Rob Ford faces conflict of interest allegations. These allegations have could cost him his job as Mayor. If found to be in breach of conflict of interests guidelines he would face immediate dismissal. A lot of people have weighed in on that outcome. The Sun's Lorrie Goldstein gave his opinion and so did Rick Salutin of the Toronto Star.
It is clear that Rob Ford broke the rules. He solicited money for a private charity using governed resources. He was found in breach of the rules and ordered to pay the money back. After he became mayor he participated in a vote to over turn that earlier order. That was a conflict of interest. He is now in jeopardy of losing his job.
What came next were the opinions. Then the private citizen and the public pundits chimed in on what poor Mayor Ford did and what should happen to him. If you distill out the the rapid, those screaming "no harm done", "he is guilty", "lefty plot","abuse of power", "abuse of procedure", "the very soul of democracy's a stake"(that said by both extremes), you get to the heart of the matter. Does what he did merit overturning an election result.
The moderates on both side, the place you go to understand an issue, have after deliberating on the facts come down on the side of no.
A conservative arrives at this conclusion by excusing Ford. Making it clear he did wrong(technically), but in comparison to other conflicts of interests this is really not that big and the punishment doesn't fit the crime. The liberal/Left tends to excuse Ford himself, he simply isn't a skilled or knowledgeable politician, he is overwhelmed by the office. The audience gets to chose between and incompetent Mayor or an unjust punishment.
It is not surprising the Liberal/Left chooses, to support the integrity of the electoral system. Maintaining that a vote should not be overturned without due cause is a Liberal Democrat value. It would be wrong to kick Ford out for what he did. I didn't start there, but it is where I ended up. I favoured the old Rule of Law, at first,as conservative are fond of saying "don't do the crime if you can't do the time". Initial reaction are not always the right ones. It is nice to be able to read cogent arguments, ones that make you think. I can live with the judge informing the Mayor that he acted wrongly, but not knowingly. Incompetence is a heavy burden to carry into a election.
The conservative have been entertaining to watch and read. The conservatives bent over backward defending Rob Ford. Suffice to say that the idea of personal responsibility barely, if ever rears its uncomfortable head. The sort of moderate, conservative, mostly went for the "this is not Justice" defense. They are right, but it's still amusing hearing them descend from the mountain to declare it. They almost sound liberal in their arguments.
The end result should be a suitably chastised Ford, who gets to remain Mayor to face the electorate in 2014.
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