Monday, May 07, 2018

Doug Ford - In His Own Words (more or less)


I’m not sure if anyone has noted that the three so-called major party leaders in this June’s provincial election all got their start as elected officials at the local level.


Premier Kathleen Wynne served one term as a Toronto District school Board trustee in 2003.  She then won the provincial riding of Don Valley West in 2003, 2007 (defeating John Tory), 2011 and 2014.


NDP Leader Andrea Horwath was in her third term as a Councillor in Hamilton when she won a by- election in the riding of Hamilton East in 2004.  She was subsequently re-elected in the riding of Hamilton Centre in 2007, 2011 and 2014.


Conservative leader Doug Ford served one- term as a City of Toronto Councillor (2010- 2014), ran for Mayor in 2014 and was about to run again when he somewhat suddenly became leader of his provincial party.



It is probably fair to say that province wide Ford is the least known of the three leaders. Two books shed light on Ford’s beliefs and background.


The first was John Filion’s excellent 2015 work The Only Average Guy, Inside the Uncommon World of Rob Ford.  More recently (2016) Doug Ford’s own book was released.  It is called Ford Nation: Two Brothers, One Vision.


I’ve used those sources and others to let you know a bit more about Doug Ford mostly using his words, limerick style.


Dale Carnegie was a big influence on Doug Ford, as he told John Filion.

                                                           
                                                                   Dale Carnegie

                                        Just read How to Win Friends and Influence People
                                        It is a book that has certainly no equal
                                        I’ve read it from back to front
                                        and folks just let me be blunt
                                       Genuine sincerity is the key to it all.
                            
                              (Source John Filion - The Only Average Guy, p 33)