Rob Ford, Out Of The Mayoral Race

Anyone who follows my Twitter account may have noticed that it recently got its first rebrand in its existence. This is the result of my having taken over Andray Domise’s campaign for Ward 2.

From what I understand of running a campaign, it is usually inadvisable to publish your election strategy, but I feel that it is necessary to provide some clarity into our thought process as we continue to solicit donations. When we started this campaign, we were running against a field of unknown candidates. Doug Ford had committed not to run again and there was a rumour that Mikey Ford may join the race. Despite the lack of Fords in the race, we were upfront and clear with everyone we asked for support: We will most likely be running against a Ford.

Since Mikey’s candidacy materialized, we have worked hard to position ourselves as the natural front runner that the Fords will need to keep down. I am writing in part to thank every single person who has supported us thus far, be in through donations, volunteering, or simply helping to signal boost on social media. The response has been overwhelming and we can’t show our appreciation enough.

In politics, as any donor, volunteer, or supporter will know, the asks never end. We always need a little bit more. So before I ask again, I will do what I did at the beginning of the campaign and make clear the obstacle we are now facing: We’re running against Rob Ford.

Rob Ford is now out of the mayoral race. This is good news for those who look forward to a brighter future with a mayor willing to work with council, but it may be very bad news for the residents of Ward 2. For fourteen years, Etobicoke North has been run like a fiefdom by the Fords, who have stymied growth, denied service upgrades, a generally kept its residents dependent on their patronizing benevolence. Rob Ford has obviously developed a taste for being a politician and he’s not going to give it up.

Andray is currently working on some exciting policy platforms:

1. Local bus loops designed to get people to their grocery stores and places of worship in a timely and dignified manner.
2. Etobicoke is chronically under-served for youth services and we’re working to build a youth centre to support families and young people.
3. Toronto is a leading world city in innovation and technology and we’re bridging partnerships with local businesses and non-profits to bring an innovation hub and the accompanying jobs and infrastructure to Rexdale.
4. The collapse of the Woodbine Live project left a literally gaping whole in the ground and Andray intends to be the responsible city partner this area needs to see the benefits of development that have mostly skipped over Ward 2 entirely.

We have a plan and we’re asking for help to make it happen. We need people to canvass the neighbourhood, to make calls, to get our message out, and we need donations. But you have to know what you’re getting yourself into if you sign on. It means a race against Rob Ford.

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