford, who was on council for a decade before becoming mayor in late 2010, testified he never read the Conflict of Interest Act or the councillor orientation handbook. Nor, he said, did he attend councillor training sessions that covered conflicts of interest.
The mayor promised in his oath of office to “disclose conflicts of interest” but, when asked by Ruby if he understood the words, Ford said: “No. My interpretation of a conflict of interest, again, is it takes two parties and the city must benefit or a member of council must benefit.”
“As mayor he ought to have had a clear understanding of his obligations,” Ruby said. “This entire pattern of conduct shows that he chose to remain ignorant, and substituted his own view for that of the law,”
Ford, longtime coach of Etobicoke’s Don Bosco Eagles, vehemently disagreed, saying he acted only in the best interests of high school students.
Ford himself went into the trial saying he did nothing wrong. But during the grilling by Ruby, he allowed that, if he had been advised that voting on the matter could land him in court, he wouldn’t have voted.
“I would have declared a conflict like I have every other time,” Ford said. “But now that we’re here, I’m here. I can’t change what happened.”
Magder was directed to Ruby by Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler, a left-leaning civic activist and former trustee candidate who himself challenged Ford’s campaign financial statements. The city’s compliance audit committee found reason to ask for a forensic audit, which is expected to be completed by the end of December.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/ar...d-guilty-kicked-from-office-but-can-run-again
